Workouts
Consultation
Events with Charitable Organizations
"It's like organizational therapy!"
Carolyn Hunter, United Way
Half-day sessions are conducted with charitable organizations of the Ottawa
community:
1. to provide a valuable service, which might not otherwise be afforded, and
2. to demonstrate the use of the
Organizations Alive!
Model for:
a. understanding organizational dynamics,
b. diagnosing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and
c. planning for change and growth.
The
non-profit organizations that are chosen to participate, have a mandate to serve
those who need assistance in meeting basic needs, such as food, clothing,
shelter, safety, and medical. These organizations usually have a staff of less
than 100 people.
The sessions follow a simple and informal
process with Jan Yuill, as facilitator. There is a maximum of 12 practitioners (consultants, facilitators, trainers,
managers, and coaches) who attend:
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to increase their understanding of the Organizations Alive! Model
and how it can be used,
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to learn about, and contribute their expertise to, a community service
organization, and
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to strengthen the local organization change and development network.
BENEFITS
>>
OUTCOMES >>
Please contact us if you have suggestions for future sessions.
>> For information about the next scheduled event click here.
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Previous Sessions
with Allison Dingle (Chair, Management Committe),
Crawford Sharp (Secretary of the Centretown Emergency Food Centre), and Nancy
Jonah (CCSAC Secretary and Former Chair).
Location:
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Sponsor:
AMICA at Westboro Park
Attendance: 12
in total
"A
quick email to say thank you for so generously donating your time and skills to
do an Organizations Alive! workout for the Centretown Emergency Food Centre. It
was a very valuable and timely experience for us. We have all come away with a
clearer vision of the Food Centre's strengths and weakness, and a new
perspective on our relationship with our parent organization, the Centretown
Churches Social Action Committee. I hope you will convey our appreciation to all
the participants for their input, ideas and concern, and assure them that the
insights we gained from them will be put to good use. I look forward to staying
in touch, and to letting you know about the progress we make, thanks to your
workout!" (Allison Dingle)
"I want to thank you for sharing this
process. It's a very powerful tool and having had this opportunity to see it in
action gives me an appreciation of its potential in the world." (Elsa Molinaro)
"I so appreciate these opportunities to learn, deepen, and connect with your
model and those that are drawn to it. I'll keep on keeping on working my way
into making Organizations Alive! a living, breathing part of how I work with
organizations." (Linda Vanderlee)
"What a powerful experience - the convergence of minds and hearts focusing on a
need in the community. Love this formula! Thank you for the opportunity to
serve. The Organizations Alive! model sheds light on the 'quality of life' of an
organization in a simple and comprehensive manner. Great to see it applied!
(Jo-Anne Guimond)
"Thank you so much for your valuable assistance in helping us to see our way
ahead." (Crawford Sharp)
"Thank you so much, Jan, for letting me be a part of this incredible morning.
This reinforced the power of the model. Please include me next time!!" (Wendy
Ace)
"Jan is remarkable in her passion, clarity, depth and curiosity. An excellent
opportunity to contribute, to learn, and to connect." (Sharon Parker)
"Always fascinating to watch Jan work through the model. Was important to hear
different perspectives." (Julia Cipriani)
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The Ottawa Mission - September
25, 2009 (8:30-12:00 -
http://www.ottawamission.com
with Laird Eddy (Director of Mission Services), Trish
Elliott (Public Relations Officer), and Claudia Ramirez (Senior Manager,
Development).
