Before you build a content strategy, build alignment

The most valuable work in your content strategy happens before your audit, analytics review or competitive analysis: It happens when you get the right people in the same room.

The workshop isn’t the deliverable. Alignment is.

When organizations decide it’s time for a new content strategy, the instinct is almost always the same.

• Start the audit.
• Review analytics.
• Inventory content.
• Analyze competitors.

All these things matter.

But in my experience, the most valuable work happens before any of them: It happens when you get the right people in the same room.

Not for presentations. Not for updates. For a facilitated conversation.

Recently, WG Content brought together a cross-functional group of content owners to begin a new strategy initiative. We started with a survey to understand where people agreed, where they didn’t and what challenges surfaced across the organization. Then we spent half a day working through those findings together to build a shared understanding.

What struck me wasn’t that people had different opinions.

It was how quickly alignment emerged once everyone could see the same picture.

Strategy doesn’t fail because people don’t care

It usually fails because each team looks through a different lens.

• Marketing looks at conversion.
• Clinical teams look at outcomes.
• Digital teams look at usability.
• Operations looks at efficiency.
• Leadership looks at growth.

Individually, none of these priorities are wrong.

Collectively, they often produce fragmented experiences because no one took the time to define what success looks like when experiences come together.

That’s where facilitated workshops play a critical role.

Start with listening — not presenting

Before our workshop, participants completed a short survey.

One theme surfaced immediately.

Fragmentation.

Not because the organization lacked content, but because no single team had a complete view of it. Different departments were creating valuable resources, often independently, without realizing similar work already existed elsewhere.

That insight completely changed the conversation.

Instead of asking, “What content should we create?” the room began asking, “How do we connect what already exists?”

Those are two very different strategies.

Individual thinking comes before group thinking

One exercise became everyone’s favorite.

Rather than brainstorming together immediately, each participant independently evaluated existing content and sorted it into four simple categories:

• Thriving
• Nurturing
• Reaching
• Outgrown

Only after everyone finished did we discuss the results. That sequence mattered. The quieter voices were heard and loudest ones didn’t dominate the room (or popular opinion). When the conversation started, everyone had already formed their own perspective.

Facilitation isn’t about getting people to agree. It’s about creating the conditions where everyone contributes before consensus begins.

Ask people to imagine a future without today’s constraints

Another exercise asked teams to forget budgets, technology and organizational structure, and consider: If you could build the ideal experience for consumers from scratch, what would it look like?

Only after that conversation did we ask:

• What should we start doing?
• What should we stop doing?

Those two questions consistently generated more practical ideas than asking, “How can we improve?”

The biggest outcome wasn’t the sticky notes

It was shared ownership.

By the end of the workshop, the team had accomplished something far more important than producing another list of recommendations.

We had developed a common language.

We agreed on the biggest challenges.

We understood where content was thriving, where it was underperforming and where genuine gaps existed.

Most importantly, we left with a shared vision for what came next — not because someone told us, but because we created it together.

Five things I recommend before you rush content strategy

If you’re preparing to build a content strategy, consider slowing down long enough to build alignment first.

Here are five things I recommend:

1. Survey stakeholders before they enter the room.
2. Let people think individually before discussing as a group.
3. Focus on decisions, not presentations.
4. Create exercises that reveal priorities instead of collecting opinions.
5. Leave with shared language — not just action items.

When everyone zooms out to view the content ecosystem through the wider lens, the strategy almost begins writing itself.

Align on your strategy first

If you’re looking for ways to gain alignment for your content strategy, the WG Content team is ready to help. Contact us to learn more.

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