Move Forward

Our Moving Forward Check-Up^TM provides a framework for   successfully planning and implementing change that improves performance and results.  

It easy to adapt to a wide range of applications such as:

• Determine training needs
• Initiate culture change
• Develop strategic plans
• Assess or improve projects, mergers & acquisitions
• Improve client and stakeholder relations
• Embrace corporate social responsibility

The Moving Forward Check-Up was initially designed for conducting "organizational health check-ups" and hence the reference to "check-up".  We quickly realized that it  has many other applications.

It's aligned with John Kotter's "accelerate approach" for bringing about change but with greater emphasis on engagement and organization culture.

We've used the Moving Forward Check-Up^TM for over ten years as a framework to help clients make challenging changes and achieve signifcant results.  We've received excellent feedback and many referrals. 

Steps 1 - 5 of the Moving Forward Check-Up^TM emphasize creating urgency, catalyzing and  planning change.  It's strengths are:

• Uses an overall "model" of great organizations as a reference and checklist
• Easy to customize to each client's situation, needs and expectations, it's not one size fits all
• Based on evidence, often using our 360 Organization Feedback survey  
• Includes processes that result in engaging the right people whose support expedites implementation — we call it AUTHENTIC Engagement

The result is an action plan that has traction.  This is important as only 30% of change initiatives involving people and processes are successful.  Too often, the plan for change is simply announced and communicated. 

Step 6, implementation of the action plan, requires applying project management and John Kotter's 8 accelerators.  Challenges arising during implementation sometimes requires coaching and brief action-learning sessions.

The Moving Forward Check-Up^TM is a proven approach:

• It`s been used in large organizations, e.g., in a large government department, it`s been used to:
  
  • Eliminate a division`s backlog, starting with addressing the division's culture -- click HERE for a detailed write-up 
  • Turn-around a division that was about to be abolished and that has since then survived a major cost reduction exercise
  • Improved relations between a division and the pharmaceutical industry
  • For a division, identify opportunities for improving organization design and performance and provide input to future initiatives 
  • For the entire organization, identify and assess risks and percpetions of risk and its capacity to deliver on its forward agenda 

• It's been used to improve the performance of small and medium sized companies -- click HERE to see some examples.

• It`s been used to bring together stakeholders.  At the time that diamond mining in the North West Territories was its embryonic stage (1990), we were engaged to plan and facilitate a meeting of about 140 persons from several First Nations communities, several mining companies, the federal and NWT governments and two environmental groups, to resolve differences.  Progress was made and we learned a lot. Years later after the Moving Forward Check-Up had jelled, I was engaged by a federal government department to resolve a ten year-old issue that required bringing together all the provincial and territorial governments, the aquaculture industry sector and an environmental group.  In six weeks they had agreed on the principles and an action plan for moving forward.  Eight months later, Ministers met and signed an agreement.

The Moving Forward Check-Up^TM is quick and inexpensive. This can be illustrated with an example.  While George Neufeld was with one of the large international accounting and consulting firms, he had a lead role in a study to identify ways of reducing a government-owned company`s research program and budget.  The study took months, cost about $0.5 million and did not result in any change to the research program.  Fifteen years later, he/Traverse Group was engaged by the same client.  Applying a customized version of Step 1 - 6 of the Moving Forward Check-Up^TM, the Board, top management, research managers and product development team leaders agreed on to how to reduce the research program by 25% without putting the company at risk – achieved in ten weeks. George was subsequently engaged during implementation to overcome acute challenges. 

The Moving Forward Check-Up^TM is robust. The specifics of each step are application and client dependent.  Determining the specifics of each step is not rocket science but do need to take into account such factors as:

• The objectives, scope and nature of the results to be achieved
• The client's organization (including culture, size and geographic locations)
• Who is to be involved, the number of persons to be involved and how best to engage them

The availability of cloud-based survey and collaboration tools makes it possible to involve thousands of persons.