May 8 and 9 Azenet Spring Conference: Building Capacity for Organizaitonal Effectiveness

Discussion Hosts Wanted – Strategic Learning

As part of the Arizona Evaluation Network (AZENet) Spring Conference
Which will be held on May 8 and May 9, 2012
Azenet is looking for people to host discussions on Strategic Learning on May 8.

We are looking for people who can share a story about a team or organization that has an example of making changes as a result of data/information they learned from. We are interested in exploring how teams or organizations started moving toward the practice of strategic learning.

• What led to the interest in practicing strategic learning?
• What were the first steps?
• What initial successes were there?
• What supported the new use of information to make changes or decisions?

If you are interested in sharing your experience with strategic learning on May 8, 2012 please send an email to Cassandra O’Neill by March 15, 2012 at cassandraoneill@comcast.net or call her at 520 403-0687.

Conference Theme: Building Capacity for Organizational Effectiveness
May 8 and 9 2012, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. each day Tempe, Arizona

Interested in learning more about what research shows builds capacity for organizational effectiveness? Join us for a day of dynamic presentations and small group discussions.

Day 1 will focus on answering the question: What does research show leads to organizational effectiveness in three key areas: Adaptive Capacity/Strategic Learning, Leadership, and Management Practices?
Day 2 will focus on decision-making when investing in capacity building, that aligns with research on organizational effectiveness.
Keynote Speaker: Peter York, TCC Group. Peter York is Senior Partner and Chief Research and Learning Officer at TCC Group. As the field learns more about what it takes to help organizations become effective, some long-standing assumptions about what constitutes high-quality capacity building are being challenged. TCC Group (TCC) has designed, implemented, managed and evaluated over 70 capacity building initiatives, organizations and projects over the past 12 years. Through this body of work, TCC has amassed a significant amount of data and research findings which, in aggregate, are shedding light on what works and what does not when it comes to nonprofit organizational capacity building. More information available at http://www.tccgrp.com
Information about the conference is available at www.azenet.org. Please register by April 15, 2012.


http://www.wholonomyconsulting.com

Download Our Flexible Action Planning Tool

Download our flexibility action planning tool at idea encore. https://www.ideaencore.com/item/bubble-sheet-%E2%80%93-flexible-action-planning-tool

Examples of ideas that participants in the February 2 TAP Talk came up with on how to use this tool are below:

Notes from February 2, 2012 TAP Talk Small Group Discussions

Question: How could you use the bubble sheet thinking tool in your work in the sector? How will this information support your work / how might you use this tool?

Table 1:
• Creative thinking of new strategies
• Develop other tools to launch new strategies
• Opportunity for focused dialogue for action
• focused brainstorming too
• Help you respond from new information to shift strategies
• honest assessment - creates an opportunity for focused introspection
• Allows people to move from individual introspection to collective to mission focused action
• Clarify goals to match and align action
• Creates a balance between quality and quantity frames
• Sparks innovation by all

Table 2:
• Stakeholder exercise- board members, staff, volunteers, community, funders, donors, constituents/clients, committees.
• This will give all stakeholders a voice
• Can be used to re-evaluate goals that are already in place and change

Table 3:
• Facilitate group that has identified a problem and how to reach a solution
• Good starting tool which direction isn’t clear, starts through process
• Help plan event
• Use to help access goals already made
• Help through process to better articulate goals
• Use tool to have everyone on the same page with a goal
• Enhance leadership

Table 4:
• Decide where org is before getting started w/brainstorming “whole” context
• Board/program/personal development, Board recruitment
• Current status
• Personal development strengths and skill sets
• Look at task to be done
• Where does expertise lie
• Commitment to honesty and/or reality

Table 5:
• Give it as a planning session
• Using it in a crisis situation where change is needed
• Strategic planning, on-going process change
• Re-organize bubbles in a way that fosters visualization
• Encourages engagement at all levels
• Structured way to speak; reigns in emotion for dicey situations
• Inclusiveness ensures transparencies
• Demonstrate the evolvement of change (storyboarding, etc..)
• Use it as a part of a continuous improvement process
• Can be used for narrow and broad issues

Table 6:
• Focus on Mission
• Collecting perspectives
• Formulate a plan (action steps)
• Reassess the strengths
• Helps to improve the process

Table 7:
• To work with individuals to capture their ideas
• Access capacity in all individuals within the group
• Strategic planning process
• Educate
• How does individual role contribute to the group
• Motivation
• Communication

Table 8:
• Promoting Indigeneous Culture to the community
• Lack of exposure close mindedness, lack of access
• Provide education, community connection, cultural connection and inclusiveness
• Community awareness creation, youth education, promotorias

Table 9:
• Take brainstorming worksheet to L.C.D.
This becomes about ownership
This empowers people and allows them to make decisions
Also allows you to find out what ideas people have
• A good way to break down complex issues
• Communications bottom up
• Celebrate failures, they lead to success

Table 10:
• Bubble sheet used to stay on track
• Set a standard for the separate divisions to maintain cohesiveness
• Strengthen group goals by getting buy-in
• Organization tool for free-flowing ideas and helps establish guidelines for coping/adaptation skills
• Lets creative presentation of ideas be placed into formatted layout for others to understand.
• Helpful tool to organize broad brainstorming, especially in board meetings (present before-hand)

Table 11:
• Acknowledge specific challenges and function effectively
• Site causes of disfunction (discovery) i.e. procrastination
• Define strengths
• Lack of understanding
• Terror- the bubble sheet can provide an open/safe way for co-workers to express concerns/fears- ultimately be able to deal with problems “head on”
• Building on successes – capacity building, activating positivity, appreciation leads to motivation
• Relationship “Human” investment
• Communication policies build into the organization

Table 12:
• Useful in engaging a group in thinking about goals
• Good vehicle for unifying understanding of overall vision of organization
• Useful for facilitating ownership and two-way communication related to vision, direction, and goals.

Table 13:
• Help broaden vision
• Use with a community group
• Understand each person’s connection/importance with the goal
• Looks at reasons for problems
• Focus on the organizations and personal roles (strengths/weaknesses)
• Tool helps move through a barrier; work together
• Looks at areas to improve

Table 14:
• Group involvement with decision making and goal setting
• Very flexible tool , personal goal vs company goal, strategic planning
• Moves between the complexities
• Builds on strengths
• Reveals expertise
• Confidence builder
• Intergenerational
• Creates group buy in
• Taps info different personalities and their knowledge
• Fluid
• Inspiring and unifying
• Comprehensive


Table 15:
Brainstorm: how to engage group in goal setting
1. Result collectively taking initiative and work together
2. Cause of what is happening now – individual responsibility for destination no clear direction
• Specifics goal aligned with mission
• Acct. ego resp – no buy in connection w/how meets own needs
3. Strengths
• Diversity creates total strength
• Education
• Expanding capacity to ask the right ???
4. Action Step
• Creating commitment
• Roadmap
• Budget/strateig planning
• Creating alliances for profit/nonprofit
• Resources available diversity, delicious crumbs
• New location for meeting
• Stories, testimonies
• Empowerment
• Creating experiences for activities
• Bd orientation workshop/expectation

5. Challenges
• Resistance to change/perceived loss
• Stuck
• Diversity brings challenges …
• Supply/demand
6. Changes
• Openmindedness
• How to get where we want to go
• Bod come together collaborate …
• Positive attitudes
• Passion for making change
• Synergy better



http://www.wholonomyconsulting.com