change management services: http://www.frankmclean.com



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CHANGE MANAGEMENT SERVICES INDEX

Frank McLean, Mediator & Facilitator

strategic governance...

Boards of directors and policymakers, private and public, are unique in the responsibilities they carry for the direction, well being and success of their organizations. They encounter special challenges and opportunities in setting out vision and values, exercising governance, working with senior management and exercising accountability internally and externally.

Whether they lead a small business, large corporation, professional association, community group, non-profit organization, government-related body or government - they have compelling reasons to lead examined lives and take steps to hold themselves and their organizations to high standards of accountability.

Their mandate requires that they conduct reviews of, and enhance their approaches to the board, organization and internal and extrernal environments. These include: leadership, vision, ethics, governance, strategy, working relationships, collaboration, accountability and development,

They are expected to do this proactively - dealing with a host of pieces including management, changing internal and external conditions, end-users, collaborations, potential pitfalls, operations, programs, policy, regulation, management, stakeholder relations, emerging issues, change and risk management - as well as new opportunities.

The Practice collaborates on needs assessment, design, facilitation and advisory roles to: a) chairs and independent boards of directors; b) CEOs and senior management teams; b) principals, managing parteners and senior partners; c) councils, agencies or commissions and d) advisory and coordinating bodies.

(See also Strategic Management.)

strategic management...

Navigating to an agreed vision through the heavy weather of an organization's work in its global and local realities is clearly no small challenge for anyone, but senior management bears this direct responsibility to their board.

Transforming a vision into tangible results day-to-day calls for developing clear purpose, trust and practical approaches that encourage ownership, collaboration, initiative and coordination in ideas and action across an organization or community.

Creating and evolving strategy on the go, assessing issues, options and progress, changing gears to seize opportunities, as well as building and reporting value added, are only a few of the tasks that come with this territory. Strategic management facilitation tailored to fit a client's needs is a high-leverage approach to organizational and community development and performance.

The Practice collaborates on needs assessment, design, facilitation and advisory roles for: a) CEO's, senior management teams and b) managing partners and partners. This includes values; vision; strategy; board, internal and external working relationships; implementation; balanced benchmarks; monitoring; transition and work on specific issues.

(See Strategic Governance.)

collaboration...

Collaboration support is one of three primary service areas of the Practice's Change Management Services, along with Strategic Governance and Strategic Management. All three are essential.

Whether internal or external, experience has shown that concepts, for example, of "collaboration", "partnership" and "joint venture", are often promoted on the basis of presumed potential benefits without due regard for what it takes for them to be realized on the ground. This includes necessary and proactive attention to terms of reference, design requirements, strategy, policy and operations as well as to risk and reward management.

Inevitably, there are non-starters, roadblocks, landmines and deadends to be avoided. There are also approaches and techniques that work in planning, initiating and evolving collaboration of various kinds. These need to be considered in advance. The proposed or existing relationship needs to have a charter and design before it can operate effectively and sustainably for its stakeholders.

There are examples in internal initiatives, multi-organizational initiatives and in "cooperating to compete". There are other examples of planned and unexpected challenges to divisions of policy, management, operations and accountability that can emerge in public, private or public-private alternative approaches.

Effectively developing joint undertakings - internal or external, private or public - requires more than usual attention to both landmines and opportunities. Third party facilitation and dispute management at various stages can be a valuable resource in designing, implementing and monitoring the effectiveness of various kinds of cooperative undertakings.

The Practice collaborates in these and related areas through needs assessment, design, facilitation and advisory roles, for example: a) partnerships, joint ventures and alliances; b) grass roots, front-line and stakeholder engagement; c) consultative, consensus and collaborative processes; d) meeting and process facilitation.

change management & organizational development...

Individuals and organizations should be part of each other's solution - not part of each other's problem. The more one copes with change the more evident this becomes.

Organizations don't stand still. Some evolve, learn teamwork, respect, trust, creativity, effectiveness and accountability. Consequently, they are more likely to adapt and move forward, typically in stages. Other organizations gradually grow out of touch, become passive, stagnate and fall behind - seemingly unaware. Still others are mired in unhealthy politics, accusations, blame and disintegrate - eventually collapsing from their inability to cope with themselves and their reality.

Start-ups, transitions, problems, crises, loss of awareness or momentum, as well as opportunities or successes, call for special attention to change and conflict management. These and other circumstances often require necessary adjustments to make the best uses of one's resources as well as re-committing to one's vision.

Moving forward successfully requires change management skills that include the balanced use of leadership, communication, persuasion, authority, resources, "ownership", creativity - and perhaps appropriate measures of facilitation and dispute management support.

Independent facilitation and dispute management support can assist in identifying options not immediately apparent and can provide support to leaders, boards, organizations and communities. These types of collaboration, when utilized well, increase capacities to develop, manage and update design, development and implementation of vision, mission and strategies, as well as to identify the changes needed to implement them, including their accompanying risks and incentives.

group facilitation...

