Enthusiasm for the new ways of working can result in leaders letting go of the wheel. This may send the ship careening off course, hitting one iceberg after another, tempting leaders to return to the command and control model. Even if temporary, this will decimate the new culture.
ExEnEm is the 3 phase approach we use to help teams develop a culture of of Appreciative Collaboration. This approach provides structure, which is adapted to the needs of each team. The duration is determined by the team’s readiness and commitment to change.
Our sessions can be run face to face or online, according to the needs of the team (with a strong preference for in person). Our approach is experiential wherever possible because learning by doing rather than hearing is always more impactful.
We have a wide range of tools, techniques, and content from which we help you create the best programme for your team. We use regular check points to review progress and plot a new course if required.
Uncover what is currently working well, surface issues to gain insight, discover goals for the future, and affirm commitment to change.
Do you really know what your team wants and needs?
What we’ve noticed is that far too often everyone is very focused on the tensions present in the team. Many change management approaches involve identifying what’s actually the deeper problem and looking to then resolve those. It is easy to get mired in this hinterland of they said-they said, and trying to fix past wrongs.
Our approach is inspired by Appreciative Inquiry. We seek to first discover what is working well and surface where people have a hunger and desire for change.
This sets everyone up to build towards better rather than get bogged down in defining what’s gone wrong. Wonderfully, it also naturally surfaces any value misalignments or deeply held assumptions that need to be changed through a forward-focused lens.
At this stage we would seek to understand your current structure and power dynamics, verifying that there is indeed a desire for change at every level of your organisation and that wherever the power currently sits, there is alignment of desire.
Bring everyone together to envision the future collectively. Co-design the route forward. Begin to acquire and practice the skills of Appreciative Collaboration.
With awareness of where you are at, we now start plotting the course for where you want to go. We will use the knowledge from the Explore stage to co-create workshops, exercises, or even 1-2-1 sessions that develop skills your team most want and need.
This is where we shine the light on the tools, systems, theories, and processes that are being used right now by organisations around the world, often being called the “new ways of working”.
We then facilitate your team’s collaboration to construct and agree to a culture you want to develop.
Ongoing skill development and accountability measures to facilitate genuine enduring change, keeping everyone on course to the agreed north star.
There is abundant evidence that without accountability over a minimum of 6 months, cultural change simply doesn’t stick.
As we offer bespoke programmes designed and redesigned as we flow through this process with you, your 6 months of accountability will be derived once we get through the Engage stage.
Appreciative Collaboration is not something you learn and complete – it is a culture that will always be in development and should have a rhythm of being reviewed and improved as your ship continuously enters new waters.
As experienced facilitators and coaches, we have a wide range of tools and processes gained during our years of working with teams and leading Apprenticeship programmes. We also implement checkpoints before moving on to the next stage, ensuring the course we’ve plotted continues to suit the unique needs of your crew.
During any of these phases, we may suggest:
ExEnEm is the process we go through together to create Appreciative Collaboration.
ExEnEm programmes aren’t really for everyone.
We’ve developed a short quiz to help identify whether an ExEnEm Programme is the right fit for you – it’ll take just 5 minutes and will direct you to the appropriate next step for you:
