What is most important?

Negotiate your mandate with the owner of the event. First get clarity about the expected results, and then choose the appropriate methods.

Successful facilitation begins with preparation. Make sure, the programme meets the expectations of the owner and the concerned group.

Limit yourself to what is feasible. If needed, re-negotiate your mandate.

At the start of every event, make a clear agreement with the participants (objective, programme, time frame, roles, and procedure).

Stick to your role (process manager) and respect the role of the participants (experts of content).

Communities of Practice (CoP)

A CoP is a network of people with a common interest or problem in a specific area of competence and who are willing to work together for a given time to learn, develop and share that knowledge.

Six essential aspects of a successful CoP

Strong community – a group of (more or less) active members with a lively interest for the CoP and its topics and who give it priority. Member pool is often fluctuating not stable.

Clear and well-defined domain – there is a specific thematic orientation; the domain is relevant and meaningful to members.

Link to own practice - members are active in the given domain. Shared experiences, concepts and strategies spring from and are being tested against the individual reality of practice.

Personal motivation – membership is voluntary and based on personal interest.

Mandate – the involved organization(s) defines and is interested in the given thematic focus and has an interest in a concrete outcome. Commitment of members is supported by providing necessary working time and resources.

Informal structure – goes beyond organizational boxes and lines, often combining horizontal and diagonal links. It makes a link between units within and/or between the organization(s).

Important

Ensure that key stakeholders are members; balance giving and taking.

Strive for most practical and tangible outputs/outcomes; disseminate them widely.

Carefully select how to “be connected” – balance and combine face to face meetings with other means.

Combine informality with a basic set of rules for communication and collaboration.

Ensure ownership within – cultivate and support the roles of manager, expert, facilitator.Adjust to changes in the environment.

Open Space

Open Space is a self-organizing practice that allows all kinds of people in any kind of organization to create inspired meetings and events. It is known to kindle enormous energies and to bring forth fast and well-documented results. Participants of an open space event create and manage their own agenda of parallel working sessions around a central theme of strategic importance. By inviting people to take responsibility for what they care about it releases the inherent creativity and leadership in people, establishes a marketplace of inquiry, reflection and learning bringing out the best in both individuals and the whole group. Open Space can be used to work with groups of 5 to 1000 people, for events of two hours to several days. It works best when work to be done is complex, the people and ideas involved are diverse, the passion for resolution (and potential for conflict) are high, and time is very limited.

How to go about an Open Space event

Select a focusing statement/question that frames the higher purpose and widest context for discussion in a positive way

Invite all stakeholders and/or who you feel should be part of it

Prepare the workplace with a free space and writing materials in the centre (noting down of ideas), a blank agenda wall (posting of issues and ideas for discussion or work) and a news wall (reporting back from sub-groups)

Explain theme and process of the event and invite people to write down what is of heart and meaning to them (form: topic, name, time and space for meeting)

Open the marketplace – “offers” are put on the agenda wall, let people sign up and have them work independently (incl. reporting back to news wall).

Make closing round to collect and share highlights.

Mail out report created (collection of reports of sub-groups) to all participants

Balanced Scorecard (BSC)

The balanced scorecard is a strategic planning and management system that enables an organization to put its strategy into action. BSC helps the organization to align all its activities to its vision and strategic goals, to improve its internal and external communication and to monitor organizational performance against these same strategic goals. The core piece of the system is a matrix, the so-called balanced scorecard. This matrix depicts the strategic goals that are split into objectives for four dimensions of an organization. It also includes the concrete activities necessary to fulfill the objectives, the expected results of the same as well as the related assigned responsibilities. What is special about the BSC is that it looks at the organization not only from a financial perspective, but also includes other perspectives such as personnel, learning and growth, business processes and customer satisfaction. It therefore yields an integrated, balanced picture of an organization and makes it easy to observe/steer organizational performance.

How to go about a Balanced Scorecard

Formulate mission, vision and strategic goal of the organization

Develop the balanced scorecard matrix

Brake down the strategic goal into objectives and concrete activities within the relevant dimensions (e.g. customer view, internal business processes, learning, growth and innovation, finances).

Come up with and select strategic initiatives/activities (goal, action, indicator)

Club initiatives into strategic projects.

Implement strategic projects (clear assignment of responsibilities!).

Communicate the planned activities and results by means of a reporting scorecard.

Organize the learning process – reflection, adaption and new projects.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16