There are many ways to set visions. One way is to invite people to pick a date in the future. They are to describe the actual words they want to hear others saying then that will show they have achieved the picture of success. Doing this exercise enables people to envisage the ‘what’ – the real results to achieve. It encourages them to use their imagination, rather than fall into self-censorship. They can then explore the ‘how’ by asking: “How can we do everything possible to ensure that people are saying those words?” Let’s consider how you can use this exercise.

1) You can clarify the words you want to hear from various stakeholders.

Imagine that you are facilitating a visioning workshop. You may be working with a leadership team, a customer service team, a sports team or whatever. Before running the session, you can try this type of exercise on yourself to design the workshop. Meet with the team leaders and agree on: “What do we want people in the team to be saying after the session?” Clarifying these goals can help you to design the workshop. For example, you may want them to be saying:

“That was an enjoyable workshop. We now know where we are heading and have an exciting goal. We know the strategy and our parts in making it happen. We also know how to get some quick successes.”

Let’s assume that the leaders have agreed on these aims. Ask yourself as a facilitator: “How can I do my best to ensure the workshop achieves these goals?” Design the session, check it out with the leaders and then get on with delivering the results.

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There are many ways to use the ‘actual words’ exercise in a workshop or other type of session. The main aims are:

a) To lift people’s eyes to create a stretching and stimulating goal.

b) To, if appropriate, encourage them to become more stakeholder focused.

c) To use their creativity to focus on how they can do their best to achieve the goal.

Recently I ran a session for 30 people a pioneering company. Picking a date 3 years into the future, we identified several groups of stakeholders. These included: Potential Buyers; Venture Capitalists; John, the CEO; Sue, the MD; Customers – separated into three target groups; and Colleagues – the people working in the company. I prepared individual Flip Charts with the respective stakeholder’s names on top and laid these on the floor. People were invited to stand on the chart they were interested in completing. They were given 30 minutes to do the exercise. People returned to present the actual words they wanted to hear that particular stakeholder saying in 3 years. The exercise encouraged people to lift their eyes, become more customer focused and help to shape the team’s picture of success.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Pick a date in the future and create a separate sheet for each named stakeholder. Describe the actual words – not management phrases – that you want to hear the stakeholder saying by that date. Try completing the following exercise.

2) You clarify the words you want to hear from colleagues.

Colleagues are obviously stakeholders, so you may have covered these during the previous exercise. But let’s explore two other topics regarding what you want to hear colleagues saying. One example stems from working with a company that aimed to ‘improve the colleague’s journey’. The other example focuses on a company that aimed to turnaround its culture. Let’s consider each of these situations.

Improving the colleague’s journey

“Every business talks about giving great service to it customers, but good modelling is vital,” said the MD of a retail company. “The way we treat our people has a profound effect on the way they then treat the customers. Businesses talk about ‘the customer’s journey’ and certain ‘moments of truth’ when a person deals with the company. Getting these moments right can win customers for life; getting these wrong can turn them away for ever.”

“Nowadays we also talk about ‘the colleague’s journey’ during their career with our company. For example: enquiring about a job - coming for interview - arriving for induction - and so on. People learn from what you do, not what you say. So we must aim to get the moments of truth right during their time in the company. They are then more likely to get such moments right when serving customers in the stores.”

How to make this happen? We began by plotting the colleague’s journey and the specific ‘moments of truth’. Bearing these in mind, we then wrote the actual words we would like to hear people saying after these experiences. Here are some of the steps along this route.

The colleague’s journey

The stages in the colleague’s journey – and the moments of
truth - during their career in the organisation are:

Seeing the role advertised

The actual words we would like to hear
them saying after this experience are:

“_______________________________________________________”

Making contact with the company

The actual words we would like to hear
them saying after this experience are:

“_______________________________________________________”

Coming for an interview

The actual words we would like to hear
them saying after this experience are:

“_______________________________________________________”

Getting a job offer

The actual words we would like to hear
them saying after this experience are:

“_______________________________________________________”

Spending their first day in the company

The actual words we would like to hear
them saying after this experience are:

“_______________________________________________________”

Spending their first week in the company

The actual words we would like to hear
them saying after this experience are:

“_______________________________________________________”

Getting a permanent job offer

The actual words we would like to hear
them saying after this experience are:

“_______________________________________________________”

Attending their first performance appraisal

The actual words we would like to hear
them saying after this experience are:

“_______________________________________________________”

Etc.

Great organisations recognise the power of positive modelling. The way they treat their staff has a profound effect on the way the staff treat their customers. We found that doing this exercise – then implementing the necessary actions – helped to improve morale in the company.

