Archive for the ‘Collaborative Design’ Category
Posted on January 19, 2010 - by Vic Desotelle
Not Your Basic Ethics – Values Development Training
STOP !!! ... WRONG THING TO DO!
Ethics? Values? Who cares!? “YOU” better care. Did you know that each person’s underlying values and beliefs systems are what drives their actions? Those actions are how things get done by your team members. By linking individual values with your company’s principles, practices, and policies, your world becomes a happier place, with more sustained commitments from staff to get the work done. So, take a journey with us from personal meaning, to group awareness, and into enterprise value creation.
Call us about Discovery Fuel’s ETHICS WORKSHOPS to see if they are right for organization.
Posted on January 16, 2010 - by Vic Desotelle
Who Says It Ain’t Easy Being Green ?! (Sustainable Business Planning Workshop)
How to Create a ‘Sustainable’ Business Plan
AN ONLINE WORKSHOP
.Join Vic Desotelle from DiscoveryFuel.com for an ONLINE collaborative sustainable business planning workshop series.
This session will allow you to preview and inquire about the series, which is for small business social entrepreneurs who have dreamed of owning a sustainable business. Learn how to make a viable business plan that moves your green idea from conception to successful execution. Create a sustainable future for yourself, customers, and community through this sustainable innovation learning series. Click here for more details
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Posted on January 15, 2010 - by Vic Desotelle
Our Future and the Mistake We Continue to Make
Our future and the mistake we continue to make
You may be surprised to hear this: Taking action on our future is way less about ‘what‘ content and ‘who‘ is in the room, than it is about ‘how‘ we come together to learn. Geez, we’ve had that all wrong for a long long time.
Look below at the photo and see how this climate action conference is setup. See how one person is actively presenting to a whole ton of folks passively listening? Notice the geometry of how they are all lined in rows, which is how you place people if brain-washing is your goal. My point is this: The process and configuration that we presently use to learn when in groups is the MISTAKE that will continue to drive inappropriate choices and unhealthy decisions about our future.
Investors urge governments to address the risks of climate change.
Instead, conferences, meetings, and gatherings need to be taking advantage of the collective mind that’s in the room (and beyond) by developing a vibrant, dynamic, life-generating, learning-exchange marketplace.
In this learning exchange marketplace, a ‘collaborative design’ process is used to shape an environment from which relationship-building and information-exchange is enhanced to a very high level. In this marketplace, information is traded and moved toward meaning using a parallel collaboration process that allows for better choices to be created and thereby better decisions to be made. I call this process a ‘Co-Lab’.
A Colab taps into both a community’s collective emotional state, as well as its co-intelligent capacity, to bring out a diverse head/heart knowledge from people that rarely gets accessed in traditional group sessions. A Colab moves individual agendas into group-mind learning and reasoning by combining story-telling and metaphor-making as a key part of the collaboration process, thereby allowing for the intuitive brain to incorporate what the rational brain can not.
Furthermore, a Colab will transform a stuffy-room full of authoritative egos into a dance-hall of fun-loving folks who are sharing a diversity of ideas, morphing them into a consensus of choices, and turning them into an intelligent, strategic plan that can be rationally assessed and moved toward solution-based action. All this is done in a fraction of the time of traditional approaches (as seen in the picture), with an increased density of content being shared, received, and absorbed more easily by the majority (rather than the minority) of folks in the room.
And guess what? Rather than frustrated, adversarial, and dreading the work ahead, more people leave a Colab feeling accomplished, friendly, and ready to act! Now THIS is how to move ourselves into a future that works!
Drop the suits guys
Oh; and one more thing. Please, please! Let’s get rid of the suits, for crying out loud. Let’s allow our bodies to move with the energy of change, rather than to be stifled by the status-quo of a normalcy that is time to be changed.
For more on change, join our community at ChangingNormal.com.
For more on Collaborative Design, see how to create your own Colab.
