WELCOME MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS, HUMAN RESOURCE SPECIALISTS, EXECUTIVE TEAMS, PUBLIC POLICY MAKERS, GROUP FACILITATORS, STRATEGIC PLANNERS AND OTHERS...
My name is Al Holmes. I have spent the last 40 years of my life as a management consultant to all kinds of organizations in Canada and around the world. A large part of that time is spent as a facilitator of group problem-solving and decision-making. My clients tell me I am very good at it. However, as I get older, I prefer to spend more of my time at my computer close to the lake and less of it in front of large groups. As a result, I have decided to build the remaining years of my practice on two fundamentals; one that I learned decades ago, and another that I discovered in the past few years. I developed this website as a means of sharing that learning with you.
1. TAPPING THE WISDOM OF GROUPS: Very early in my career, I learned from some very wise men and women that if you gather together a large group of well-informed persons and provide them with an effective process, they will make better decisions than any one of them would make on their own. ( A very powerful recent, best-seller by James Surowiecki called 'The Wisdom of Crowds' explains why this is so.) Not only will they make better decisions, but also, they will be more committed to implementing those decisions and making them work than if they were imposed by someone from outside of the group. Chris Argyris, one of the fathers of the organization behaviour field, taught me about the importance of valid data in building commitment.
2. THE POWER OF ON-LINE SURVEYS: While I have always used surveys as a means of gathering input from members of groups, it was a time-consuming and labour-intensive process, which made it very slow and very expensive. A few years ago, I discovered the power of the on-line survey tools developed by new providers such as Zoomerang (www.zoomerang.com). I was an early adapter of this technology and now often have 20-30 active surveys on-line at any one time. I love this technology and so, apparently, do my clients because they keep coming back for more.
These tools are amazing, the respondent does the data entry and the software does the data analysis!!! This saves countless hours for me which I can put into survey design and thousands of dollars for my clients which they can put into taking action once decisions are made!
A GROWING LIBRARY OF TRIED AND TESTED INSTRUMENTS
As a bonus, I learned that the100's of questionnaires that have been completed by thousands of respondents are a powerful resource. While each was designed to satisfy a specific need I now find that it is easier to modify one that worked in the past than to start over from scratch. I now find that many of my clients look at one of my existing surveys and determine that it is 100% applicable to their situation. When this is the case, it saves the client even more time and lots more money!
CHANGE THE WAY YOU DO BUSINESS
During the past few years, the way I do business has been radically transformed. I used to spend a large part of the time in group sessions collecting input from participants that can later be used to diagnose problems and generate possible solutions. Now, all of that work is completed before I get to the group session and we can spend our precious group time using that input to make decisions and develop action plans to implement them. In some cases, I have discovered that the physical, face to face meeting may not even be necessary! The group can sometime make its decisions on-line through successive iterations of survey and feedback.
POSITIVE IMPACT ON GROUP PROCESS
I have also discovered that as the outside, neutral facilitator at group meetings, I spent much of my time trying to balance the input so that individuals would feel free to speak without fear of challenges or, at worst, put downs and ridicule. Some people are strong and confident contributors in groups while others are shy and intimidated. And I have learned that there is no connection between being strong and confident and being right! Just as there is no connection between being shy and intimidated and being wrong! The use of an on-line survey allows each of us to quietly and confidently enter our thoughts, without external influence, taking as much or as little time as we need to say what we want.
WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?
I can launch one of my 'ready-to-go' surveys for you for $300. Click here to learn more.
I can customize a 'ready-to-go' survey to make it look more like it was made just for you for under $1,000. Click here to learn more.
I can convert one of your own paper-based surveys to an on-line tool for under $1,000. Click here to learn more, and...
I can build you an on-line survey from scratch to meet your unique needs for under $1500. Click here to learn more.
If you are just curious and want to explore further, why not take a peek? Click here to enter my website.
