How do you reach 950 clubs with a strategy – and make it feel meaningful to everyone, regardless of role, level or resources?
Athletics is a broad sport with many events, cultures and organisational layers. The previous strategy was broad but hard to use in everyday work. Ahead of the next strategy, the Swedish Athletics Federation chose to prioritise both anchoring and implementation – with a focus on involving the whole movement right from the start.
About the Swedish Athletics Federation
The Swedish Athletics Federation consists of 950 clubs, nine districts and a national office. The federation covers the whole spectrum – from elite sport to grassroots activities, from traditional track and field to recreational exercise.
The challenge
The 2021–2025 strategy was developed with ambition, but was perceived as hard to prioritise in everyday work. With the next strategy, the aim was to create clarity, participation and direction from the start and give everyone the opportunity to contribute.
How do you make a strategy feel relevant to everyone – from the federation and districts to clubs with completely different circumstances?
Input used to be collected through forms and meetings, which took a lot of time and gave varying results. There was no efficient way to analyse free text or give feedback directly, which limited engagement. There was no efficient way to collaborate broadly across the organisation.
Solution
With Vocean, the Swedish Athletics Federation has gained a new hub for its strategy work – a platform for co-creation that both saves time and increases engagement. They can now collect input from clubs and districts via QR codes, ask questions with a low threshold and analyse answers with the help of AI. So far, Vocean has been used both before and during physical meetings, which makes direct feedback possible. With a collaboration tool, the focus shifts from writing ideas on post-its to actually solving important challenges together.
Being able to quickly show the results of our workshops on the spot makes a big difference. You don’t get that feeling of ‘what happened to our answers?’.
Freja AvebäckMember of the Federation Board, Swedish Athletics FederationThe report feature is highlighted in particular as a powerful tool. It helps them identify patterns, bring out unexpected perspectives and save a lot of administrative time.
We used to spend hours compiling post-it notes. Now we get everything in place straight away – clear and immediately useful.
Freja AndersdotterMember of the Federation Board, Swedish Athletics FederationThe result
The strategy work has now become more of a shared process, with participation and co-creation at its centre. Participants see their own thoughts reflected in the material, which increases the sense of influence and engagement. The platform creates the conditions for collaboration at every level and a clear direction.
The result in brief
The strategy is anchored throughout the movement More time for collaboration and reflection – less administration Dialogue is made possible at every level of the organisation Direct feedback to participants increases engagement AI-generated reports provide new insights and lead to action
Vocean is both a process tool and a relationship tool. Being able to communicate directly with the whole movement is extremely valuable.
Freja AvebäckMember of the Federation Board, Swedish Athletics Federation
