Scenario game to spark sharper conversations with stakeholders

The covid pandemic shook up the world. Many organisations had to switch gear quickly. How do we stay open and keep functioning? Do we need to adapt our business model fast and offer new services and/or products in order to survive? For a housing corporation this played out less sharply. Renting homes to people with lower incomes is reasonably covid-proof. But will that stay the case? What will the world look like after covid? And what does that mean for your tenants, their housing wishes and your role as a housing corporation? These were questions on the mind of housing corporation Alwel, active in Breda, Roosendaal and Etten-Leur among other places. Especially as a new corporate plan had to be drawn up. How do you make sure such a plan is as future-proof as possible in a fast-changing world that has become even more uncertain because of a global pandemic touching every aspect of our lives?

Scenarios that explore the role of the housing corporation

Using scenario planning, Alwel looked further into the future. The central question was: which role do we want, are we allowed and are we able to take on the societal and housing-market questions in this region? Together with staff from across the organisation, we reviewed various trends and sketched four contrasting future worlds for 2035. Four worlds, each bringing its own opportunities and challenges.

Online scenario game facilitates dialogue with stakeholders

Once the scenarios were ready, Alwel used them to start a dialogue with stakeholders about the tasks and opportunities towards the future(s). Using Jester's online scenario game module, mixed sub-groups discussed the housing and societal agenda and the neighbourhood per scenario, and what role a housing corporation or another stakeholder could play in it. Not only useful input for a new corporate plan, but also a good conversation starter for the regional dialogue in itself.

Gaming as inspiration for the corporate plan

The outcomes of the game delivered plenty of inspiration for the new corporate plan. In an interactive follow-up session inside Alwel a strategic dialogue was held around the scenario game. A 'red versus blue team' game was also used to deepen themes and lines of thinking for the corporate plan. Which ideas hold up across multiple scenarios? How can ideas that do not immediately fit a particular scenario still be made more robust and more future-proof?