Building a successful culture

“Near death experiences focus the mind,” we are told. Certainly this was the case when a new leadership team took over a troubled company. They recognised it was a matter of urgency to turnaround the culture. In its heyday the company had been dynamic. People showed a positive attitude, took responsibility and delivered great results. But over the years people became institutionalised; a problem that was compounded by weak management. The old leaders ignored the caring and creative people; choosing instead to focus on the complainers. The new leaders aimed to communicate some positive yet tough messages.

Great companies explain ‘the deal’ to their people. They explain the results, ‘rules’ and rewards. They outline the results to achieve; the rules – the guidelines - for achieving the goals; and the rewards – the benefits for the company, colleagues and customers. They are also ‘moral’. They explain the approach the company is taking and can give reasons for this approach. People can then choose whether or not they want to opt into working towards the goals.

The new leaders took this approach. They clarified the story, strategy and road to success. They also clarified the key messages to give people. Several of these messages explained the spirit - the professional behaviours - required to reach the goals. People would then be given the opportunity to opt in. The leaders could only ‘control the controllables’. For example, they could be professional in their communication, but they could not control people’s reactions. Bearing this in mind, they described the actual words they would like people to be saying after the communication. They identified the following groups.

The Positive People

“The company has a clear story, strategy and road to success. Everybody has the chance to opt in and help to make this happen. We know the leadership team’s role and the team member’s role. The company will encourage people who are positive and professional. It’s okay to suggest improvements, but to do this in a constructive – rather than complaining - way. Everybody needs to take responsibility. We want to be part of shaping a successful future.”

The Positive/Neutral People

(These are often good people, but they sometimes wait to see what will happen. Encouraged properly, however, they can become the engine of the company.)

“Now we see a way forward. We want it to be a place where people are rewarded for being professional and doing good work, rather than having tantrums. We believe the company is now serious about building that kind of work place.”

The Negative People

(Such people must make a choice. The company must be moral, however, and give clear messages about the behaviour required to achieve the overall goals. It is not possible to ‘control’ the response of negative people: some will complain whatever happens. But here is the ideal of what it would be good to hear such people saying.)

“We know the deal. We may not like all of the messages, but at least we know where we stand. It is now up to us to decide whether or not we want to part of that culture.”

The leaders gave their chosen messages and got the predictable reactions. The positive and neutral people reacted well. The negative people seemed stunned for a while. A few responded by behaving more professionally; but others relapsed into complaining. The culture became much more positive, however, and the negative people left within 6 months.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Pick a ‘context - such as the colleague’s journey, shifting a culture or whatever – and pick date in the future. Describe the actual words – not management phrases – that you want to hear the colleagues saying by that date. Try completing the following exercise.

3) You can clarify the words you want to hear from other groups.

Depending on your work, these groups might include, for example, the investors, the press, the media, a football club’s fans, specific members of the public, future generations or other target group. Clarifying the actual words you want to hear them saying can help to crystallise your specific goals.

Wendy, the marketing director of a retail chain, adapted this approach to gain financial backing from her Board. She wanted to launch a modern choir project across the country. There would be two categories: one for young people, one for community choirs. Rehearsals would be held across the country, performances put on in stores and a Grand Final held in London. This was a hard sell, particularly the ‘live performances’ in stores, because it would take valuable selling space. Several Board Members loved the idea, but others had reservations, particularly about the logistics. Wendy explains how she got the Board’s backing.

“I decided to make a DVD showing the picture of success. Set 18 months in the future, it showed what people would be saying after the choir competitions. Splicing it together with excerpts from Gareth Malone’s BBC TV Series Boys Don’t Sing, I got our employees to play members of the public talking about the choir competition. Their scripts included lines like:

‘It’s great to see (company name) being so innovative … My teenage daughter took me to visit the store on the choir day. We ended up spending lots of money … The whole place was rocking and it changed my view of the store … I hope they hold something similar next year. It will give me an excuse to go and buy something.’

“The DVD had the desired effect. The Board were projected into the future and experienced the sensation of success. The CEO immediately intervened and sanctioned the budget.”

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Pick another group that you want to reach with the picture of success. Describe the actual words you want to hear them saying by your chosen date. Try completing the following exercise.

Time to move from awareness to action. Try completing the final exercise. Start by looking back at the exercises and choose to focus on a specific target group. These might be your customers, leaders, colleagues, press or other people. Then do the following things. First, describe the date, the target group and the actual words you want to hear these people saying. Second, describe the specific steps you can take to do your best to ensure they are saying those words. Third, make these things happen. Do whatever is necessary to achieve the picture of success.