Facilitation
Using the Argenti System
Some of our clients tackle The Argenti System as a stand-alone process: their Planning Team carefully moves through the five strictly disciplined Stages ‘in house’. However, there are three strong reasons why we advise that you do not do this:
- It is widely recognised that there are powerful advantages in inviting an experienced outsider to help you take your organization through something as vital as strategic planning. A strategic plan is the plan that contains all the topmost decisions that you must make regarding the future of your organization. It would be dangerous to base such far-reaching decisions solely on the subjective opinions of your own management team. An objective outsider – especially one you already know and trust – could save you from any sincerely held, but erroneous, misconceptions that exist in all managements.
- If this outsider is also familiar with The Argenti System he will be able steer your planning team swiftly and surely through the process. Although The Argenti System is set out with great clarity in jargon-free English, it is also very detailed. Four decades of experience has taught us many lessons which we constantly review as the world about us changes. We would be deeply disappointed – as would you - if your strategic planning exercise was less than excellent because you missed one of these vital details.
- We have a growing number of experienced, accredited Argenti Facilitators who are trained to assist you to launch the strategic planning project and to guide your team through the process. They will go anywhere in the world to assist you. Because they are uniquely familiar with The Argenti System your planning teams will be able start work without delay.
- We strictly forbid our Argenti Facilitators from deciding your strategies for you. Their task is to take your team through our comprehensive process so that your team can make these difficult decisions in a thoroughly systematic, orderly, fashion. Your people know your organization and its ethos better than anyone on Earth.
The main duties of the Argenti facilitator is to:
- Explain the Argenti planning process to your board.
- Advise your CEO on the selection and organisation of the planning team.
- Brief the team on the Argenti System methodology.
- Pilot the team through the Argenti process.
- Organise and lead the highly significant workshops.
- Encourage the team to achieve milestones and deadlines.
- Advise on Monitoring and Project Planning.
- Complete the exercise with a written summary.
- Constantly transfer their planning skills and knowledge to your staff.
- However, they are not permitted to make strategic decisions for you.
Timing
Normally clients ask our facilitators to take them through the whole process from start to finish. This might typically take 20 days over a period of several weeks or a few months. However, some clients ask them to take the lead for just the first few planning team meetings – an assignment of just a few days. They are almost always invited to facilitate the critical ‘SWOTE Workshops’ later in the process. In the case of a major Group of companies, an assignment could last for 30 days over a period of several months. Once you have agreed your particular requirements for the assignment, your Argenti Agent will be happy to quote. Having first been taken through The System by your Argenti Agent’s Facilitator most organizations will tackle subsequent planning exercises on their own.
Project Impact
By the end of the project we would expect your team, guided by your Facilitator, to have determined the following:
- A Statement of Corporate Purpose, very short and to the point
- Targets, Forecast and Gaps for the next several years
- A SWOTE Analysis which highlights the ‘strategic elephants’
- A set of strategies, prioritised, co-ordinated and risk-tested
- A concrete monitoring loop and review process.
For further information about these facilitators please go to Contacts
Clear logical approach of major benefit...