Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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The stimulus you can make available will depend on your own particular situation, the progress
that you have made through the brand management process, the resources that you have
available, and your creativity in identifying thought-provoking material.
Choice of venue
It often tempting, for reasons of cost savings and convenience, to run the workshop in the office.
In some cases this is the only option, but it is not ideal. It is much more likely that participants
will sneak out to check emails or make calls, and be distracted by colleagues poking their
heads round the corner of the door with just a quick question
It is much better to run the workshop at a new and convenient location out of the office. This
minimizes the chance of distraction and encourages the attitude that the day will be a different
way of working.
Ideally the venue should be just large enough to accommodate:
A workshop table, around which everyone can sit comfortably and where most of the
action will take place. There should also be space enough around this table for groups
to work at flipcharts.
A separate comfy area with sofa and armchairs, where people can relax and have a
change of focus.
A refreshments corner with water, coffee, tea, etc available whenever required.
The venue should feel airy and comfortable (plenty of natural light is good), but be no larger
than is needed to accommodate the points above. Too large and participants may feel a little
lost.
In addition, it is useful to be able to stick up flipcharts all around the room (the output from a
workshop can often be enormous, and the best place for it during the day is up around the
room).
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A typical agenda
A typical workshop schedule would run for one day, but this can be adapted to suit the situation:
for example, if you are combining the workshop with other activities, or perhaps dealing with
more than one issue, and running it over 2 days.
The workshop should, naturally enough, start with a brief welcome session and finish with a
wrap-up. The other components of the day that you will use to build up your own agenda will
be:
Participant presentations
Brainstorming sessions
Break-out groups
Evaluation sessions
FOCUS
on the workshop objective
EXPLORATION
of ideas and options
FOCUS
on evaluation & selection
In addition to managing these activities, which will form the core of the day, an experienced
facilitator will have some appropriate warm-up activities and creative thinking tasks to energize
and re-energize the group if necessary.
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The facilitator must have the authority to be able to control the participant group and manage
the day. This does not mean that the facilitator has to be the most senior person in the room,
far from it, (most participants understand that they are playing a role, and should defer to the
facilitator) but the facilitator does need the personal qualities required to manage the situation.
It is NOT the role of the facilitator to take a side or to push for a particular solution. The
facilitator should not contribute ideas or suggestions, except in order to encourage discussion.
The reason this is so important is because the facilitator controls the day, if they are seen to be
trying to control the outcomes as well, there is a real danger that participants will feel cheated,
and simply stop participating.
The dictionary definition of a facilitator is someone who makes progress easier and this is a
good principle to keep in mind when preparing as a facilitator for a workshop.
The approach of the facilitator should be:
Informal: equality of participants and creative energy are difficult to cultivate in a very
formal, hierarchical environment.
Enthusiastic: energy is essential to create the forward momentum of a successful
workshop.
Controlled: there is a need to keep control, more on this below in Managing the
activities of the day.
Sensitive (to the group dynamics): ensuring that everyone is happy and contributing.
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In setting up break-out groups, the facilitator must focus on being absolutely clear in explaining
the task, how to tackle it, and how much time is available.
The groups can either be formed around the main table, or in separate rooms, if they are
available. Once the task has been set up the facilitators role is to encourage people into
groups, make sure that they have the materials that they need (flipcharts and pens for their
feedback presentation) and work around the groups to make sure again that everyone is clear
about the task, to offer encouragement and ideas, and to make sure that each group is getting
its ideas down on paper.
Evaluation sessions: there will be times during the day which are more reflective, and where
the objective is to narrow down alternatives, to start reaching towards a consensus. It is often a
good idea to have a brief break before these sessions, especially if they are preceded by a very
boisterous and noisy brainstorming session.
One of the techniques for achieving group consensus is called red dotting or power dotting. It
works like this:
All the options / alternatives should be up around the walls on flipchart paper (if youve
had a good brainstorming session there should be dozens, or hundreds of options!)
Each participant is given 5 red dots (stationary stores stock these little sticky-backed
markers, or post-it notes will work too, or simply give every participant a marker pen,
and tell them they have 5 votes).
All participants are given 5-10 minutes to get up on their feet, wander around the room
and place their stickers or votes on the 5 alternatives they think are best.
This is a great way of starting towards a group consensus. It gets everyone up and around the
room, its very egalitarian (ever bodys dot is equal) and once completed it creates a very clear
visual record of the groups collective view, as the basis for further discussion.
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DO be aware of the energy levels of the group. If they are dropping then either move on
to another topic, take a break, or find some other way of getting the energy levels back
up.
DO record as much as possible on flip charts, and record points word-for-word as they
are spoken (quick and clear writing is important). Putting them up around the room
creates additional stimulus and a record of the progress made through the day.
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This is an illustration of a workshop, and how it might run, based on experience of facilitating
many workshops
Preparatory work
Frank has set the date for the workshop four weeks in advance, so there is time to do some
preparatory work. He prepares a list of tasks that looks like this:
1. Gather up all the existing written material about the brand (there are bits in the annual
report, the company website and some old internal memos that talk about our brand).
2. Gather up any existing research that expresses the attitudes and values that any
stakeholders have about the brand.
3. Set up some kind of brand framework, that will help structure the workshop thinking
about their brand.
4. Undertake 1-to-1 interviews with some of the senior management.
5. Undertake 1-to-1 interviews with customers as they leave a bank branch, which he
plans to video (hell take a colleague along with a hand-held digital camera, and explain
to the customers that it is just for internal use, most people are happy to share their
opinions!)
6. Film a short video of one of the bank branches, taken during a busy lunch-time
7. Record a call to the banks telephone hotline making an enquiry about one of their
investment products.
