Zürich, March, 2000

Dear Colleagues:

I am checking-in to update you on my latest activities and to provide you with some ideas on how people in organizations are working with the challenges of change and communication. Perhaps a few recent examples from my work portfolio will exemplify the ways that I can support you and your organization. Feel free to contact me to further explore themes that get your attention.

Large Group Work: Last November I co-promoted with colleagues at Simma & Partner in Austria the workshop: Engaging Whole Systems in Creating Organizations of Their Own Choosing. Associates from Dannemiller Tyson Associates (DTA), Ann Arbor, MI, USA led the session. Participants from various industries experienced the whole system approach to change and had the opportunity to work on personal whole system change projects. This October, Kathleen and her colleagues will be releasing a new book and companion tool kit, Whole-Scale Change: Unleashing the Magic in Organizations and Toolkit for Unleashing the Magic in Whole-Scale. Perhaps large group work can bring about fast, far reaching and sustaining change to your organization?

Change Agent: I am continuing to do work with a Head of Corporate Training & Development to design and deliver a three part change agent workshop that supports managers responsible for major change initiatives within the industries division. Main themes include: power and resistance in organizations, personal influence on the change processes, listening and questioning. Participants also develop personal awareness through use of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, 'shadow consulting' and a change model that elucidates common stages in a change process (crisis to opportunity). Managers gain knowledge and practical ways of creating ownership with colleagues and confronting the challenges of change.

The Coaching Culture: Last year I started a collaboration with Ashridge Consulting, UK that focuses on the delivery of coaching skills workshops. Their aim is to further a 'coaching culture' in client organizations. During the learning process, participants gain greater self awareness and learn about coaching skills in the context of developing a High Performance Organisation. Main sections include: Mental & interpersonal skills, goal setting, learning styles and coaching intervention styles. As a member of the training team, I support with delivery and facilitation of break-out groups where participants practice coaching skills with workplace issues.

Achieving Communication Standards: I am currently working with an automotive manufacturer that wants to encourage employees to develop communication standards as a way of improving customer satisfaction. I support them with the design and delivery of a series of workshops that achieve the following: bring employees and management together to gain a common understanding of customer satisfaction data, set personal and organization improvement objectives. This process includes a personality profile instrument that helps people to understand themselves and their behavior in the their environment.

People & High Performance: My on-going work with close colleague Dr. Roman Borboa continues. We are further developing a learning process that was initially inspired through our work with the financial sector. The focus is on people. It requires each participant to have a clear understanding of teams, expectations and accountability in order to increase performance. In this context, we are offering custom learning events based around the themes of leadership, cognitive styles, personality preferences and behavioral dimensions. Our aim is to help organizations realize their business plan through the achievement of HR strategy objectives.

Media and a Social Cause: My work portfolio continues to include regular assignments for radio, TV and film. I entered the media field some twenty years ago while living in the USA. Last October, I contributed to the NetAid concert that was broadcasted over television and the internet from Geneva, London and New York. For this particular assignment I was casted as 'stand-in' for actor Michael Douglas (local host in Geneva). Michael finally made it for the show and that put me backstage to enjoy the production and to learn how the internet, entertainment industry and team work can support a humanitarian cause. Working with popular music artists Bryan Ferry, DesRee and the band Texas was an added treat.

Moving Forward: If there are themes that you would like to explore, I welcome your phone call or e-mail. I hope to be of service in the future.

Please visit my last E-Zine column about my introductory workshop, "Involving People in Large Scale Organizational Change."

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