Facilitated Interactive Engagements are designed to guide organizations most quickly through tough decision-making processes that incorporate all stakeholder perspectives via group dynamics expertise and group communication technologies.
Meetings of key stakeholders for thinking together, for understanding each other, for innovating and, with good (and coached) leadership, making important decisions. The meeting formats are flexible — from all in the same room, to all online, or a blend of both. And at any size, up into the thousands.
With a computer tablet in each small group (on the table or in each online breakout group), connected via software built for large group communication, feeding an effective theming method, and all managed by the most experienced process designers … participants and leaders alike can know what the whole group is thinking in 5-10 minute time frames. This enables a “whole group dialogue” like no other.
Deeply experienced specialists pay careful attention to the purpose and group dynamics of an engagement and then manage large groups toward the desired outcomes. Add in knowledge of special technology for whole group communications and you have a powerhouse capability in our collaborative services.
When the stakes are high and the time is short, and when understanding and trust among critical stakeholders may be low … an interactive Facilitated Engagement is a bulls-eye approach. When the situation demands a higher degree of inclusion and collaboration than ever before, a FIE delivers it. When desired outcomes are a “stretch” and especially when leaders have exhausted all of the usual approaches … a FIE is the best and safest way forward.
Why? – To achieve alignment and then ownership of critical initiatives. We bow deeply to the reality that getting anything done in a multi-stakeholder environment, like in an institution of higher education, is tough. Very tough. For example, the constant problem of agreeing on difficult implementations, making the decision, and then accomplishing the result inside of an annual school cycle. Choosing an interactive Facilitated Engagement creates shorter time-to-decision and help circumvent issues related to insufficient knowledge transfer during committee member and staff turnover.
Here are scenes from a face-to-face Facilitated Engagement and brief observations by experts.
A facilitator develops and runs a series of active engagements to probe for purpose with the audience. When purpose(s) is clearly articulated, we design a series of interactions to move all participants through:
Co-creating sustainable decisions agreed upon by all in the shortest time possible.
We use technology to create connectivity. In a virtual engagement we use breakout rooms, In a face to face engagement we use tablet input devices and a dedicated wireless intranet meeting room connection—to deliver feedback and momentum faster.
The deep knowledge of group dynamics and meeting facilitation, (the core competency of organizational development experts). married with the technology enhanced group connectivity – is what produces inclusive discussions.
In a face to face engagement, we use the internet’s broad connectivity to hold “engagements” no matter where people are. You could choose 500 stakeholders in a large meeting room, or 12 critical stakeholders online in a series of calls.
These engagements are not limited in size because agendas are designed to support maximum interaction in the table groups/online breakout rooms, and between the groups and the stage/ facilitator working with the theme team. So in a group of 50, or 500, or 5,000, the experience is similar at each table/online breakout room. Well, almost. In fact, in larger group sizes the feeling while thinking together en masse is increasingly empowering.
