Strategic Conversation

All workshops and programs are run on your premises or at a venue of your choice.

This workshop is adapted to suit your specific needs.

Contact us to discuss your needs

All topics aim to lift skills and behaviours to beyond ‘best practice’


	Strategic Conversation Development Program Our programs are research-based, results-driven, and people-friendly Duration: 4 sessions plus follow-up contacts Fundamentally, organisations function through communication – or ‘conversation’ between individuals and groups. Strategic Conversation is a name given to conversation that has: - a purpose related to the strategic direction of the organisation - conversation that concerns one or more elements of the strategic planning loop - conversation that leads to action The quality of this conversation is a critical factor in organisational change and performance. Recent research has shown that strategic conversation is strongly related to organisational performance. A prerequisite to this development program is previous learning in Conversation Strategies. This program applies those conversation strategies and tools to develop skills in Strategic Conversation – which will be the foundation for future development at the macro level, such as Strategic Planning and Developing Organisational Systems. Who will benefit from Strategic Conversation development Both the organisation and the individual benefit from Strategic Conversation. At the organisational level, increased focus on and alignment with the strategic intent and direction will directly impact organisational performance. For individuals, development of strategic thinking and practise in strategic conversation will directly impact their current and potential performance as leaders. This development program is important for the whole organisation. If it is being considered as an induction or development opportunity for new or newly promoted managers and supervisors, talk to us about a program for your senior managers first. Objectives of this Strategic Conversation program At the end of the program, your delegates will be able to select and maintain the chosen strategic purpose for the conversation. They will be able to select and develop topics for Strategic Conversation and ensure ‘fit’ with the strategic planning loop. They will be able to choose and use appropriate conversation forms and to demonstrate strategic orientation in their participation in Strategic Conversation. Your delegates will be modeling strategic conversation and in a position to foster implementation through the organisation. Key topics in Strategic Conversation program Strategic orientation and the planning cycle Formal and informal Strategic Conversation opportunities Strategic Conversation Review The four Ds in meaningful conversation sequence (flow) The climate ‘for’ Strategic Conversation.

	*All workshops are customized for the particular needs of the organization, so we list general topics and adapt the workshop to suit your requirements.* *Contact Ian to discuss your particular requirements*

Preparation of Self, Groups, Teams – for Strategic Conversation
Communication Introduction	Improve communication channels – effective, efficient, fewer errors
Conversation	Practise putting purpose into conversations – managing reactions
Strategic Conversation – learning it	Learn the language – making strategic conversation work for you
Strategic Conversation – using it	Prepare organisation for strategic conversation

	Contact Ian about Strategic Conversation

	Strategic Conversation An Introduction We all engage in conversation, and because it’s our most frequent activity apart from breathing – we should be pretty good at it by now – right? Wrong - just pause and consider three familiar situations in which you may have participated or witnessed very recently: a clash of wills between family members, a performance management interview, and any ‘lively’ business or organisational meeting. Would it have made a difference if the conversation had been of higher quality - more strategic, more purposeful, and more effective conversation? For conversation to intentionally have a more beneficial impact on organisational performance, it can only be by way of helping people make better decisions. Interestingly, we instantly assume that these decisions are exclusively at executive and managerial level. Sure – decisions at that ‘directional’ level must improve, but so to do personal decisions concerning behaviour (what I do right now – and how I do it) of every single person in the organisation. We already know that talk leads to decisions that lead to behaviours (actions) that result in performance, but we typically fail to recognise that ‘talk’ includes ‘self-talk’ or thinking. In other words, to improve decision quality we need to influence the quality of conversations held between people, and within people. To change (improve) performance then we need to work back up the line through behaviours and appropriate decisions towards the purposeful conversations themselves. In literature, this form of purposeful dialogue has attracted the title of Strategic Conversation This article reports on PhD research conducted through Griffith University that found that Strategic Conversation is ‘real’, that organisations with more of it also happen to perform better, that it can be learned, and that organisations that undertook to learn it reported important benefits. Is Strategic Conversation real or is it just a buzzword? Independent and expert groups, drawn from the ranks of strategic thinkers, academics, and organisational decision-makers, considered the question. The expert groups separately agreed it exists – and described its characteristics. For conversation to be strategic, its purpose must relate to creation, attainment or alteration of organisational purpose, AND the topic must fit within or between a component of the organisational strategic loop, AND the conversation must lead to action.


	Figure: Typical organisational strategic loop cycle. If a concept such as strategic conversation can be defined and described, as we just did, then we can develop an instrument to measure it, and then we can look for links with other important measures such as performance. We already know from previous research that there is a strong connection between strategic behaviour and organisational performance, and a very weak connection between strategic planning and organisational performance. In some studies that link was even reported to be negative. That weak link has been a source of concern for some time. Why isn’t planning working very well? Could Strategic Conversation be the missing link? Our research expected that Strategic Conversation would impact on strategic behaviour, and that strategic conversation would influence the strength of the relationship between strategic planning and behaviour


	Figure: Strategic Conversation was expected to mediate between Strategic Planning and Strategic Behaviour, thereby influencing the effectiveness of planning Does Strategic Conversation make a difference for the organisation? To test whether strategic conversation has an influence on strategic behaviour and thus impact on and improve organisational performance, we needed to measure Strategic Conversation, Strategic Planning, Strategic Behaviour, and Organisational Performance. With the agreement of organisations interested in the question, we ran a snapshot study of hundreds of members of medium to large organisations. We were able to measure the current strength of strategic conversation in each organisation by asking specific questions about intentional and planned conversations concerning activities throughout the strategic planning loop, and throughout the organisation. We also sought evidence of planning, behaviour and performance. Yes, the measurements showed a significant role for strategic conversation as a mediator between strategic planning and strategic behaviour. For organisations with low strategic conversation scores, the link between planning and performance was non-significant (sometimes positive, sometimes negative, and probably accidental). For these organisations, planning would be a waste of time. What was surprising, though, was the DIRECT and strong positive connection between strategic conversation and organisational performance. In fact, strategic conversation has a slightly stronger connection with organisation performance than has strategic behaviour. In the past, we have focused on improving behaviour to get better performance results. This research shows that there would be at least as much impact on performance simply by improving the quality of conversation throughout the organisation1. As an extension to this, the research also found that organisations that scored higher levels of strategic conversation showed stronger organisational performance – regardless of planning effort.


