Real Time Strategic Change is a highly participative, structured and organized process for involving the whole system in planning for change. The change objectives can vary enormously, from creating a new vision and/ or strategic direction to determining the new organizational culture or a new organizational structure. It can be used to align a whole organization, or large part of it, behind a vision and planning all the things that need to be put in place to make the vision a reality.
The principles of Real Time Strategic Change can almost be used with groups of any size, although because of the logistics and methodology, it is best used for groups of participants between 100 and 2,500, although it has been used for even bigger groups.
It is normal to have a Design Group for the very start of the planning process, who are effectively a representative cross section of the whole system and represent the maximum mixture (max-mix) of the whole, in terms of level and function in the organization, gender, personality, ethnicity, attitude and perspective. It is the Design Group’s role to support the facilitators by advising on activities and processes that they think will or won’t work with their particular organization, as well as helping to design appropriate (and fun) activities, help with some of the logistics, invitations etc and conduct ongoing research/ gather ongoing feedback and information in the run up to the event.
During the event, people sit in circular max-mix tables, with people they do not normally work with (and are never line-managed by!). Each table tends throughout most of the event to be working on the same issues and having their own discussions, although the event is always designed so that feedback is shared quickly and publicly at frequent intervals, mechanisms like voting are used to get whole-room consensus and there is often some work within and feedback mechanisms set up between, functional groupings or departments. There is frequent “switching” from small group work to whole room work and voting and individual flipchart marking ensure that people are on their feet, circulating and meeting and talking with new people throughout the event. Tea and coffee is always available on tap so that tables and individuals can organize themselves and their time to maximum effect.
By the end of the event, there will be consensus and agreement over some very significant issues and there will even be some completed decisions, actions and plans, which have happened “in real time” during the event.
The atmosphere quickly becomes passionate, electric and fun, with people leaving having made real commitments to carry forward these new ways of working and being together, as well as progressing the more tangible plans and actions.