the allaboutXpert Facilitation Service is built on decades of experience in guiding and supporting organisations in articulating and planning their strategies, portfolios, programmes and projects as well as in helping them implement performance improvement initiatives.
our diverse and deeply experienced team of facilitators offers a tailored, results-oriented service, including:
- organisational mission, vision and values
- strategy articulation and tactical business planning
- portfolio definition and analysis, including project prioritisation and sequencing
- programme setup, definition, mobilisation, risk assessment and health checking
- project scoping, work breakdown structure, scheduling, issue resolution and lessons learnt
- team support for productivity, creative problem solving and conflict resolution
- functional engagements covering change, integration, structuring, optimisation and problem solving
- people engagement analysis and custom-designed people development interventions.
we embed four best practice principles that make our facilitation service offering unique:
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principle 1: preparation
the principle of preparation, through interviews, research and tailored session design, ensures optimal benefits from the core interventions and enables precise matching between our client’s needs, our team skills and the required output.
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principle 2: neutrality
the principle of neutrality enables outputs generated in response to our client’s specific needs, it for purpose and suitable for their unique circumstances. we avoid techniques, templates and pro-forma agendas and one-industry-solutions for all clients. our neutrality enables your unique expression.
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principle 3: collaboration
the principle of collaboration encourages individual contribution from all participants, unearthing all views for open scrutiny. collaboration ultimately ensures that the “right” participants own the “right” output, optimising final delivery. people believe in what they create themselves!
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principle 4: follow-on
the principle of follow-on ensures sustained engagement with our client until the final product, representing our work together, lands on the client’s desk. we work with clients during preparation we design the documentation you expect and, because we are proud of our work, we own its final delivery in the specified format.
these principles are embedded in our tried and tested methods. up front engagement with major stakeholders, attendees and subject matter experts (including, if necessary, with those who might not even take part), means our facilitators are prepared, can lead rather than follow discussions, can structure agendas to focus on your ideas bottom line and ‘read’ the session more accurately.
it also means we can design agendas that will encourage focused output … and adapt agendas for high functioning teams or when there is conflict, interference or sabotage present.
as a result we have garnered experience way beyond the project management processes which still form our core offering. blue chip clients in many industries as well as a host of smaller, listed and private businesses and government and regulatory bodies, together make up a standing community of satisfied clients.
a note on method
over the years we have cherry-picked from the International Association of Facilitators’ (IAF) database of published facilitation methods, refining our services to reflect the standard service groupings:
- application focus
- method or model focus
- intervention focus
holding best practice in mind, but committed to neutrality and collaboration, we are able to combine and engineer tailored interventions to client needs more accurately.
the personal styles and industry experiences of our individual facilitators also impact chosen method in response to your needs, with a blend of psychological, behavioural, industrial, technical, conflict-management, change management, organisational development and social work backgrounds enriching our response.
our method is always only a base: facilitation is something we are passionate about. we take pride in developing the appropriate, pertinent and best-value solution every time.
working with all people at all levels
the combination of passion and professional business service has made us a recognised provider of facilitation services.
we have specialised over the years in the portfolio, programme and project management space.
our work has covered all levels of organisational concern, from strategy, through tactical and strategic planning, through best practice articulation, competitor analysis, process engineering, organisational design, to work planning, team structuring and simple departmental health sessions.
we work across all major industries in Southern Africa, as well as local, provincial and national government, in large and small enterprises, institutions, businesses, charities, academic bodies and organisations.
we are experienced in working with CEOs, Ministers, Executives, Senior, Middle and Junior Management and operational staff in small, medium and large groups, both within and between organisations.
working across many fields of expertise
• project, programme and portfolio management
• portfolio and programme design
- definition, analysis, prioritisation and sequencing
- programme and portfolio executive review sessions
- executive process facilitation, including resource pool and capacity management
- programme set up, design, mobilisation, scoping and risk assessment
- project management office maturity assessments
- PMO Implementation designs and roadmaps
• project management
- objectives and project definition workshops
- project scoping, scheduling, work breakdown structures, issues and risks
- project team-specific interventions; quick forming and conflict resolution
- group schedule auditing and comparison, team and project health sessions
• strategy articulation
- strategy articulation, prioritisation and sequencing
- strategic reviews and health checks
• products and technology
- joint application development
- product review and optimisation
- product to strategy to market match and review
- bespoke sessions tailored to different project management methods
• people interventions
- change management
- engagement focus groups and interviews
- engagement analysis and presentation
- performance improvement interventions
- communication sessions for specific events
practical application
areas of application:
- business / government planning and strategic articulation – provide executives the opportunity to verify and qualify the future direction of the organisation. private and public sectors require different approaches. strategies sometimes need review and adaptation. strategies can also require review in terms of developing high level tactical plans to translate them at divisional or business unit level.
- portfolio planning – organisations are realising the importance of a well-planned and composed strategic project portfolio. deriving this from the strategy, balancing the portfolio, prioritising and sequencing the programmes and projects is a core activity that involves the executive of the organisation as the realisation of strategy (specifically business benefits) directly relies on the decisions made within this process.
- programme optimisation – not all programmes commence with the ideal state of detailed planning. this lack of planning negatively impacts the first project to be executed. programmes should evolve as the organisation evolves. when they don’t, integration, dependency management, governance, stakeholder expectations, and benefit realisation are not always in place.
- project delivery – projects require collaboration and participation to “get everyone on the same page” and this is best achieved through a we’ll defined agenda facilitated by a neutral facilitator. improved planning leads to improved delivery.
- business and functional initiatives – Subject specific sessions bring various role players together to follow an agreed upon process or agenda to achieve the required result. By involving the right stakeholders a much richer and valuable result is created. Working together towards a common goal brings teams closer together with increased ownership towards the end goal.