In Spirit,
Vic 
This is the article that triggered me to write …
Begin forwarded message:
Subject: Investors Representing $13 Trillion Call for Climate Action Now
NEW YORK, New York, January 14, 2010 (ENS) – The world’s largest investors today issued a statement calling on the United States and other governments to “act now to catalyze development of a low-carbon economy and to attract the vast amount of private capital necessary for such a transformation.”
The U.S., European and Australian investor groups, who together represent $13 trillion in assets, called for “a price on carbon emissions” and “well-designed carbon markets” to provide “a cost-effective way of achieving emissions reductions.”
Investors urge governments to address the risks of climate change. (Photo courtesy Ceres )
The statement was announced at the Investor Summit on Climate Risk, a meeting of 450 global investors at the United Nations that includes U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern, billionaire investor George Soros and former Vice President Al Gore.
The investors said while some progress towards a global agreement limiting greenhouse gas emissions was made at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, “we cannot wait for a global treaty.”
“Policymakers made only incremental progress in Copenhagen, leaving a great deal of work to be done to address the risks that climate change presents to the global economy and to investments,” they said.
They said, “we underscore the importance of concluding a legally-binding agreement this year with comprehensive long-term measures for mitigation, forest protection, adaptation, finance, and technology transfer, including a global emission reduction target of 50-85% by 2050, consistent with estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”
“Though we are sobered by how much still remains to be done after Copenhagen, we nevertheless are encouraged by the incremental progress made,” the investors said.
“Achieving some level of commitment from the United States, China, and India is a crucial and unprecedented step, and we urge nations to submit ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments as part of the Copenhagen Accord before the end of this month.”
The Copenhagen Accord is an agreement drawn up by heads of government from the United States, China, India, Brazil and South Africa that was recognized by the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change at the Copenhagen summit, but it is not a global climate treaty.
U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern at the Copenhagen summit. (Photo courtesy ENB )
U.S. climate official Stern told the investors meeting today, “The Copenhagen Accord and a global treaty are not at odds, but can work together to get the job done.”
The investors said today that the commitment in Copenhagen by developed countries to provide billions of dollars in financing for developing countries to cope with climate change “represents an important start.”
“Some 85 percent of the financial resources needed to cope with climate challenges must come from private sources. In effect, the battle over climate change will be won – or lost – in the hands of private investors,” said Bjarne Graven Larsen, CIO of ATP, Denmark’s largest institutional investor.
“In order to play this role effectively, strong, stable and credible policy frameworks are crucial,” Larsen said. “We are waiting for policymakers to deliver.”
“Investors are poised and ready to scale up investments in building the low carbon economy, but without policies that create a stable investment environment our hands are tied,” said Anne Stausboll, chief executive officer of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), America’s largest public pension fund with more than $205 billion in assets.
Anne Stausboll (Photo courtesy CalPERS )
“U.S. leadership is critical in this regard, including U.S. Senate action to limit and put a price on carbon emissions,” Stausboll said.
“What investors need most from national and state legislatures are transparency, longevity and certainty,” said Kevin Parker, global head of Deutsche Asset Management and member of Deutsche Bank’s Group Executive Committee.
“Until the U.S. Congress passes climate regulation, America will be at a competitive disadvantage in the development of renewable energy and other climate change industries,” he said.
The Investor Statement on Catalyzing Investment in a Low-Carbon Economy was endorsed by four groups representing more than 190 investors – the Investor Network on Climate Risk, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, IIGCC, the Investor Group on Climate Change, and the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative.
“Given that Copenhagen was a missed opportunity to create one fully functional international carbon market, it is more important than ever that individual governments implement regional and domestic policy change to stimulate the creation of a low carbon economy,” said Peter Dunsombe, chairman of the IIGCC, a network of European investors.
“Time is of the essence and world leaders from both developed and developing countries need to act now to compensate for the lack of progress at an international level,” he said.
In their statement, the investors observed that the costs of action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are “both affordable and significantly lower than the costs of inaction,” but said developing a global low-carbon economy will require “substantially increased levels of investment from the private sector.”
The UNFCCC Secretariat estimates that more than $200 billion in total additional investment capital for mitigation is required each year by 2030 just to return greenhouse gases to their current levels by then.
The International Energy Agency estimates that additional investment of $10.5 trillion is needed globally in just the energy sector from 2010-2030 to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at around 450 parts per million, the investors noted.
Mindy Lubber (Photo courtesy Ceres )
“This equates to roughly 0.1% of the total value of world financial assets and approximately 0.23% of the total value of debt and equity securities, so this is certainly an achievable level of investment – and one that would yield returns in terms of energy savings, energy security, reduced capital expenditures for pollution control, and avoided climate damages,” they said. “But it is also well above current investment levels.”
“As powerful as these investors are, they can’t underwrite a clean energy transformation at the critical scale needed without clear rules only government can provide,” said Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, a U.S. coalition of investors and environmental groups, and director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk.
“Government policy can make clean energy cost-competitive by leveling the playing field with fossil fuels,” Lubber said. “Only government policy provides the long-term certainty that can turbo-charge private investment in clean energy, address the climate change threat and protect our planet.”
Click here to download the Investor Statement on Catalyzing Investment in a Low-Carbon Economy.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2010. All rights reserved.
—— End of Forwarded Message
For more on change, join our community at ChangingNormal.com.
For more on Collaborative Design, see how to create your own Colab.
In Spirit,
Vic
Posted on January 5, 2010 - by Vic Desotelle
Communication: Differentiating Debate, Discussion, & Dialogue
I have been asked to clarify the difference between ‘debates‘, ‘discussions‘, and ‘dialogues‘ (note wikipedia incorrectly clumps discussion into the same definition as ‘debate’). Below is a first attempt at trying to evolve our understanding of these three primary communication processes. I ask for your feedback, and also for your own insights on this matter.
The intent here is to help organizational change processes be more conscious and more effective by becoming aware that how we communicate with each other strongly effects meeting outcomes, as well as how well thsoe outcomes sustain the desired changes. In short, this is all about how we make conscious decisions that influence positive change.
Our world is in dire need of evolved decision-making techniques that can provide us with a better way for sharing and choosing solutions that are healthier for ourselves and the planet. Effective communication is the glue that allows for real, sustained change to happen. Note that communication colors all levels of organizational development, including its methods of leadership, its ability to learn, team work and collaboration, and the sustainability of innovation itself.
DEBATE = Language is manipulated with the intent to cripple other viewpoints (argumentative). Change is hard to come by with this approach. However, it is useful for keeping an existing systems in place. Energy comes from the lizard mechanisms in the brain, which attempt to protect and defend. The person with the most power over another is seen as the best leader. This process is not good for creating change except at conscious predetermined places in the process where challenge generates a different thought process that can bring clarity and assurance on choices that have been made.
DISCUSSION = Questioning each other comes from a predisposed positioning (having an agenda). Change is possible but usually can not be sustained due to the process being based on a questioning process that makes each feel someone has to win. Others often loose their identity to consensus. It’s based on a sudo-democracy process whereby everyone unconsciously assumes that there is a best answer, thus only one viewpoint is ultimately chosen. Occasionally discussion moves into dialog, but usually it moves into debate.
DIALOG = Collaborative inquiry with an openness to possibilities beyond each others own beliefs and views. Communication about communication happens allowing the creation of a safe environment; a place where the unexpected and insight can happen more freely. Everyone’s viewpoint is allowed whether or not others agree with it. All work to wear the shoes of the one speaking and seek to integrate diversity rather than extract the best answer. It stands for the power of the question is valued more than answers. The challenge for creating change is that too often dialog does not move toward decision-making and action.
TRILOG = Ideally, all three forms of conversation are useful if used in tandem with each other. Dialog is to be used during the early envisioning stages. Discussion during the goals and strategy-making stages, but only at the point when decisions have to be determined. Debate is useful to challenge a new system against an old one. It must be used very consciously however, because otherwise power over can destroy all previous efforts. Dialog should again be used to close a group’s process because it brings us back to our humanity and to what’s most important, which are the relationships. They are as important (or more) than the outcomes generated by the group, for it is what becomes the foundation for sustaining the determined change.
