Organisational change is usually catalysed by some form of external pressure of opportunity. As you begin to contemplate systematic and deliberate change, one of the first activities is to undertake a strategic analysis or to study the situation and generate data or information about the situation. This is a critical first decision - it starts off a chain of events that is fateful. Ways to change your the relationship to the identified (often problematic) issue of X are defined. Most organisations make this choice without even knowing there are alternatives open to them
With Appreciative Inquiry the organisation chooses to focus on the positive as the focus on the analysis. It is based on the assumption that in every organisation, something works well, or has worked well in the past. When organisations use this approach for planning they start by thinking about their best experience rather than their problems. This simple, but powerful, difference means that the starting point for discussion is what has worked well rather than problems and failure.
Participants are invited to explore the best parts of their past experience and to analyse its core components. Stories are told, conversations developed from positive questioning so people appreciate the best of what is, imagine what might be, talk about what could be, and create the future together.
Appreciative Inquiry is useful for team building, business planning, programme design. When people learn the principles, it can change the way they run meetings. You find that opening a meeting with one unconditionally positive question sets a tone for the whole meeting’s success.
Contact me for more information or you can read my article on Appreciative Inquiry or visit the Appreciative Inquiry Commons website.
Designed in 1996 by Innotiimi, a Finnish consultancy, GroupExpo deals with large group issues and decision-making. It is suited for dealing with groups of 9 to 36 people but also works well with 6 to 200 participants. GroupExpo is a synthesis of four pinciples:
A meeting normally has a specific function - to inform people about plans or decisions, to report back or to gather ideas and suggestions. Getting the culture of meetings right is an essential leadership skill, but one we often overlook. Usually the person leading the meeting is the last to notice that it was unsuccessful. Participants became frustrated, the agenda gets hijacked, decisions go off track or the meeting is influenced by one person with a strong will and a firm control of the agenda. A familiar story.? But there are other ways.
Participative leaders want to promote genuine and engaging interaction in their meetings. OPERA is a new and efficient method for working in groups. Developed by Innotiimi, Finnish consultancy, it can energise and revolutionise your meetings awaydays, planning sessions and large scale consultations.
What’s so special about OPERA is that it differs from traditional forms of meeting or group work because:
Open Space was designed by Harrison Owen and is used around the world by private, public and voluntary organisations for organisational development and consultation purposes. Whatever the number of participants or time available, an Open Space meeting will allow everyone to work on the issues that they care about most, and for which they will take responsibility in the future. An Open Space meeting must have a clear theme and focus.
There are no formal speeches or presentations. Participants are asked to think about the meeting’s theme and the issues that matters to them. They are invited to come to the centre of the circle and write down their topic on a piece of paper, read it out and post it on the ‘agenda wall’. By the end of the first half an hour the agenda wall is covered with workshop topics which form the basis for the programme for the day/s. Each workshop is allocated a time and a breakout space.
Participants then decide which groups to take part in, according to their interests. Workshops are led by the people who identified the topic, or someone else in the group if they prefer, a volunteer reporter takes notes. The only rule in an Open Space meeting is the “Law of two feet” - this encourages people to move if they find they are in a group to which they cannot contribute.
Contact me for more information or visit the Open Space World website.