Tough Questions

Business leaders everywhere are wrestling with tough questions:

• How do we respond to fundamental changes in local or global markets? 
• How do we build an organisation fully committed to achieving critical goals while avoiding burn out?
• How do we integrate new suppliers?  Subsidiaries?  Make ourselves more productive? 
• How do we build environmentally sound business practices, attract investors and build partnerships with local communities?
  
  

These complex challenges require constant attention, calling for responses that quickly engage the best efforts of your organisation.

The following FAQ's explain how FutureSearch _{by distil} can help you meet these challenges with quick, effective and lasting results.

Although the FAQ's apply to organisations, they also provide some guidance on the application of FutureSearch _{by distil} to anybody interested in economic, community and business cluster development.

1. How long does the Future Search method take compared to other organisational development and change models?

We find that “time to implementation” is greatly reduced under FutureSearch, sometimes by many orders of magnitude. Getting full participation and ownership from the outset speeds up planning and implementation at every level and every stage.

Accordingly, although there is significant investment of time in the planning and the future search itself, the outcomes provide a very significant ROI.

2. How does future search relate to strategic planning?

There is a common maxim that strategic plans make good doorstops. This is because they are often easier to write than to implement. When a plan is developed by a committee or consultant team - even with input from focus groups, interviews or surveys — it often meets resistance or is poorly understood during implementation. Because future search involves people from all levels of the organisation, from CEO to line people, these problems are avoided. In fact, many organisations find that employees who have participated in a future search take the initiative on implementation. This results from seeing their own handiwork in the plan. In addition, in a future search participants make a public commitment to tasks they have chosen to take on. Since this is a free will commitment, it acts as a strong motivator.

Future search can be used to develop a strategic plan from scratch, engaging the full breadth and depth of your organisation in a way that assures it will be implemented. When a plan is already in place, a future search can be used to move the plan into action. Many organisations have used future search to implement a plan that has met points of resistance.

3. Why do we need to spend so long planning the future search workshop?

As with anything else, planning is the key to success. Other organisations have found that the outcomes of a future search well and truly justify the time spent in both planning and the workshop itself. Having said that, we only spend as much time as is necessary in the planning phase.

4. What has been the experience of other organisations in getting attendance from external stakeholders for an extended period of time?

The greatest reservation that most organisations have with future search goes along the lines of “There is no way that we can get external stakeholders to attend for the full time?”

This is an assumption worth testing.

Of course, there has never been such a thing as ‘perfect attendance’ at any future search. However, other organisations that have put the time and effort in to getting external people along have been pleasantly surprised at the attendance.

The following things help in achieving this attendance:

1. Inclusion on the Planning Group of external stakeholders who understand the needs of the external stakeholder groups
2. Marketing or appealing to the needs of each group
3. Presenting the future search conference as a milestone in the history of the organisation
4. Providing proof as to the effectiveness of the future search approach (so that attendees are convinced that the use of their time will be well rewarded)
5. Providing incentives for attendance

5. Is it important for us to emphasise that invitees should attend for the whole time?

Yes. Full attendance is one of the keys to success. If somebody cannot attend for the full time, then it is better for you to know that up front.

6. What do we do about lost productivity during the Workshop?

Organisations find that the increased productivity resulting from participating in a future search, more than makes up for any impacts from time away from work.

7. How will the union(s) be involved in all of this?

If the Unions are important to your organisation then they will ideally be involved as a full partner. Future search can change an adversarial relationship between union and management into a collaborative partnership, long before issues develop, or even after they have developed. We recommend meeting with union representatives as early as possible to answer their questions and get their agreement to participate. Union members should be part of the steering committee.

8. How can future search benefit our customers?

We have found that strategic customers, those who rely on your products and services, want to have input on your future. A future search gives them this voice and builds their ownership in your organisation, contributing to long term customer loyalty. Our experience shows that customers add tremendous value to the conversation.

9. Will we have to air our “dirty laundry” in front of customers?

Chances are that your customers are dealing with their own difficult work or personal issues. It is also common that they already know your problems. Our experience has been that customers appreciate being in on the conversation and will be more impressed with your proactive and open attempt to chart your future than they are concerned about real-life problems you might be having. As your customers see you changing in ways to better support their requirements, they will be thankful for having been invited into the conversation.

10. What if the group comes up with ideas I can’t live with?

It is up to you to set the parameters of influence up front. A future search can give participants a range of influence from full planning and implementation authority to playing an advisory role.

At the same time, through entering into a future search process, many organisations have discovered that too much top down control may have been stifling an organisation. A future search can change this, giving authority to those who understand the organisation at each level of operation and recruiting employees at all levels as agents of change. This can build employee ownership, productivity, customer loyalty and other factors that have a long term positive affect.

In addition, you will be one of the participants. During the future search, only decisions supported by everyone present will be accepted as part of the output of the conference.

11. What percentage of the workforce needs to be involved?

A good beginning level of participation is at least 20-40% of the workforce. If you have a workforce of 50 or less, you might want to include everyone, or nearly everyone. If you have a workforce of 500 or more, you may want to structure parallel conferences of 80 or so people in each session. We can also help you strategize ways to involve and inform people who are not involved in the actual future search conference. Even when every employee is not present, we have found that the entire culture and responsiveness of an organisation can be impacted by future search.

12. Does this process work with employees with different levels of organizational skills, understanding and education?

Yes. This has been proven over and over. Actually the people closest to the work often have profound information to share with leadership. Education and literacy levels are irrelevant to the success of the conference. Many participants discover that their pre-conceptions about each other are inaccurate and that there is a much deeper understanding of what is going on in the organisation at all levels. Sometimes the people at the top have less information than they think.

13. How do we decide who to invite and who has to stay behind to keep things going?

If you have a small workforce, you may want to calculate the minimum number of people you need to operate a “skeleton shift”. Some organisations cease business during a slow period and use that time to plan their future. It is possible to have several sequential future searches to include a large part of the organization. This can be followed by a one day integration meeting. It is important to thank the people who stay behind to keep the ship running.

14. Is it important to get buy-in from senior management?

Absolutely. If you can’t get support now, it might be best to take a smaller step (eg an executive team building session or a workshop with just internal stakeholders) before trying a full future search.

15. I want to be able to approve all actions after the Future Search. Is this possible?

You can make this a condition up front, making it clear that the conference is advisory. However, future search works best when you support the work product of the future search. This means allocating resources to support the outcomes, keeping people informed of progress toward the goals and continuing to speak to and reinforce the shared vision.