About Room Geometry = One final point to make here is this: Be aware of the geometry of the room in which people gather. If shared views are the choice, be sure to stage the room with multiple small circles in mind. If one person’s opinion is to be impressed upon the group, then line up the chairs in straight lines without breaking up the group. I for one almost always choose to use circular geometries because it seems to appease the need for all to feel like they are participants rather than merely receivers of information. A room’s geometry needs to be considered at all levels of a community’s decision-making hierarchy including company meetings, town hall meetings, city council meetings, board rooms, and living room gatherings.
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To bring in more of a trilog approach (with an emphasis on ‘dialogue), use this collaborative design tool during your next meeting: Create a ‘Learning Exchange Markeplace‘. For more information, contact Vic Desotelle at DiscoveryFuel.com
Posted on January 4, 2010 - by Vic Desotelle
Creating a Learning Exchange Marketplace
Learning Exchange Markets uncover hidden innovation which is often at the fringes of an organization. Within a Learning Exchange Market, a shift of emphasis occurs between the participants from debates and discussions to generative dialogue, which must be in place for true forms of sustainable innovation to emerge. During the learning exchange process, multiple conversations – both strategic and envisioning, are allowed to occur at the same time. 
This approach actually accelerates results toward action-oriented activities while also empowering the individuals who will become responsible for the deliverables. It works miracles for companies working on becoming a learning organization. And your idea can’t get bagged or pushed aside!
One of the primary tools applied to Learning Exchange Markets is called ‘Open Space’ …..
The ‘Open Space Technology’ Concept
(as described from Co-Intelligence Inst.)
” In my experience open space is based on the belief that we humans are intelligent, creative, adaptive, meaning- and fun-seeking. It sets the context for such creatures to come together knowing they are going to treat each other well. When this happens there is no limit to what can unfold.” Alan Stewart
Open Space Technology was created in the mid-1980s by organizational consultant Harrison Owen when he discovered that people attending his conferences loved the coffee breaks better than the formal presentations and plenary sessions. Combining that insight with his experience of life in an African village, Owen created a totally new form of conferencing.
Open Space conferences have no keynote speakers, no pre-announced schedules of workshops, no panel discussions, no organizational booths. Instead, sitting in a large circle, participants learn in the first hour how they are going to create their own conference. Almost before they realize it, they become each other’s teachers and leaders.
Anyone who wants to initiate a discussion or activity, writes it down on a large sheet of paper in big letters and then stands up and announces it to the group. After selecting one of the many pre-established times and places, they post their proposed workshop on a wall. When everyone who wants to has announced and posted their initial offerings, it is time for what Owen calls “the village marketplace”: Participants mill around the wall, putting together their personal schedules for the remainder of the conference. The first meetings begin immediately.
Open Space is, as Owen likes to say, more highly organized than the best planning committee could possibly manage. It is also chaotic, productive and fun. No one is in control. A whirlwind of activity is guided from within by a handful of simple principles.
[For managers with concerns for loss of control, the principles below will seem ridiculous, and the Open Space approach may drive you crazy - but only for awhile ... Once you see how much work actually gets done, and how happy everyone is while doing this process, you'll never have a (so-called) normal meeting again!]
The ‘Open Space’ Principles:
1. Passion & Responsibility: The most basic principle is that everyone who comes to an Open Space conference must be passionate about the topic and willing to take some responsibility for creating things out of that passion.
2. Whoever comes are the right people.
3. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.
4. Whenever it starts is the right time.
5. When it is over it is over.
6. The Law of Two Feet (see below):
“If you find yourself in a situation where you aren’t learning or contributing, go somewhere else” (or move to another level of awareness and participation). This law causes some participants to flit from activity to activity. Owen rejoices in such people, calling them bumblebees because they cross-pollinate all the workshops. He also celebrates participants who use The Law of Two Feet to go off and sit by themselves. He dubs them butterflies, because they create quiet centers of non-action for stillness, beauty, novelty or random conversations to be born.
