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Clients
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 | Molnlycke Health Care, US |
| Synovus |
| State and Local Government Benefits Association |
| Turner Broadcasting System, Inc |
| Centers for Disease Control |
| Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies |
| Career Training Concepts, Inc |
| Georgia Department of Defense Georgia Army National Guard |
| Georgia Oglethorpe Quality Award |
| SunTrust Bank |
| Fasson Roll Division of Avery Dennison |
| Georgia Health Occupation Students of America |
| Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice |
| Region IV Head Start Association, Inc |
| Kennesaw State University – Center for Conflict Management |
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Examples of our Work
Key to understanding the examples of our work is that they all involve groups of people who are invited to collaborate on some type of decision making. Our approach to group collaboration is to gain commitment to the outcomes by soliciting the wisdom of the individuals in the group, displaying their thinking during step- by- step meeting processes, and using decision making techniques to achieve the stated objectives. Each meeting/work session process is customized to meet the needs and the culture of the organization.
Common meeting process techniques include:
- Brainstorming
- Listing
- Forcefield Analysis
- Focused Conversation
- Affinity Diagrams
- Multi Voting
- Impact/Effort Grid
- Decision Matrix
Examples:
1. Strategic Thinking and Leadership Models
Situation: The Senior Vice President (SVP) of a large Division saw the need for the Leadership Team, Vice Presidents (VP), to become more strategic and allow the next level down, Directors, to run the day to day business. Prior to the annual planning retreat, I worked with SVP to articulate his vision and then with the VPs about how to articulate their role, the Directors’ role and the thinking behind the strategy. For the first time the Directors were invited to the annual planning retreat. A facilitation plan for the retreat was developed and approved by the SVP and VPs. The facilitation plan included clearly defined purpose and outputs as well as structured meeting processes.
Meeting Purpose:
- Present strategy and leadership operating model.
- Build a foundation for the Leadership Team to serve in a more coaching and oversight role and the Directors to assume more responsibility for deployment of initiatives to fulfill the strategy and improve the business.
- Have fun and engage in higher level of teamwork
Meeting Outputs:
- Identified key leverage points to support the strategy
- Gained an understanding of Division’s strengths and opportunities
- Recommended a go-forward Directors’ leadership model
- Strengthened the Leadership Team’s teamwork/common purpose
2. Board Retreat
Situation: The twelve person Board for a non-profit organization consisted of a few members who served for a long time and were vocal about how things should be done. The organization had a history of growth, but it was waning. The Executive Director saw the need to integrate and attract new Board members. Although working committees were well established, many initiatives were not implemented. The Executive Director did not know what was important and what data to prepare to show how the organization was doing. A two day Board Retreat was scheduled. Prior to determining the agenda for the retreat, I conducted phone discussions with most Board members and then drafted an agenda for the Executive Director to approve. Once the agenda was approved a facilitation plan was created.
Meeting Purpose:
- Revisit the Vision - Define how to know when vision is met
- Acknowledge the organizations’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
- Identify long-term innovative opportunities that support the Vision
- Develop high level 1-3 year plans
Meeting Outputs:
- Decided key measures of success
- Created high level 1-3 year action plans
- Developed a process for implementing action plans
- Agreed on a strategic planning communication plan
3. Business Start Up
Situation: A team of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) were assembled to start up an internet business within a major corporation. After a short window to launch the business, longer term planning was needed. Some of the challenges included; unsure corporate expectations and continued funding, identification of staffing to run the business, and executives not necessarily in permanent roles. After several discussions with the Executive in charge an offsite retreat was schedule, objectives articulated and tested with key team members. The agenda and facilitation plan were prepared.
Meeting Purpose:
- Reaffirm the successes of current year
- Decide strategic direction for next year
- Build a foundation to form the go- forward organization
Meeting Outputs:
- Gained an understanding of the Executive’s vision and values
- Informed the team of the corporate expectations and constraints
- Assessed the current business strengths and identified opportunities
- Identified strategic objectives to guide the next year’s actions
- Determined organization imperatives
- Engaged in teamwork and had fun
4. Process Design for New Business
Situation: A major corporation was taking over responsibilities from the parent company for sales through delivery of a rapidly emerging business. The business (work processes) impacted eight functional areas and spanned four Divisions. Working with a group of internal business consultants an approach for a two day, 30+ person work session was drafted and then shopped with key Executives. The approach was approved and the facilitation plan finalized.
Meeting Purpose:
- To decide how the tasks will be accomplished
- To understand the software system functionality
- To enable staffing/resources decisions
- To document the process
Meetings Outputs:
- Documented the step- by- step work flow process
- Determined what function/position is responsible for each step in the process
- Agreed on forms, reports, materials, technology, etc. if any required to perform each step
- Defined the key quality characteristics for each step
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