An overview of how executives and senior management respond to using groupware in facilitated sessions.

1. Groupware &
Executives
Lions, Jackals and Gazelles
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2. How do executives
react to groupware?
Group Decision-
Dynamics making
Productivity Commitment
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3. But first, a metaphor…
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4. Lions are in charge…
• Set 100% of Strategic
Direction
• Distrust Democracy
• Hate group proces,
but love productivity
• Expect a good agenda
• Understand about
15% of the ”frontline”
issues
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5. Jackals are in charge when
lions aren’t around…
• Understand about
50% of Strategic
Direction
• Tend to deflect
bad news back down to Gazelles
• Understand about 50% of frontline
issues
• Tend to filter only good news up to
Lions
• Hate surprises
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6. Gazelles are always
running…
• Understand about 85% of “frontline” issues
• Understand about 15% of Strategic Direction
• Can respond to changing demands rapidly
• Usually don’t
have the sanction
to act
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7. Group
Dynamics
Lions are scary!
Lions eat jackals and gazelles…
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8. Group
Dynamics
Groupware in Action
• Anonymous, many-to-many input, levels the
playing field quickly, allowing all relevant ideas
to be aired safely
• Group dynamics are present, just very different
• Surfaces issues between the hierarchy quickly,
allowing each level to understand the issue
from the other levels’ perspectives
• Strategy linked to front-line reality
• No filtering of information
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9. Decision-
making
Not quite a
democracy
Lions are use to getting their way…
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10. Decision-
making
Groupware in Action
• Multi-level participation in decisions is new
territory for most groups!
• Careful determination of the rules-of-
engagement upfront are critical, particularly
with the lions
• Expectations about how a decision will be
made need to be cleared in advance
• All the information is on the table (thanks to
anonymous input) for a good decision
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11. Productivity
Getting results
matters!
Lions want efficient and effective
meetings…
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12. Productivity
Groupware in Action
• Expect two-fold increase in meeting
productivity (minimum)
• Plan to get to meaty issues quickly
• Brainstorming, categorizing, ranking and
recording happen quickly (almost trivial)
• Not what you expect… deep issue-base verbal
dialogue is generally 90% of the meeting
• Minutes are handled by the tools – save and
share
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13. Commitment
Deep down, they
know buy-in is key
Lions get it – controlled involvement is
important for some decisions…
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14. Commitment
Groupware in Action
• Buy-in can be tested with anonymous polling
• Generally, participants at all levels need to feel
their ideas had a fair hearing vs. needing to be
right
• Groupware strongly supports all types of
participative decision
• With multiple levels present, commitment to
decisions is stronger
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15. Group Decision-
Groupware & Dynamics making
Executives
Productivity Commitment
Conclusions
• Once underway, all levels enjoy the freedom to
explore ideas without worrying about level
• Richer conversations and all-level
understanding of the issues
• Executives hear issues they have never heard
before and recognize they need to know about
• In our experience, executives find groupware
sessions to be productive, rewarding, and
eye-opening
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