Dear Joan,
I appreciated very much the opportunity to meet with you and Dr. Jones last week. As promised, I have drafted an immediate approach to Sample College's Executive Staff development including an estimate of both the time and the costs required for the project we discussed.
The setting I suggest is a 1-½ day off site meeting for all members of the Executive Staff. Its focus is how the team will work together going forward. The technique employed is to have the Executive Staff tackle a significant organizational dilemma at the off-site meeting. (I suggest that Dr. Jones select the dilemma that we will use. She might consult anyone that she deems appropriate in making the selection including members of the Executive Staff. In other words, the dilemma choice need not be a surprise to the participants.)
At the off-site, the Executive Staff would first set the dimensions of the selected dilemma and then invent a response to it. I would preface and then punctuate these 'task' segments of the meeting with examinations of the process by which they approach and attempt to resolve the dilemma. Drawing upon the existing practices of the group and related research on teams, I would help the participants to look at how they work together and to understand known principles of group effectiveness. I also would afford the group an opportunity to look at differences in their style through an informal exercise employing the Keirsey Temperament Sorter ¾ a descendant of the Myers Briggs instrument. I anticipate that the group would alternate between segments of two hours or so working on the task and one hour segments facilitated by me to look at how they are working together.
They would emerge then with two products from the meeting:
In the case of the second product, I would stress that the group is not starting with a blank page. Dr. Jones has already set the context for how the Executive Staff will work together through her actions and statements to direct reports about a different style of individual and team relationships. This offsite work should take place within those boundaries. Additionally, they have existing styles of interaction that will become more transparent using the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. Such an agreement to be effective must contain specifics about how to test assumptions, disagree openly, invite inquiry, and focus on identifying group interests rather than advancing set positions.
My role in this project includes:
In preparation for the offsite meeting, I would conduct interviews with members of the Executive Staff . I would then produce a snapshot of the current functioning of the group, and their individual ideas as to what needs to change with both the process and the work of the group. I also suggest that the participants read two articles that I will forward to you for distribution. They also will need to complete instruments so that they learn their Keirsey Temperament Type. The safest course is to have them do that work either in a Keirsey book (Please Understand Me) or through a website address that I will provide to you. The books, which cost about twelve dollars, offer substantial background on the temperament types. As the test is self-scoring, only the participants see their own responses and scores. This avoids any problems with confidentiality. Once I have the selected dilemma, I will devise a more specific sequence for the meeting that I will also forward to you for distribution before the meeting.
The consulting time involved for the project would be:
Design ½ day
Interviews 1 day
Meeting 1½ days
Follow-through ½ day
_____________ ______
Total 3½ days
The purpose of the follow-through phase is to assist in the implementation of what emerges from the meeting. This includes task output, ongoing work for the Executive Staff, refinements to the agreement, and any possible extension of the project to other levels and areas of the organization.
The fee for this project as outlined would be $XXXX. (Cavanaugh Leahy & Company bills for my services at $XXXX a day but we have customarily offered a 10% project fee discount to not for profit organizational clients.) The only additional expenses that I anticipate are the costs of the Keirsey books and the off-site accommodations and travel.
I hope that this letter provides you the information that you and Dr. Jones require. I would be glad to discuss any of the aspects of this plan with you and/or Dr. Jones at your convenience. My direct line is (914) 366-7499; my email telliott@cavanaughleahy.com
Very Best
T.J. Elliott