It seemed natural for us to be involved in the creation of the WCPT Strategic Plan for 2016-21, and the accompanying Business Plan.

We won the contract to do so by competitive tender in August 2015.

WCPT were keen to create their Strategic Plan in direct partnership with its members. They wanted an inclusive approach – one that would allow them to gain insight from as many different individuals as possible. Ensuring a high level of engagement from members across the globe became one of our agreed success criteria for the project.

After our familiarisation and needs analysis phase, we worked together with WCPT’s communications team to devise and implement a Communications Strategy.

Together we committed to giving voice to as wide a cross-section of the organisation as possible.

Over the following six weeks, we ran a series of engagement activities with members, including consultation polls and videos featuring the work of various WCPT people. The President and other members of the Board took the lead here, and sub-groups and networks throughout WCPT were also involved.

We also conducted telephone interviews with member organisations in the UK, the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, Lithuania, Switzerland, Malta, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, Kuwait, Zambia, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Chile and Peru. These activities were supported by a global survey, which had a very high response rate, and helped make the Strategic Plan feel both inclusive and relevant.

The survey responses were then used to inform the Strategic Plan, delivered through a development workshop with the Board. WCPT then recommissioned EW Group to support the development of the WCPT Business Plan for the year ahead.

Photographs from the WCPT Congress 2015 in Singapore © World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT)