Module 1 Overview
Congratulations on being selected as a 100-Day Challenge Strategist in your Community, taking on this functional role to lead a collaboration process that will drive impact towards ending GBVF.
Or
You have made the decision yourself to take up the baton to start and lead a collaboration process that will drive impact towards ending GBVF. Congratulations on taking the step.
A 100-Day Challenge is a high-intensity, time-bound project. While it shares the basic components of any project — a team, a goal, and a plan — it functions differently from a traditional project. As a Challenge Strategist, you will play a vital role in designing the Challenge and ensuring it aligns with the local GBVF priorities.
You will NOT have tasks every week – the Coach will pull you in for tasks other than your normal supporting role. You will receive an overview of what they need to do each week, so you can help and support them throughout the journey.
Podcast
Click to join (listen to) a Challenge Strategist and 100-Day Challenge coach for a discussion of this module, packed with practical tips. Note: We’ve used AI to bring these insights to life—thank you for tolerating the strange accents.
The Big Picture
The 100-Day Challenge is not “business as usual.” It is a disciplined, high-speed race to achieve results that previously seemed impossible. To succeed, two things are needed: clarity of purpose and high-level political cover. Over the next three weeks, you will put both in place.
Specifically, you will ensure that the focus of the 100-Day Challenge is determined (clarity of purpose), and that an appropriate 100-Day Team has been mobilised to work on this (with high-level political cover).
You will work with the Coach on the following:
Convening Stakeholders:
Identifying and inviting key leaders from government agencies (e.g. SAPS, Health, Justice) and NGOs within the local GBVF ecosystem.
Sharpening Focus:
Leading a collaborative meeting to gather diverse perspectives and decide on the specific focus of the 100-Day Challenge.
Enabling Action:
Deciding on the 100-Day Team members, and ensuring they have support from their leaders to honour the commitments they make as members of the Team.
Your Roadmap
Week minus 5:
Finding a 100-Day Challenge Coach
Focus: Securing a track guide to Coach the 100-Day Challenge team.
Every successful challenge requires a Coach to guide and mobilise the team, and support them as they move into action. This is your 100-Day Challenge Coach.
What you will do: Identify a candidate with the right influence and mindset, define their role, and formalise their involvement in the Challenge.
Key Outcome: A dedicated Coach is onboarded and ready to start the process with The Challenge Strategist.
Week minus 4:
Preparing for Engaging Leadership Stakeholders
Focus: Internal preparation for leadership buy-in.
Before meeting with senior leaders, you and the Coach must be prepared to speak their language. This week is about “pre-alignment.”
What you will do: Map and categorise the stakeholders, help the coach gather baseline data, and prepare a compelling “case for action” that aligns with the National Strategic Plan (NSP).
Key Outcome: Presentation that makes the case for why a 100-Day Challenge is needed and that outlines potential focus areas for the Challenge that are inspired by your local circumstances.
Week minus 3:
Securing Leadership Commitment
Focus: The Leadership Design Session.
Lead the session, the moment where senior decision-makers officially “authorise” the work, decide on team membership, and create a safe space for the team to innovate.
What you will do: Facilitate a session with multi-sector leaders to select a specific “Challenge Focus Area” and decide on membership of the 100-Day Team. The specificity of the Focus Area will provide the clarity of purpose essential for success.
Key Outcome: High-level authorisation and a confirmed focus area for your 100-Day Team.
Your Action Checklist
To stay on schedule, please ensure the following steps are completed by the end of this module:
Stakeholder Mapping: Complete the list of leaders and champions who must attend the Leadership Engagement Session.
If you did not have a Coach at the start, you will also set out to find the right person to join you as Coach.
Review the Draft Challenge Note: Review the initial brief prepared by the coach that describes the focus are for the 100-Day Challenge and the expectations from the 100-Day Team.
Schedule the Start-up Workshop: Secure the date and venue for the Workshop that kicks off the 100-Day sprint.
What's Next?
Once the local leadership are on board, we move toward the Start-up Workshop, where the frontline team will be formed and set their “unreasonable” 100-day goal.
