An Introduction to Scenario Planning for Internal Communicators
An Introduction to Scenario Planning for Internal Communicators
Using Scenario Planning to Boost Strategic Advantage and Organisational Resilience
In complex operating environments, narrative and storytelling underpin the creation of plausible scenario plans that enhance business decision-making, operating resilience and performance.
Persistent market ambiguity and volatility is confounding business leaders and destabilising organisations. With no playbook for this level of complexity, decision-makers must find new ways of responding to market turbulence. Agility is key for organisations to successfully adapt to new scenarios as they arise.
Scenario planning is a strategic planning method and risk management tool that helps organisations create and analyse multiple possible futures to support enhanced long-term decision making.
Building on known data, facts and intelligence, it uses narrative to create viable and compelling stories that unblock thinking and help strategists formulate more agile business plans.
Grounded in narrative storytelling, it is a natural addition to the toolbox of internal communicators looking to deliver and demonstrate strategic value, whilst also presenting an opportunity to improve cognitive and functional agility.
This 3-week learning programme will equip communicators with the skills and confidence to successfully influence senior leaders and assist with strategic decision making - helping to improve operational performance, agility and resilience.
Who should attend?
The course is best suited to senior communicators working at Level 3 or Level 4 of the IoIC Profession Map who are looking to further develop internal communication as a vital enabler of business resilience, performance and success.
Programme Outcomes:
After this course, you will be able to:
- Understand and interpret primary trends transforming work
- Present a compelling case for the value of scenario planning in business strategizing
- Create and facilitate scenario plans for inclusion in business planning and risk mitigation activities
- Facilitate strategic foresight exercises with your leadership team
Learning Objectives:
The programme will equip internal communicators to:
- Understand the trends disrupting business as usual – appreciation of the forces creating challenge for decision-makers underpins successful scenario planning.
- Offer scenario planning to enhance strategic decision-making – to successfully respond to novel situations, leaders must widen their perspectives and be able to contemplate the implications of multiple plausible futures in parallel. As a structured process, scenario planning enhances organisational agility and operating resilience.
- Leverage storytelling techniques – storytelling is well recognised as a strategic tool that drives engagement, builds influence and accelerates alignment within organisations. Vivid, compelling and viable narratives form an essential cornerstone of successful scenario plans.
The course builds on core internal communication strengths and invites each participant to experiment with their existing skills to introduce elevated business planning principles for enhanced organisational resilience.
The course will cover
Spread across three consecutive weeks, each online module comprises two hours. The gap between sessions allows time to reflect on and apply what is covered with the support of coaching partners.
Session One: 12th March 2026, 9:30am - 11:30pm
This session comprises:
- An introduction to scenario planning, its history, its use and its usefulness in VUCA environments
- An introduction to the trends driving business disruption
- Why internal communication is expertly positioned to drive scenario planning
Session Two: 19th March 2026, 9:30am - 11:30pm
This session covers:
- The power of storytelling as a business futureproofing technique
- Using emergent trend insights to tell data-driven stories
- Creating and presenting plausible future scenarios
Session Three: 26th March 2026, 9:30am - 11:30pm
This session covers:
- How to make the business case for scenario planning
- Practical application: How to run a scenario planning session
- Sustaining learning and next steps
Additional Benefits
Additional benefits include:
- Opportunity to experiment and create future scenarios for your unique context
- Pre and post course access to Canvas, the IoIC's online learning environment, where you will find all course materials and be able to engage with their fellow participants through forum discussions
- This course is worth 8 CPD Points for IoIC Members (20% of your recommended annual CPD)
- Share learning and experience with senior internal communication professionals to connect with
- Examples of good practice from a range of organisations.
Please note that we use Zoom for our online courses. Please ensure that you are able to access this system where you are based before booking your place. All times are GMT.
