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Intellectual property Strategy Facilitation Techniques Strategy Facilitation Techniques |
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 When considering engaging a strategy facilitator, managers often seek more information about what the facilitator will actually do. Director of Consulting at TMG, Peter Boyce, describes how his organization decides what to do when helping your organization develop strategy.
Q. How do you decide what help to give a client? A. I need to answer that question in three parts. Firstly, change is such a constant for most industries that strategy is more likely to be constantly evolving rather than statically set in stone although it is almost always possible to develop some ‘touchstones’ that remain constant for a decade or two. So, we are helping a client with ‘next steps’ in the evolution of their strategy. It is unlikely either the client or we would want to start with a blank sheet of paper – we are working with you to advice from where you are today.  Next, there will be issues pressing on the organization that can not be ignored. Those issues will range from those that are conscious, visible and understood to those which are subconscious, masked and difficult to comprehend. An early part of any help is to agree with you, which issues need to be addressed and with what priority. We will suggest some early hope will be to conduct a relevant diagnostic (we have several we use) that will help identify the issues pertinent  across the range to which I’ve just referred. Inevitably, some will be external and some will be internal and we discuss with you which ones you believe need to be addressed now. So the ‘next steps’ are the issues of today within a context of past and future and a context of obvious to less obvious. Finally, then, we seek to understand your current approaches so that our work is an extension and improvement on prior strategy development, rather than our being so arrogant as to ignore the good work already done. Some clients say they want a fresh approach and we do of course, bring new techniques and ideas – but not ‘out of the blue’ or arbitrarily. If your organization has a long standing reliance on the “Hedgehog Concept” (Berlin or Bressler or Collins) we are going to work with it. If you are familiar with five forces and the value chain analysis (Porter) or SWOT (Humphrey), then we’ll build on that. If you have a current strategy development process, we’d want to look at how best to leverage it, suggesting changes only where we were able to demonstrate how such change would improve the process.Q. That sounds incremental rather than transformational. Would you say your approach is one which favors incremental change? A. In my experience, most organizations are doing many things well as well as having plenty of scope for improvement.  Further, for most organizations, the situation does not warrant radical reinvention of the business – so transformation would not make sense. More likely, the existing process is somewhat stuck or in need of modernizing to help it resonate better both the external environment and generations X, Y and increasingly Z. Finally, transformational change is much easier to say than it is to successfully implement. Most change happens incrementally and in good businesses, constantly. Change can be dynamic, rapid and powerful without big labels like “transformational” that risk ‘throwing the baby out with the bath water’ to coin an old phrase. So I would say we favour a pace of incremental change which is fast enough to get and stay ahead of the competitive pressures of the market place and meet the expectations of stakeholders.Q. So once you’ve been hired, what will you do? A. Armed with the brief, and having done some diagnostic work with people in the organization, we draft a plan of action for discussion.  The plan will suggest a process to tackle selected issues in a particular order and how they might be tackled. It will also include some questions. That document forms the basis of a deep and candid discussion with you on our role and your role. For example, on some issues we may be recommended clarification of the facts in advance of a formal presentation to help people grasp the situation. On other issues we may be talking more about the need to develop possible scenarios to help people grasp the type of development or change that is needed. On still others it may be that the source of solutions might require a more Blue Ocean Strategy approach to identify some uncontested potential. On others the situation might point toward some road blocks in the way people work together for which we suggest a combination of tasks including workshops, a ‘Geoffrey Robertson’ style ‘hypothetical’ and considering options for changes to people management. What we are doing with you is scoping out what needs to happen to address strategy effectively, developing it, deciding it and executing it. Our role may be extensive or limited. It might be, for example, that we form part of an executive team overseeing a process that runs over a year or more in which we play a larger role on just 2 or 3 occasions as part of the process. It might be we simply facilitate a conference where the process or decisions are driven out. At all times we are less concerned about what decisions you make and far more concerned about the way they are made. Q. Why make that distinction? Aren’t you the strategy experts? A. We certainly have great expertise in strategy – but we are not experts in your business – nor do you want us to be! Each and every decision you make should be made and owned by members of your executive team and definitely NOT your facilitator / consultant. There are three reasons for this; One, the consultant is not staying to own the execution of strategy – decisions need to be made by those who are. Two, you do not want anyone saying or even feeling that this strategy was the consultants’ idea. That is a cop out on accountability. Three, the consultant will never know your business and your market as well your executive team – it is they who are best placed to make the decisions.  What we will do is use our knowledge of strategy formation to help you follow good strategy development techniques. We use our ability to lead groups to unlock energy and passion, to identify gaps and encourage resolution, to facilitate conflict in a constructive way and so on. We are tuned into how people are contributing and using that information to encourage individuals toward greater engagement and contribution than they would otherwise make. For some, that might be more listening, for others, greater emotional intelligence, for others, finding the confidence to speak out in a way that will be heard.The point is, we are facilitating what must be your strategy development – we are not developing your strategy. Q. Why would an organization choose you then? A. The answer to that is simple. We provide the two things you really want from a strategy consultant.  We are able to support a very wide range of strategy developing processes – so you get the strategy expertise you want in abundance. At the same time, we remain facilitators – so your consultant does not end up imposing a process, over influencing the decisions or worst of all, appearing to be recommending the strategy when strategy needs to be owned wholly and solely by the executive group. (never an outside advisor!) You get a strategy expert without a fixed methodology so the results are truly invented and owned by you and a facilitator who contains the anxiety and passion and lubricates the path to get the best out of people and help them bring their full expertise and passion to your strategy.  For information, call Director of Consulting @ TMG, Peter Boyce on 03 9010 9010 or send an email to 
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TMG integrated strategic solutionss
www.tmgconnect.com.au
Toll Free in Australia 1800-100-666
Melbourne 03 9010 9010
Fax: 03 9857 3733
Snail Mail: PO Box 698
Balwyn North - Victoria 3104
Email
www.tmgconnect.com.au
Toll Free in Australia 1800-100-666
Melbourne 03 9010 9010
Fax: 03 9857 3733
Snail Mail: PO Box 698
Balwyn North - Victoria 3104
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