7 Responses

1. at the risk….
   at the risk of sounding trite, Laura, you need to give us some more information:
   ~is the whole day about objective setting?
   ~how many are there in the group?
   ~are they all from a specific discipline team or are they representatives of multiple disciplines?
   ~how senior are they; will their “vision” be passed to/imposed on others?
   ~is there reason to suppose that last year’s “vision” is no longer relevant?

   ..and finally…is it their “vision” or their “goal” that is needed as an output?

   Sorry to not provide answers but I don’t want to answer the “wrong” question.

   If you’d rather email me direct you can at rusdotslater(at)skydotcom
   (usual rules apply to that address to avoid spam)

2. Group goals
   Hi Laura,

   I use rich pictures with groups. This enables them to idenify teh goals and how to achieve them and generates energy and motivation as well.

   If you want the detaisl please e-mail me deirectly.

   n[dot]hindley1[at]btinternet[dot]com

   Cheers.

3. ebook
   Hi

   I’ve written a short ebook on “how to fulfill your intentions” if you’d like me to send it to you, get me on [email protected]

   Cheers

   Rich

4. some info for the forum
   FOR THE BENEFIT OF OTHER READERS WHO MIGHT LIKE TO FOLLOW THE DISCUSSION I SUBMIT THE ONLINE/OFF FORUM CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN LAURA AND MYSELF…

   LAURA REPLIED TO MY QUESTIONS BELOW WITH THE FOLLOWING:
   1. Is the whole day about objective setting?
   Yes

   2. How many are there in the group?
   12

   3. Are they all from a specific discipline team or are they representatives of multiple disciplines?
   They all do the same job and have similar backgrounds.

   4. How senior are they; will their “vision” be passed to/imposed on
   others?
   They are middle management. They project manage. They work with teams of people who are line managed by a different manager.
   Their goals / vision will heavily influence all the people working on their project (a total of about 50 associates).

   5. Is there reason to suppose that last year’s “vision” is no longer relevant?
   They never had one! The set up of this team has changed. This group were all doing the same job but were all working in different groups. They have now been bought together under one head and therefore need to establish what their goals are as a group.

   6. Is it their “vision” or their “goal” that is needed as an output?
   We want to establish what the ‘group’s vision is for 2008 and go on to look at how this translates into goals (preferable measurable)for them.

   MY RESPONSE FOLLOWS BUT AS A SEPERATE POST DUE TO THE LIMIT ON THE SITE

5. RESPONSE
   MY RESPONSE follows:

   Laura
   You might want to consider using a derivation of the 7 S model for this.
   Although it was originally used as way to evaluate excellence it can also be used as a holistic planning tool:
   The S’s are:-
   Shared Vision-what do we want to get out of the subject
   Strategy-generically how do we need to do this
   Staff-what people do we need to support this
   Structure-what hierarchy/organisation do we need
   Style-what day to day behaviours must we and others exhibit
   Systems-what reporting, communications, escalation systems will help (or hinder) achievement
   Skills-what competences will WE need, our PEOPLE need, their LINE MANAGERS need

   1. Start with the Shared Vision- as there are only 12 I’d say you can get them to work in two groups to answer a question-eg “What would we like to see as the way in which projects are delivered here?”
   Give them 30 minutes in two groups, share answers, then combine to produce one pithy answer supported by all. Get this written up on the wall in full to be referred to. It might read something like;

   “To have all projects planned and managed to a common method, actively supported by line managers and matrix managers alike”.

   2. Cover each of the other 6 S’s in turn by posing the question
   “To achieve the Shared Vision what do we need to have in the area of …..?

   3. You can use a different method for different S’s, eg all together brainstorm, 3 groups of 4, 2 groups of 6, or even one group on Staff and one on Skills (those two are linked). Where you use small groups you need to have a robust plenary session to get a consensus outcome which you then capture.

   4. After the event you can feed back to outcomes to the group (where they relate to the behaviours and activities of group members), to the HR function (where they relate to Performance management for matrix project team members who have “day jobs” elsewhere) and to senior managers (where support is needed in terms of co. policy or management clout)

   I have run sessions like this for organisations in the past and they have been extremely successful in creating usable outputs to drive the business forward.

6. A good ideas to help establish vision etc.
   Hi Laura – I have something I used recently which really helped a Senior Management team – happy to share that with you please feel free to give me a call on 01362 869181.

7. I can help!
   Hi Laura,

   I have a game I use and I would be happy to share it with you.

   Please contact me at [email protected]

   Regards,

   Sarah