Location:
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Attendance:
9 in total
"The insights and observations
offered by the group were invaluable in helping shape our communications. Thank
you for the opportunity." (Trish Elliott)
"Others' perspectives are enlightening to see things I did not see because I am
in it. The Organizations Alive! Model - so powerful to help see new
possibilities that exist between the six interfaces." (Joanna Barclay)
"Jan uses language to inspire and uses an insightful and practical model that
leads to remarkable results." (Catherine)
"As always the Organizations Alive! Model
works very well to quickly connect the dots to produce new ideas or
understandings, and therefore opportunities for action." (Margot Cameron)
"The Organizations
Alive! Workout session was very open and inclusive of the broad array of
insights available at the table. A lot of Inputs were gathered and assessed as
the session focused on The Ottawa Mission’s direction to expand downstream
services to community contribution and enrichment for clients who have completed
their programs. I’m sure that a lot of if not most of the individual points
raised had been identified by The Ottawa Mission in the past. Using the
Organizations Alive! model enabled the interdependencies between the key points
(Strategic Vision, Membership Potential, Resource Management, and Customer
Service points) and their real strengths and weaknesses to come to life –
fostering very productive, focused discussions on the key issues and
opportunities ahead of The Ottawa Mission, and enabled well founded conclusions
and directions to be articulated in short order." (Jay Rousseau)
"Very interesting and powerful to see the Organizations Alive! Model being
applied! I was very familiar with the work of the mission but seeing their
opportunities and challenges mapped out in this context and the possibility for
solutions!"
"Very
powerful tool, feedback, and help on both sides.
It's all about helping others. Thank you!"
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Y's Owl Maclure - July 24,
2009 (8:45-12:00) -
http://www.ysowlmaclure.org/
with Lynda Bowes (President) and Hugh Nelson (Executive
Director)
Location:
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Attendance:
9 in total
"Thank
you to everyone for their great guidance, enthusiasm, humour, and good
suggestions. We at YOM hope to continue to follow the path that your teamwork so
clearly pointed us in. Jan, thanks for the leadership, the clarity, the
breakfast but not the rain!! We hope to work with you again in the future."
(Hugh Nelson)
"Thank you for a most
invigourating and thought provoking session. As well as providing us
with areas on which to focus as we work on developing our action
plan, it was very enjoyable to spend three hours with such an
interesting and interested group of individuals. Everyone's
enthusiasm was apparent and made the meeting very dynamic. Thank
you, Jan, for your guidance and leadership and for bringing all this
together for Y's Owl Maclure. We will definitely keep in touch!
(Lynda Bowes)
"The
Y’s Owl Maclure workout session was well structured, following the OA! method,
which enabled the Y’s Owl Maclure situation, issues, and opportunities to be
captured quickly and for the group to stay focused on them as concrete options
and possible solutions were raised and reviewed in a healthy forum of open
discussion. The strengths of all participants were able to be leveraged in
short order, enabling each participant to build upon each others’ thoughts and
contributions. I was very impressed with the significant progressed achieved in
only 3 hours. The OA! process and structure enabled precious needles of wisdom
and direction to be extracted from what could have otherwise been simply a big
pile of hay." (Jay Rousseau)
"This
is fabulous! I love what you're doing. Providing us with greater depth of
understanding while helping a great cause." (Pamela Schreiner)
"Very interesting session. Another insightful example of the application of the
Organizations Alive! Model." (Adrian Camfield)
"This helped deepen my understanding not only of our 'client' this morning, but
also of the new enterprise I'm involved in creating (Real Conversations). And,
as I said, it motivated me to revisit my own 'umbrella!' (Jennifer Radley)
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The Ottawa Food Bank - May 15,
2009 (8:45-12:00) -
www.theottawafoodbank.ca
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with Peter Tilley (Executive Director) and
Carolyn Hunter (Agency Relations Manager)
Location:
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Attendance:
14 in total
"Thank
you to each of you for a fabulous Friday morning and for the very generous
donation of your time and expertise. It was a tremendous brainstorming session
resulting in excellent ideas to help us through some interesting growing pains.
We are rejuvenated, excited and optimistic about our next steps – thanks a
million!" (Carolyn
Hunter )
"Wow! This is a wonderful
way to work. This team approach to helping an organization ensures that lots of
great ideas surface. Let's do this again. Remember that corporations are moving
towards greater social responsibility. They'll be going to the Food Bank for
advice." (Pamela Schreiner)
"This was a very productive meeting for me. I really hope this works for the
Ottawa Food Bank .... I'm anxious to see how this will work for them." (Yvette
Leclair)
"This was a fabulous opportunity to see how the OA! Model not only helps to
guide strategic planning, but also clarifies the issues surrounding a
particular problem in an organization. Defining the two 'boxes' led to so many
rich ideas that impacted all the quadrants." (Jennifer Radley)
"Well done! Great contribution to our community! Win-Win-Win. (Paul Frazer)
"Marvelous real-life demonstration of the applicability of the Organizations
Alive! Model in analyzing a situation in order to stimulate suggested approaches
to a solution." (Adrian Camfield)
"Thanks Jan and Peter and Carolyn! This was fascinating. Seemed very worthwhile
and was a great learning for me - as always! (Andy Gabe)
"Was very interesting to work on a live case with a client and colleagues. OA!