The role of a facilitator working with groups is well known and widely employed. Some examples are: Board Retreats, Senior Management Strategy Sessions, Issue Management Sessions, Focus Groups, Stakeholder Consultations, Staff or Stakeholder Input, User Groups, Community Interest Consultations. The legendary "workshop", often taken for granted as a solution because it appears to be a compellingly obvious choice, is often part of the problem.

There is a wide range of situations in which productively identifying and confronting issues and getting the required work done calls for an independent facilitator working with the client in some constructive and appropriate way.

It is clear, though not widely understood, that the way things are done, i.e., process, can have a greater impact on outcomes than subject matter or good intentions. This is why it is necessary for process to be carefully designed.

Process design, like architecture, is a professional competence, and itself a process, that should be undertaken by the facilitator in close collaboration with the client. As noted, the impact of design and its process is exceptionally influential, often in ways that are unknown or hazy to those not trained or sufficiently experienced. It is counterproductive, quite costly and potentially fatal for engagement and process design to be overlooked, ignored, inappropriately executed or inappropriately timed and positioned.

The reverse is also true. Design can be appropriately undertaken and address needed progress of the client over an appropriate time frame. In this context, it can provide leverage needed by the client to have a reasonable and realistic expectation of desired outcomes and their impacts. One can never expect to complete even the simplest of puzzles if key or numerous pieces are missing in action.

advisory services

A large proportion of strategic initiatives undertaken, e.g., vision and strategy, mergers and acquisitions or venture capital investments unravel within a few years. Primary explanations for this include: a) the key players do not include expertise in organizational development and change management, b) complexity, diversity and length of time and resources required for real change are overlooked or discounted and c) inability to successfully make the necessary transition from "talk" to "walk".

Advisory Services are custom working partnerships with leaders: board chairs, officers or committee heads; CEOs, COOs and senior managers; as well as professional practice partners and managers. This collaboration facilitates translating vision, governance and priorities into action while managing change and building teamwork.

Especially in the context of change and change management, there is a need for an appropriate mix of specific decisionmaking and initiatives as well as ongoing monitoring, assessment, coordination, collaboration, reporting and adjustment. An appropriately designed change management process is invaluable in supporting strategic progress over time toward one's vision through strategic and tactical coherence and effectiveness.

An Advisory Service provides the client with an independent sounding board, discussion and feedback that assists in sustaining strategic focus, operating continuity, process development and integrity, dispute management and timely results. Advisory Services can be used independently or as a follow-on to other engagements.

economic development...

The practice has extensive private and public sector experience in advocacy, business and capital development, business network and partnership development and marketing strategy as well as Aboriginal, community, regional and urban economic development. Click the "Experience & Education" navigation bar and scroll to the end of this page for the "resumes" section with links to an overview and specialized resumes.

policy, advocacy & communications

The roles of government continue to evolve and change, and new quasi-public roles are emerging in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. These trends generate both opportunities and problems associated with a) carrying out these roles and b) conducting public-private policy and relations.

These changes include the emergence of new kinds of working relationships with both public and private elements as well as new opportunities in the for-profit, not-for-profit and voluntary sectors to undertake new short and longer term initiatives that need to be intelligently designed, launched, implemented and monitored.

At the same time there is an increase, in needs to make one's case to government for legislative, regulatory, policy or operational reasons. One's interests and issues in these areas likely involve the interests of other stakeholders and partners or potential partners. There a variety of ways a client can make use of an experienced third party in advocating their interests to government and in developing relationships with stakeholders, partners and potential partners.

The Practice collaborates in these areas through: a) policy and regulatory development and submissions; b) different types of assessment, e.g., status, progress, developmental and final; c) policy and case advocacy; d) writing, editing, manuscript review, critique and editing for authors and publishers.

success stories & best practices

To both internal and external audiences, independently documenting and sharing success stories and best practices is a convincing way to demonstrate and create value.

The practice can provide an independent perspective and seasoned approaches to gathering, assembling and presenting information on "successes". Custom approaches can be done in ways that create the most value for the organization and those directly involved or affected.

Best practices, whether one's own or those of others', have unique roles they can play in organizational development and value. This holds true not only for those internally who are interested in learning from them, but for those externally whom you may wish to reach, inform and inspire. Best practices can stimulate insight and improvements no matter where one is functioning on the spectrum from "trial and error" to "state of the art".

professional consulting practices...

Based on the Practice's work with professional firms and the professions, as well as its own experience since 1975, it has responded to requests from professional consulting practices to consult with them on their internal or external consulting practice.

These requests have so far surfaced in three areas: a) engagement strategy, design and management, b) client issues and c) ethical issues.