Advies

Consulting


When and for whom Appreciative Inquiry should be implemented
Appreciative Inquiry, as a strength based approach, is used in many areas in organisations, systems and companies. Because of this very nature of looking for our strengths instead of a SWOT analysis, we apply SOAR (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results). At an AI summit, or in workshops, we work through the 5D process (Define, Discover, Dream, Design and Destiny) to define and attain set objectives and collective aspirations. AI has been successfully used for the following topics and areas:
• Innovations that pave the way towards ideal organisation.
• Organizational Development.
• Strategic planning.
• Development of leadership and management.
• Redesigning the work process.
• Organisational cultural change.
• Financial benefits.
• Employee development.
• Human Resources practices.
• Teambuilding
• Coaching.
• Communications.
• Collaborative alliances.
• Community Relations.
• Client relations.
• Relations between stakeholders.
• Multicultural and diversity-oriented initiatives.
• Focus groups.
• Generative marketing.
• Surveys.
• Meetings.
• Initiatives of a global type.
• Performance systems validation assessment.
• Development of new products.
•Development of new lines of business and business units.
See success histories
When an Appreciative Inquiry intervention is advisable
An Appreciative Inquiry intervention offers great possibilities in the following situations:
• when an organisation is experiencing periods of poor performance,
• there is a need to create a engaging working environment that reflects the commitment shown by the workers,
• there is a need to tackle existing social and environmental challenges,
• there is a need to create a dialogue between disputing parties or between partners from new partnerships,
• there is a need to resolve conflict,
• there is a need to create or apply a strategic plan,
• there is a need to improve economic performance,
• there is a need to turn the company into a truly responsible entity,
• there is a need to decide the course and direction that a group or community wants to take,
• during a process of cultural change,
• when the management already knows about AI and they believe in the sustainability of the approach,
• when problems are starting to frustrate the dreams people and organizations have.

At a(n) (inter)national level, AI can be successfully used in the event of social tension. Furthermore, an AI summit is applied often when other methodologies appear to fall short.


Organizational Development
The idea behind organisational development using Appreciative Inquiry is to build a new perspective in which
• Innovation eclipses the intervention.
• Creating replaces problem-solving.
• The emphasis is on collaborative leadership.
• The importance is placed on positive assumptions about human beings.
• The focus is more on the dialogue than on the diagnosis.
• We strengthen design thinking to focus on building the best possible realities.
strong>Strategic planning. From SWOT to SOAR
Appreciative Inquiry involves carrying out diagnoses on organisations by focusing on the power of positive emotions and the positive core, which gives meaning to the organisation. We use dialogue and design thinking to create an image of the future we would most like to see. Systems grow towards a collective vision of the future.

A strategic approach using Appreciative Inquiry transforms the SWOT model into SOAR: Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results. During an AI intervention we focus on what really matters: the future of our people, our organisation and our clients. The topic of Inquiry is focused in such a way that it shapes the direction of the process of strategic planning and the content report, based on their strengths and decisions.


The Appreciative Inquiry Summit
An AI summit is not a typical planning meeting. At a summit, we bring together – at the same venue, and for few days – as many people as possible from the organisation, as well as the stakeholders and people connected to the organisation. Thus, in the meeting space we have a cross section of people who belong to the organisation, in addition to stakeholders, students or clients (according to the specific type of organisation), suppliers, partners, family members (in the case of educational institutions and the health sphere), etc. In short, we bring together representatives from the entire system connected to the organisation.

During the summit, everyone is invited and encouraged to take part in the “5 Ds” process. Every effort is made to ensure that each person participates in the interviews – the storytelling -, and so everyone has the chance to share and to feel that their voices have been heard. This connecting and sharing awakens their active participation. People will engage more easily in projects in which they have participated from the very beginning.

A summit may feature the implementation of a SOAR analysis, strategic planning, cultural change, or whatever the organisation nominates as the central topic of the Inquiry.


Team development
We facilitate in-company interventions so that the teams advance from the bases of the AI, the appreciative communication, the P-ICIL model and the D process applied to the teams.
The cohesion and performance of the team is improved. Five team sessions are required for two months.

Appreciative Coaching
We offer support and appreciative coaching for managers and staff of organizations, as well as for personal processes. We begin with an interview (online or in person) followed by the selection of the appropriate coach to meet the request. In general, the assignment covers five sessions of one hour.

Thinking Partner and Executive Coaching
We offer to be thinking partners of the leaders of companies and organizations.
We offer training for leaders to be thinking partners. To do this, we connect learning to practice, defining the relevant topics and then work on them. The process begins with an interview followed by the selection of the appropriate thinking partner and planning of topics to cover. For example:
how to link customers; improvement of communication; prepare for a difficult conversation; how to advise on emerging organizational issues: networking, new models, social media, social innovation, learning organizations, team development, contemporary methods (lean, scrum, agile), etc.