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Open space conferences can be done in one day or less, but the most powerful go on for two or three days, or longer. Participants gather together briefly in the morning and the evening to share experiences and announce any new workshops they have concocted. The rest of the day is spent in intense conversation. Even meals are come-when-you-can affairs that go on for hours, filled with bustling dialogue. After a few days of this, an intense spirit of community usually develops that is all the more remarkable considering that participants are all doing exactly what they want.
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Open Space conferences are particularly effective when a large, complex operation needs to be thoroughly re-conceptualized and reorganized — when the task is just too big and complicated to be sorted out “from the top.” On the assumption that such a system contains within it the seeds of everything that needs to happen with it, Open Space provides it with an opportunity to self-organize into its new configuration. For this to work, however, the system’s leaders must let go of control so that true self-organization can take place.
Open Space Technology is also a delightful, useful tool for any group of people who are really interested in exploring something that they all care deeply about, and is one of the simplest, most brilliant combinations of order and chaos that I have yet found. It has been applied in thousands of meetings around the world with between five and one thousand participants. It can be effectively used by virtually anybody. Owen has provided excellent instructions in his books, below.
- Books: Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide, Expanding Our Now: The Story of Open Space Technology, Harrison Owen, The Millennium Organization
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HOW TO CREATE A LEARNING EXCHANGE MARKETPLACE
(by Discovery Fuel)
Download Discovery Fuel’s Design Packet For Creating Your Own Learning Exchange Marketplace
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Click on image to download Learning Exchange Market planner
Learning Exchange – SCHEDULE
(3 1/2 hour evening sample)
6:15 Check Bulletin Board for Announcements
6:30 Mission Statement
6:40 Brief Introductions
6:50 How It Works
7:00 The Exchange Market
7:30 1st Period Sessions
8:00 2nd Period Sessions
8:30 Share Learning
9:00 End
Learning Exchange – PROCESS
1. Write Down Session Proposals
2. Questions are as Appropriate as Answers
3. Verbally Announce Your Session
4. Post Session on Schedule Wall
5. Combine Proposals, Negotiate Times
6. Period A Sessions Begin, Take Notes
7. Integrate Notes into One Report
8. Period B Sessions Begin, Keep a Log
9. Integrate Notes into One Report
10. Note Sessions A and B may be Merged
11. Group Reporting of Sessions Begins
12. Bulletin Board To Post Ideas, Notices
13. Info Exchange meetings are bi-weekly.
14. Results Incorporated at Bi-weekly Strategy Meetings and Continued at Next Info Exchange Meeting
Learning Exchange – PRINCIPLES
· Whoever comes is right. Whatever happens … happens.
· Leave personal status outside. Bring ideas and knowledge inside.
· Be passionate about the topics. Take responsibility for creating things out of that passion.
· Law of Two Feet: If you aren’t learning or contributing, increase participation, or move to another session.
· Stay focused on topic
· One person talking at a time
· Shift ‘Yeah-But’ responses to ‘YES-AND’
· Listen with empathy, suspend judgment
· Encourage & build on the wild ideas of others.
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Download Discovery Fuel’s Design Packet (pdf file) for creating a Learning Exchange Marketplace. For more information contact us for a chat.
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Posted on November 27, 2009 - by Vic Desotelle
Millions of dollars are spent every year on advertising, marketing communications and package design. Companies spend thousands of dollars conducting market research focus groups and interviews to ensure that their advertising and marketing resonates with the intended audience. Yet, all too frequently, the most important step for ensuring that your company’s advertising and marketing dollars are well-spent, and that your market research will produce valuable insights and actionable results, is left to chance.
Selecting a competent, professional focus group moderator or qualitative research consultant should not be left up to your advertising agency.
The market research industry is brimming with talented focus group moderators and qualitative research consultants who have been educated and trained in methods and techniques that can bring forth valuable nuggets of information. Many come with glittering credentials and impressive track records. The focus group rooms are littered with focus group moderators who have PhD, MBA, MPH, MM and even JD after their names. Some have even crossed over from the “client side” of the table and then received training as focus group moderators, a powerful combination. However, all of these credentials and training won’t guarantee you will have the right moderator for your project.