provides a framework to explore and contain the situation. I enjoyed the
differing suggestions/ideas coming from differing perspectives! Underline how
important and rich it is to work with others. Thanks, Jan. (Julia Cipriani)
"Make a decision and follow through. Keep the course!" (Inta Cinite)
with Mengis Tsegaye (Executive Director),
Michele Wright, and Marina Savchenko
Location:
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 8 NOA! Practitioners and 6 guests
We used the Organizations Alive! Model to
listen to LASI World Skills, check our understanding, and then to discuss and
explore opportunities. Some of the feedback received included:
“I already mentioned that I really like
these non-profit focused events. They feel like (and are) making a contribution
at the same time as learning a great deal. What more could one want?”
“Once again the model sheds light on the whole picture in such a clear
and useable way. Thanks!”
“Extremely enlightening to experience the model with a real
organization! Thanks!”
“Thank you so much for having us today! This was truly amazing. You
have taken it to the next level and so much work was involved in organizing this
event. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“Great to re-connect and connect with the great people in the
community and LASI. Great opportunity to see the model in action. I’d like to
talk with you about doing something with this model (potentially) for a team
retreat.”
“Very interesting. I’m intrigued and want to register for the workshop
in April. Thank you so much for including me. I enjoyed the conversation, the
insights, the process – it was a very good investment of my time.”
“This session was a great opportunity to learn more about the
Organizations Alive! Model and how it is applied. It seems that the
possibilities are endless.”
“Excellent event, Jan!! Demonstrates once again the value and
practical applicability of the model.
“I am always moved (amazed) at the complexity of organizations after a
session with you.”
“... what is clear with the model is that the structure, methods, and
policies affect how work gets done … . So to focus only on the people is not
useful for a sustainable change. Your model is a simple way of demonstrating
that to the client.”
“I really enjoyed the 1-hour get-together prior to the session to
connect with others.”
“This was a wonderful
opportunity to get to know LASI World Skills and the good they do
in this world. Thank you.”
“Thank you again for a great learning experience!”
“Your
authentic generosity, Jan, came through clearly – in your bringing
this event into being and in your holding of gracious respectful
space with heart and competency.”
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Ottawa-Carleton Child Care Association (OCCA)
- May 28, 2007
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Linda Vanderlee of
Rendezvous Rupert, Kathee Nash, and Jan Yuill
met with members of the OCCA to begin planning for a strategic planning event
with members in mid-June. The
Organizations Alive!™
Model
was used to clarify the primary objectives of the June event.
with Peter Tilley, Executive Director
Date:
June 23, 2006 (9:00 - 12:00)
Location:
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 12
Eleven consultants (two missing from the photo) had the privilege of working
with Peter Tilley for the morning of June 23rd. Many of us were surprised by the
extent of the work of The Ottawa Food Bank. It was a rich, informative, and
highly participative session.
"The model quickly gives a
'picture of an organization.'"
"I am leaving with an increased awareness of The Ottawa Food Bank and what it
does."
"Informative and energizing."
"The session gave a good overview of social issues and the role of this agency."
"Totally awesome!"
February 5, 2007 Update: "Our brief session had a definite impact on this
organization. We decided to put several of the more detailed projects on hold -
the ones that ... were somewhat outside of our mandate – and
focus on our more pressing needs. As such, we are having a somewhat successful
start to this year in terms of foodraising and fundraising." - Peter Tilley
with Trudy Sutton, Executive Director
Date:
May 11, 2006 (1:00 - 4:00)
Attendance: 12
On May 11th, twelve of us
spent the afternoon focusing our attention and energy on Housing Help, which
helps people in the Ottawa area to find and keep a home. Thank you, Trudy, for
your courage to go first, for your candid description of the organization, and
for your flexibility in the process.
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