	Figure: Strategic Conversation has a direct link influence of organisational performance – even larger than the Strategic Behaviour So we found support for the earlier premise that better talk is linked with better decisions, better behaviours (actions), and better performance. At an organisational level, strategic conversation (talk) leads to strategic decisions that influence strategic behaviour and improved organisational performance. It makes sense, doesn’t it – at a practitioner level it’s already known that many Strategic Plans accumulate grandly on shelves from one year to the next rather than being lived and breathed and talked about by the organisation members. By contrast, if there is intentional, regular, informed and thoughtful conversation within and between all levels of the organisation about the various elements of the strategic planning loop, then intuitively we would expect it to influence behaviour – strategically. Because strategic conversation has been shown to be more effective in improving performance than is strategic planning, and improves the effectiveness of planning and behaviour, and directly improves performance, then organisational executives may sense an advantage for the organisation’s stakeholders to seriously consider its potential. The challenge is not ‘if’ but ‘how’ to initiate and maintain this kind of purposeful conversation within the organisation. Can Strategic Conversation be learned? To help answer this question a longitudinal study was undertaken. Seventy organisations commenced a 6-month program whereby the most senior member (CEO, owner, or equivalent senior decision-maker) available from each organisation met weekly for an hour with 5 to 10 other project members to learn about Strategic Conversation and how to apply it. The three aims of the longitudinal study were to: Determine if Strategic Conversation skills could be developed by exposure to knowledge about Strategic Conversation and experience in discussing it and applying it. Test the cause-effect nature of relationship between Strategic Conversation, Strategic Behaviour, and organisational performance (does better performance cause better conversation, or better conversation cause better performance). Assess and describe any unexpected gains or disappointments The groups of members met weekly to learn strategic conversation and then introduce it within the processes of their organisations. Adult learning principles were explored and applied in an 'action research' form of program, and tests were conducted to assess the changing skill levels - the changes that were expected, and also for changes that were unexpected (good or bad). The study program provided the opportunity for participants to explore a wide range of alternate views and frameworks on a variety of topics from micro (e.g. giving instructions – conversation reaction planning) to macro (organisational purpose - strategic programming). Almost 50 topics were available for participants to select from. (The complete list can be found on www.strategic-conversation.com.au/ The content of each topic and session reflected the most recent summaries with research findings and important relationships. No popular management tools or fads were explored. Measurements were taken at the beginning, middle and end of the 6 month skills-acquisition program, and significant improvements were recorded. In line with participants’ own definitions of organisational performance their collective average improved 23% over that period. Over a six month period, 23% average performance improvement is a substantial number. Breaking down the components of improvement in terms the participants chose is perhaps even more interesting. Improvement in efficiency and effectiveness of meetings was recorded as 48% and 50% respectively and Improvement in managerial professionalism was recorded at a whopping 70%. How interesting is that! 50% improvement in meeting effectiveness would transform any organisation, and 70% improvement in managerial professionalism is transformational. Significant change in employee development in strategic awareness was also recorded at 63% improvement. This particular figure indicates how strategic conversation spread to influence behaviour throughout an organisation. The results of the longitudinal skills acquisition program in this research study establishes, beyond doubt, that strategic conversation can be learned, applied, and will make a difference. Summary of Strategic Conversation Findings from empirical research show that Strategic Conversation CAN directly impact organisational outcomes and that it is strongly related to performance. Organisations that attend to Strategic Conversation score higher in strategic behaviour and higher in organisational performance. Strategic conversation provides a unique skill advantage – no two organisations can have the same conversation with the exact same dynamics and outcomes. Organisations CAN learn Strategic Conversation by following a skills development program that focuses on improving communication effectiveness – and promoting and supporting conversations that are strategic and goal-aligned. It isn’t rocket science, but it isn’t easy either. Conversation occurs everywhere – meetings, in the hallway, over coffee – but to be strategic it MUST have a purpose that is aligned with organisational goals – to set, adjust, pursue, or terminate a goal. It must also be on a topic that belongs within the strategic loop of the organisation, meaning it must be about one or more of the following: scanning for information, planning, implementing, measuring, assessing, or analysing. Finally, and this is the ‘human’ part, the conversation must be of a form that will lead to action – preferably ‘intentional response’ rather than ‘emotive reaction’. Because of these important findings, we have subsequently developed programs of facilitation and skills development to assist organisations whose executives are interested in pursuing Strategic Conversation. For more information, visit the website www.strategic-conversation.com.au It pays to cultivate Strategic Conversation in your organisation Note 1. The strong connection between conversation and performance can be understood by the impact of such conversation on organisational climate. The positive connection between climate and performance has often been supported, and can include the experience of outsiders ‘what it’s like to be a customer here’ as well as insiders ‘what it’s like to work here’. A positive climate is one that both helps the organisation pursue its purpose and helps the organisation members thrive within the organisation. It is intuitively obvious that open and effective communication practices will be essential to such a climate.

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