Facilitation
Our facilitation process can be tailored to meet your unique needs, but typically include the following steps:
Strategy meeting facilitation
Some of the potential pitfalls’ leaders have to contend with when going into strategy sessions include inter alia:
- Going into group think, especially when there are one or two dominant voices that steer the group in a particular direction.
- Not challenging each other to think outside of the normal parameters.
- Not fully tapping into the insights of the directors and executives.
- Remaining in an echo chamber, especially where there is lack of diversity of thought.
- Drowning out of important, but soft voices.
- Allowing biases and prejudice to cloud judgements.
- Political games being played.
- Not doing enough homework and therefore missing important issues in the broader context that may have a fundamental impact on the organisation.
- Ineffective use of meeting time.
Meeting facilitation has many benefits that put the organisation in a position to get real value out of strategic sessions and thus not only an immediate return on investment but contribute to the long-term sustainability of the organisation. Benefits include:
- The facilitator is a neutral independent third party, who has not been part of any historical politics and can therefore remain impartial and help pull parties together and aligning them around the strategy, intent and decisions.
- The group being challenged to think broader than their normal frame of reference
- Utilising a model that is designed to extract maximum value from the group deliberations.
- Helping to ensure that all voices are respected and heard.
- Unearthing unresolved issues that are hindering progress.
- Professional management of dysfunctional group behaviour.
- Assisting the group to co-create an outcome that everyone buys into.
- Driving the group to accountability.
- Efficient use of meeting time.
Our Facilitation Process
Our facilitation process can be tailored to meet your unique needs, but typically include the following steps:
Step 1
We meet with the delegated official/s from the organisation to understand the needs of the client at a high level and to determine whether we are a good fit for the organisation. This consultation is free and the meeting may be face-to-face or via video conference call. Our process of asking questions may help the client crystalise for themselves what they need to achieve and what the ultimate purpose of the strategy meeting is. It also helps us to understand what the client does not want, what has not worked in the past, what underlying political issues may hinder the process and how open the client is to change.
Step 2
Once we have a good idea of what the client’s needs are, we prepare a facilitation proposal that outlines the approach we will take and the outcomes the client wants to achieve. The proposal includes any recommended pre-work and describes what will be included in the post-meeting report. The proposal is accompanied by a quote that includes all work to be done by the facilitator.
Step 3
The pre-work is done, which includes reviewing of background documents and any research or environmental scans that have been agreed upon. This may also include surveys to be conducted in the organisation and/or among stakeholders of the organisation. Once the pre-work is done, we analyse and summarise it in a format that is easily digestible and most impactful in the strategy formulation process.
Step 4
When we facilitate the strategy meeting we work toward ensuring maximum participation and encourage deep application of mind in the formulation of the strategy. Our role is to assist the group in its co-creation process and craft a strategic plan that will propel the organisation forward.
In the process we help the group to identify those factors that may become hindering factors in the implementation of the plan and what the organisation needs to do to ensure that the plan does not eventually just gather dust on a shelf.
Step 5
We produce a meeting report which captures what the group did and agreed on as well as what the next steps are. We leave the client with a well-defined, uncluttered strategic plan that captures the essence of the strategy and is easy to sell to the rest of the organisation.
Step 6 (Optional)
We follow up after the meeting report has been published and evaluate acceptance of the plan throughout the organisation and, where necessary, critical stakeholders.
Step 7 (Optional)
We provide recommendations of what the organisation needs to put in place before it will be in a position to successfully implement the strategy.
If you carry the egg basket
do not dance.
— Ambede proverb