So, what can you do to ensure that you will select the “right” focus group moderator or qualitative research consultant for YOUR next research project? Here are a few simple steps that you may want to consider.
• Contact the Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA) for names of qualified professional focus group moderators
• Choose at least three focus group moderators or qualitative research consultants with experience conducting market research in your industry. Then contact them about your project and send them a Request for Proposal (RFP).
• Evaluate their research proposals using the following guidelines:
o Is the proposal customized to respond to your RFP, demonstrating a solid understanding of the industry and the research objectives?
o Does it contain a clearly defined research methodology including sampling, recruiting and screening criteria for conducting focus groups or interviews?
o Is there a delineation of tasks and project responsibilities with a timeline for each?
o Will the project or focus group deliverable (report/presentation) provide you with a vehicle to communicate the research results in a meaningful manner to internal constituents?
o Are the market research costs reasonable and within your budget?
• Select your preferred focus group moderator and arrange for a telephone interview, during which you should:
o Ask questions that will provide insight into their knowledge, listening skills, and their ability to engage you in conversation.
o Ask what market research techniques the focus group moderator uses to encourage creative thinking and facilitates discussion.
o Request sample focus group discussion and interview guides.
o Request references
These four simple steps will help you select the right focus group moderator or qualitative research consultant and make the most of your market research dollar. For more information about focus group moderation or conducting your company’s market research, contact go to http://www.bmrc-research.com or contact Caryn Balaban directly at Caryn@BMRC-research.com.
Caffeinated Content
Posted on November 22, 2009 - by Vic Desotelle
Innovation: A Three Phase Transformation Process
I often like to dabble in the abstract. There, I am taken to transitory state that help me feel closer to the Creative Source. For example: below consists of two intertwined trinity models, of which I like to play with when considering the architecture of ‘whole systems‘. These models help us to both ‘look at’ and ‘participate in’ (w)holistically oriented organizations and communities: “structure-pattern-process” and “principle-practice-policy“. Note the principle of ‘three’ shows up in my work a lot, because I believe it helps us to expand our consciousness, while at the same time providing a simple framework to contain the complex nature of creativity and innovation. You will see more discussions relating to these concepts from me over time. Let me know what comes up for you when you read through it. For now, soak your mind on this draft concept and see what comes up for you …
Transformation (deep innovation) occurs through a three phase evolution:
I’ve been thinking about the potential for progressing toward a global mind: My experiences with group emergence have noted that a majority of efforts collapse before the desire is sustained and self-propelled; a progression toward the vision that initiated the group in the first place. I propose the reason for this is that there is only a one or two level strategic plan in place made up of immediate context without the anticipation of collective content; a synthesis from which the incredible happens.
What if we instead provide a guiding framework that allows group migration into deeper forms of connection with each other? Eventually this connection moves into behavioral forms of change and action. I believe this can be done using a 3-phase framework for processing together; thereby allowing a group to consciously see itself go through deep transformation. This would mean for each phase of processing together, there is a SYNTHESIS of its content – a summarizing of what has been done. This would occur as a part of all three phases; thereby generating a thread of synthesis that allows integration.
8 Gate Alignment Map (Click to enlarge)
These three phases are as follows, which can be noted in the 8-gate group alignment map diagram:
1- Establishing Group Intention:
This phase’s nature is chaotic. It is expressed by conversations of desire and passion which drive an unfolding *PROCESS*. A focus on creating +PRINCIPLES+ based on diverse values, which opens of new level of awareness; thereby setting the stage for a loosening of existing physical *structure* and allowing change to occur. Vibrational activity is dissonant (unconscious) and non-geometric.
2- Building a Value Network:
This phase’s nature moves from chaotic to chaordic. It is expressed by individuals linking and clustering around collective ideas – a virtual *STRUCTURE* emerges. A focus on creating +PRACTICES+ sets the stage for individual changes in behavior and an early forming of group identity to occur. Vibrational activity is recognizable (awakening consciousness) but not stable.
