Get To The Pointe Get To The Pointe Get To The Pointe WorkShop’s Monthly News- September 2010 Option Finder with Bill Newkirk 2 Pics of the Month 3 Kudos 4 Team building Tip 4 Coupon 4 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Are you ready for the 2011? Have you revised your plan? Repositioning your company can be an invigorating move - it's exciting to take a fresh approach and go after new opportunities. But change is also risky and over time, the momentum behind it can wane. When that happens, it's not uncommon for indi- viduals, units, or entire organizations to default to the old strategy. If your team re- lapses, how can you get things back on track and people re-focused on the new direc- tion? What the Experts Say The reality is that very few strategic changes are successful. In fact, only 5% of large- scale changes actually work, according to John P. Kotter, Chief Innovation Officer at Kotter International , a professor emeritus at Harvard Business School, and author of numerous books, including A Sense of Urgency . Taking a different approach — one that doesn't disconnect execution from strategy creation — helps prevent stalls before they happen, keeps your team focused, and could put your organization into that elite 5%. Create a "guiding coalition" Kotter suggests that all change efforts include a "guiding coalition" — a diverse, cross-functional, multi-level group with different skills and strengths. He warns that this is "not some dorky task force" but people who are excited about the change and ready and able to roll up their sleeves to drive it. If your team defaults back to the old strategy, consider bringing together a group of individuals who can take responsibility for pushing the change through. Choose the people who are most enthusiastic about the new direction and give them real work to do, focused on pushing the team for- ward. (Excerpts from The Harvard Business Review) The environment plays a huge role in the results you get when attending a strategic planning meeting. If you are meeting at work, in the same room that you have your routine meetings, you will continue to get routine answers and ideas. Companies that bring their teams to WorkShop get better results. Participants are much more relaxed and the environment lends itself to opening the doors to creativity. Everyone has a voice at WorkShop. Use the coupon on page 4 for your next meeting and check out our new ADA compliant space. Turn On The Power Of People and Ideas! -Mr. Watt Rainmakers in Louisville
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Transcript
Get To The PointeGet To The PointeGet To The Pointe
WorkShop’s Monthly News-
September 2010
Option Finder with Bill Newkirk
2
Pics of the Month 3
Kudos 4
Team building Tip 4
Coupon 4
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Are you ready for the 2011? Have you revised your plan?
Repositioning your company can be an invigorating move - it's exciting to take a
fresh approach and go after new opportunities. But change is also risky and over time,
the momentum behind it can wane. When that happens, it's not uncommon for indi-
viduals, units, or entire organizations to default to the old strategy. If your team re-
lapses, how can you get things back on track and people re-focused on the new direc-
tion?
What the Experts Say The reality is that very few strategic changes are successful. In fact, only 5% of large-
scale changes actually work, according to John P. Kotter, Chief Innovation Officer at
Kotter International, a professor emeritus at Harvard Business School, and author of
numerous books, including A Sense of Urgency.
Taking a different approach — one that doesn't disconnect execution from strategy
creation — helps prevent stalls before they happen, keeps your team focused, and
could put your organization into that elite 5%.
Create a "guiding coalition" Kotter suggests that all change efforts include a "guiding coalition" — a diverse,
cross-functional, multi-level group with different skills and strengths. He warns that
this is "not some dorky task force" but people who are excited about the change and
ready and able to roll up their sleeves to drive it. If your team defaults back to the old
strategy, consider bringing together a group of individuals who can take responsibility
for pushing the change through. Choose the people who are most enthusiastic about
the new direction and give them real work to do, focused on pushing the team for-
ward. (Excerpts from The Harvard Business Review)
The environment plays a huge role in the results you get when attending a strategic
planning meeting. If you are meeting at work, in the same room that you have your
routine meetings, you will continue to get routine answers and ideas. Companies that
bring their teams to WorkShop get better results. Participants are much more relaxed
and the environment lends itself to opening the doors to creativity. Everyone has a
voice at WorkShop. Use the coupon on page 4 for your next meeting and check out
Bill Newkirk, Louisville, travels all over the Country facilitating his unique way for participants to share their inner most thoughts and ideas in a safe manner. Bill uses the “Option Finder” . He has used it here at WorkShop with many groups who are truly looking for the solution and want their staff to be part of that solution. The Option Finder method is used to achieve results in meetings where anonymity is important. The process guarantees 100% anonymously, 100% inclusively, it is incisive, and it insures specific printed and graphic feedback.
Bill is a certified “Option Finder” instructor. He takes the participants will through a polling process designed to identify what they perceive to be obstacles in the pursuit of the their mission. Based on the needs of the team and the leadership goals, Bill may send out questionnaires prior to a session or he may use questions that he deems necessary based on the pre-meeting consultation.
The questions are presented on a projection screen along with a list of responses from which the participants can choose using an Option Finder keypad. The keypad is just like your remote control at home, so they are easy to use. The response results are instant and displayed as a graph.
This is interactive process allows for complete participation, anonymity, speed, democracy of input, and public display of everyone’s opinion. Bill does have the ability to use demographics within the polling. For example, in a room of Senior Leadership and Mid-Level Managers, the responses could be separated. This gives instant feedback and will give a true indication of whether or not your team is on the same page or if there are serious issues within the leadership.
Your team will be lead through a series of discussions regarding the polling results and they will be given an opportunity to work together finding solutions for the issues at hand.
At the conclusion of the Session, Bill provides the client with printed, graphic feedback and will
also provide you a debrief on the day’s activities. Bill has many years experience with Change
Management, Leadership training and Strategic Planning.
September 2010
Bill Newkirk, Consultant
502-432-9123
September 2010
Teambuilding Fun at August 2010
Many companies enjoyed the opportunity to get their teams out of the office for a day. August was full of “Adventure in the
„Ville”, “ The Corydon Quest” and “The Adventure in the Wild”. Our team adventures this past month helped the kids from
Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Kentuckiana, the Seniors at Mt. Holly Nursing Home, and the Cralle Day house of the Home
of the Innocents. Not only do the teams experience the qualities of an effective team (communication, shared leadership,
trust, organization, planning, sharing information, and many more) they also give back to the community together.