8. Undertake some initial research on key competitor, consumer and technology trends
facing the banking industry.
He produces a short report that he circulates 10 days in advance of the workshop. It includes a
summary of the existing written materials, the existing research, and a short introduction to
brands as a collection of perceptions. Finally, it outlines the objective of the workshop, which
he agrees with his CEO is:
to get a better understanding of the strength of our current brand,
in the context of the trends facing the industry.
Frank saves the other material - the result of his own interviews and other research - to use on
the workshop day. Some of it is pretty powerful stuff, with some fairly blunt opinions expressed.
BuildingBrands Ltd 2003
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He thinks it is probably best not to put it in the report now, and feels it will make a strong impact
on the day.
Duration
10 mins
10 mins
10 mins
30 mins
10 mins
10 mins
15 mins
10 mins
90 mins
10 mins
Morning wrap up
5 mins
Lunch
Afternoon activities
Review of the morning
Breakout Groups: The truth about our current brand (for other stakeholders)
Group 1 Presentation & discussion: employee perceptions
Group 2 Presentation & discussion: media perceptions
Red Dotting: to prioritize and rank the output
10 mins
30 mins
15 mins
15 mins
10 mins
Break
10 mins
5 mins
25 mins
Discussion Session: Next steps & roles (towards defining the desired brand)
Wrap Up
20 mins
10 mins
Before the day starts Frank puts the existing brand documents up on one wall, near the coffee
table, so that as participants arrive and get themselves a drink they have a chance to look at the
existing documentation, and the conversation starts from there.
BuildingBrands Ltd 2003
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The CEO gathers everyone together, welcomes everyone and sets the objective for the day (he
says that we are in Franks hands for the day thereby giving Frank his blessing and added
authority to manage the day). The CEO explains that there will be some short presentations,
as stimulus to the thinking, but that the success of the day really depends on the collective
experience and expertise in the room, and everyone participating fully.
Frank takes a few minutes to lay out the ground-rules. He then introduces the COO, to make a
10 minute presentation on banking trends. The presentation is not designed to cover everything
in detail just to provide food for thought and the COO quickly hits the main points, using quotes
from industry figures and publications to give added credibility.
The brainstorming session on this first topic carries on from the presentation. Franks role now
is to encourage as many ideas as possible (minimizing the debate around each idea) and to
capture all the ideas on flipcharts. He writes furiously, rips of the flipcharts and gets them up on
the wall, and carries on writing. (An assistant would have been a great idea at this point!) At
the end of the session he explains red dotting and there is a quieter time, as people reflect on
all the flipcharts around the walls, walk around the room looking at the material, and each
decide how to vote using their dots.
This dotting session has brought the adrenalin levels down in the room, and once it is done the
group opinion is clear for all to see on the walls (one of the main benefits of red dotting!)
There is a short discussion of the implications, the CEO says a few words to summarize, and
Frank is on to the next presentation.
The message of this 15 minute presentation is we all know brands are valuable, but how do we
think and talk about brands? Heres a framework to do just that. It sets up a quick brainstorm
(actually this one is more like a simple group discussion) on the key stakeholders, and how to
prioritize them. There is some discussion about whether they should be segmenting up the
customer-base, to create separate stakeholder groups (current account holders, private banking
clients, credit card holders, etc) but in the end they decide the simplest thing to do is group all
customers together, and they also identity several other stakeholder groups, with employees
and the media identified as the most important.
First a quick break, then they are into the presentation on the results of the 1-to-1 interviews.
Frank keeps it quick, but doesnt hold back. Hes selected the best quotes from both the
managers and customers, and there are some blunt messages about their experience of
Benevolent Bank and the feelings and emotions that creates. (Frank made it clear to the
interviewees that everything was confidential before they spoke, so there are no names
mentioned). He also plays back his call to the banks hotline including the time spent on
hold and he can see the frustration on the faces of the team. This is all stimulus to the next
brainstorming session: The truth about our current brand, for customers. The team
brainstorms each element of the brand framework, with all the ideas going up on the wall as
before (Frank has to remind them occasionally that it is current not desired brand that they are
talking about!). Soon the walls are covered with the teams thoughts on the perceptions of
customers: about the heritage of the company, its attitudes and values, and the quality of its
services. There are a lot of very honest opinions, and it is not all pretty reading! Finally they
red dot what they think are the most truthful to the current brand, as it exists in consumers
minds, and the CEO wraps up a successful morning session.
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The lunch is set up in a side room, buffet style. Around the walls of the room Frank has stuck
up a variety of quotes and brief book extracts on the value of brands, the role of corporate
branding, and what makes a strong brand. They keep everyone interested, and generate plenty
of discussion.
After lunch Frank introduces a slightly different format: breakout groups. These are ideal right
now, as everyone is a little tired and breaking into smaller groups ensures that everyone has to
perk up, there is nowhere to hide!
The break-out groups work at either end of the workshop table, each group stood around a
flipchart as they brainstorm the ideas. Frank bounces back and forth between the two groups,
as one group brainstorms media perceptions and one group brainstorms employee perceptions.
At the end of the session each group briefly presents their findings to the other.
After a quick break, and with the workshop running towards its conclusion, they work again as a
large group to reflect on the current brands strengths and weaknesses. They do this after a
quick review of the banking trends covered earlier. They review all the material they have
produced in the day (which is now laid out over the floor too, as they ran out of wall space) and
do a final dotting exercise, this time with red dots for weaknesses and green dots for strengths.
There is some further discussion of these results, which flows into next steps (and roles) to take
the team towards defining their desired brand.
These notes are the final section of Managing Your Total Brand,
our comprehensive brand management Manual.
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