3- Experiencing a Community of Practice:
This phase’s nature moves from chaordic into order. It is expressed by the emergence of community (collective) identity PATTERNS to be realized and an acceptance of participatory-oriented activities are in place. A focus on creating +POLICY+ is empasized; thereby a change of governance occurs.
More on this concept later …
Vic Desotelle
Posted on November 21, 2009 - by Vic Desotelle
1. Final Outcome
Profits as Proof. Agencies do not represent overhead to be justified. Agencies are deployed when the investment can be shown to generate profits, and they know they have to prove it every time. Intrigue Design has a proven plan to combine image with message and smart marketing strategies to produce results. That result needs to be a solution that converts all your creative efforts into sales.
2. Track Record
How many brands has your in-house marketing person/team built and transformed into growth- and revenue-generators? Probably not many. The team at Intrigue Design has put hundreds of brands to work generating rewards for their companies.
3. Depth & Experience
Branding is a big job. One person can’t do it. It requires a first-rate team of marketing strategists, writers, designers, developers and media experts and many others. Intrigue Design has them all, with well over 20 years of experience in management.
4. Cost
Hiring even a few experts in each of these fields will cost you well in excess of $300,000 a year. A creative agency like Intrigue Design can offer turn-key solutions, including all services and products at a fraction of the cost of a less impactfull in-house solution.
5. Project Management
Every project gets a full-time project manager to assure fast and efficient communication and project fulfillment. Additionally Intrigue Design has created a web-based project viewing, revision and approval system so you can check, collaborate and make changes to your projects 24/7. .
6. Environment
Our managers are able to collaborate with all of our creative talent instantly via our proprietary job management system. It allows us to try out new ideas, critique each other’s work, analyze and improve strategies, brainstorm, etc. Additionally Intrigue Design has state-of-the-art hardware, network and software as well as a full network of professional vendors to assure marketing success. This quite simply isn’t available as an in-house option.
7. Truth
The job of an outside agency is to look at your organization objectively and tell you the truth about your strengths, weaknesses and needs. (We’re not afraid to tell the boss he or she is wrong!) It is well known that most companies have an “inside out” perspective of their business. As “outsiders,” Intrigue Design is able to focus on the outside-in perspective – which is that of your customers.
Caffeinated Content
Posted on November 17, 2009 - by Vic Desotelle
Is your upcoming meeting a strategic planning session? A sales or project launch? A departmental communications day? Or, perhaps, teambuilding for an intact management or project team? Whichever it is, it undoubtedly involves a significant investment.
First you have the value of the participants’ time, more precious than ever in this time-starved work world. Second, add in the cost of any facility rental, AV equipment, travel, food and lodging. Finally, and most important, there is the opportunity cost if, following your meeting, plans and decisions are not carried out or your team’s behavior does not change for the better.
When to Use a Facilitator
One way to maximize your investment is to engage the services of a professional facilitator. Now, not every meeting needs a facilitator but here are four situations where one will pay off for you:
1. When you want to participate, yourself. It’s not possible to facilitate and participate-even a group of facilitators needs a facilitator! Also, a boss cannot effectively facilitate because people will still react to him or her as the boss.
2. When you will be addressing sensitive issues, including conflict. An outsider’s dispassionate head can diffuse heated exchanges and channel intense emotions into constructive problem-solving.
3. When your team is stuck. A skilled facilitator will, with sensitivity, raise to the group issues that are being avoided or even dysfunctional behaviors that are being denied. In so doing, he/she can help the team move to a new level of productive functioning.
4. When your group will be dealing with complex issues and a variety of viewpoints. A seasoned facilitator brings to your meeting a wealth of group processes and activities to scope issues, generate options, make decisions and build consensus.
What a Facilitator Does
In a nutshell, they design and manage your meeting’s process, ensure you achieve the meeting’s objectives, and help your group or team learn and enhance its ongoing effectiveness beyond the meeting.
Prior to your session he/she will help you clarify your desired meeting outcomes and design an agenda and process to meet those goals. In some cases, depending upon the issues, your facilitator may recommend some up front diagnostic work. For example, he/she might send out a survey questionnaire or even conduct one-on-one interviews, by phone or in person, with a cross-section or all of the participants. The purpose here would be to collect different perspectives on specific issues or generate advance input to work with at the meeting.
During the meeting, let your facilitator lead the process, so you can become as actively involved as possible as a participant. He/she will keep the meeting moving forward, respond appropriately to significant, unforeseen issues that arise and move the group to closure at the end, accomplishing the objectives for which you have contracted. Normally you will need check in only occasionally with him/her regarding the meeting’s direction and progress.
The post-meeting period is when your group puts into action what was agreed upon in the session. Your facilitator can suggest ways to keep the meeting’s decisions and commitments alive in the weeks and months that follow. This could involve the facilitator’s following-up with individuals, a brief survey of progress to-date and results achieved, or even a group “booster” meeting for participants to report in and maintain the momentum.
What to Look for in Your Facilitator
Facilitation is different from public speaking and training. It is not about having solid content, good platform skills and an understanding of adult learning principles. Facilitation is about working with groups of people in the moment. That is, being tuned in at all times to what is happening and being able to suspend or change the process accordingly.
Here are five attributes to look for when selecting a professional to guide your session:
1. Superb communications skills. Especially the ability to listen intently and to come up with the right words and tone to address a tense situation.
2. Comfortable “in their own shoes.” The self-confidence to be on the receiving end of confrontational words and either stand their ground or admit their error.
3. Willingness to put the group first. When facilitating, the group is the “star,” not the facilitator. Big egos do not make good facilitators.
4. Understanding of group process theory. He/she should be able to apply concepts such as leadership, group norms, stages of team development, systems theory, dialogue and experiential learning to the design and facilitation of your meeting.
5. Flexibility to let the process unfold. While advance planning is important for your meeting’s success, things come up in the session itself that require, for the good of the group, that you alter the plan-perhaps even throw it out completely. A rigid, control-oriented facilitator can frustrate your group and torpedo your results.
Results You Can Expect
If you use a facilitator in any of the four conditions that call for one, you are almost certain to accomplish more in your session, delve deeper into critical issues and resolve them, and have your participants leave with positive feelings, cohesiveness, a sense of accomplishment and a renewed belief in the team
Now that constitutes a solid payback on your investment!
Kansieo.com
Posted on November 16, 2009 - by Vic Desotelle
Virtual teams need the support of a secure, easy to use, web-based collaboration environment that allows them to work and share ideas across time zones and continents. Central Desktop (CD) is an online collaboration software solution that supports efficient communication among members of virtual teams, their superiors and their clients.
Central Desktop’s web-based collaboration software provides group calendar management, task management, online conferencing, group forums, spreadsheets and more. It also has a time tracking feature that allows users to track the actual time they spend on a project, which is valuable from a project management perspective. Central Desktop’s new database API allows users to work seamlessly between CD and other software applications. So, once a user is logged in to CD, they don’t have to switch windows and log into several accounts, toggling back and forth between several applications.
In order to be successful, virtual teams have a few basic needs in common:
• communicate in real time
• share files, photos, audio and video
• manage project milestones, resources and tasks
Most importantly, all of the members of the team need to have access to the most current information in real time so that they can effectively complete their tasks, and contribute to the team’s objective.
Online collaboration tools have greatly facilitated the effectiveness of virtual teams. These tools have saved organizations substantial amounts of money in travel and relocation expenses and allowed teams to assign tasks to employees in distant locations because they help to solve many of the dilemmas suffered by virtual teams.
Most knowledge workers have used email and IM or chatting as a means of collaborating with team members and other co-workers for many years now. But online collaboration software is quickly transforming the world of online collaboration. These online tools provide several different options for virtual collaboration that are easy to adopt and enjoyable to use.
So, with the support of a robust online collaboration environment, virtual teams can use the various collaboration software tools that Central Desktop provides to manage their tasks, communicate with each other, and share resources easily and securely to help the team be as effective as possible.
Kansieo.com
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Based on a work at VicDesotelle.com.
