Organizational development facilitation:
Vision Quest Africa facilitates total systems processes to help organizations build capacity on all levels. These processes include strategic planning, organization culture work, staff capacity building, change management and systems development. Depending on what we have agreed with our clients, our interventions may include workshop processes of three to six days in duration.
Leadership and management formation for individuals and organizations:
Our capacity building in leadership and management for individuals and organizations (LMD) program is a capacity building and formation program that starts with personal leadership and self-management, but the exploration is continuously applied to enhance the effectiveness of trainees in the organizational, family and societal contexts. The program is residential and comprises two 4-day workshop modules held two to three months apart. LMD is the VQA flagship service.
Why this specific focus on capacity building in leadership and management for individuals?
Two key lessons learned from our practice as OD consultants had a profound impact on the way we approach our work:
These lessons were the catalyst for developing VQA’s work in leadership formation and personal development since 1995, and what we know as the "strategic life management" approach. Since 1995 we have consciously applied this approach in our work with organizations as well as shared/ taught in formation programs for individuals.
The following principles guide our work:
We view our capacity building work in leadership and management for individuals and organizations in Africa as a contribution to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad).
Over the last seven years VQA has facilitated more than 60 LMD programs in South Africa, a number of African countries and in Cambodia. The two 4-day residential workshop-modules are held two to three months apart. The program is available to individual and organizational clients as follows:
1) As part of a larger total-systems OD process with a specific client organization.
2) As an independent program hosted by an organization for its own staff and clients, where there is a specific need identified for formation work in personal leadership and self-management.
3) As an open program (usually in the Cape Town area, South Africa) hosted by VQA for those interested in building capacity. (The number of open programs is limited.)
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Development counseling (mentoring) services: Back To Top
Research shows that mentoring support for middle and senior managers is indispensable. VQA’s service in this regard includes mentoring support on a regular basis to those embarking on, or presently in, leadership and management positions. Mentoring or development counselling is a process in which a mentor (one of the VQA consultants) acts as speaking partner and facilitator in a process in which the client leads her or his own process of growth and development. This is most beneficial for people who have reached a crossroads in their lives or are having to work through specific personal or work-related issues. However, we believe any person can benefit from development counselling. This service takes the form of one three-hour counselling session every month for a minimum of six months.
Community development capacity building: Back To Top
Building development capacity in South Africa is essential. Our services cover general introduction courses in community development, management and leadership formation for development workers, capacity building for field workers, and the sustainable livelihood approach for rural development. This service takes the form of workshops of between three and five days each.
Team building: Back To Top
Organizations often experience problems as a result of staff members not functioning as a team. This is reflected in such symptoms as low productivity, high absenteeism, low morale and a lack of motivation. VQA facilitates team building processes to help organizations build morale, better communication skills, higher levels of motivation and enthusiasm as well as facilitating an understanding of the pivotal role of values and organisation culture. Ultimately such an intervention has a major positive impact on the productivity of an organization. Team building usually takes place as part of a larger OD process, but can also be offered as a stand-alone process. It takes the form of workshop processes of two to four days each.
Conflict resolution: Back To Top
High staff turnover, low productivity, high absenteeism, unpleasant working conditions and a lack of coherence are some of the most visible consequences of internal organizational conflict. We assist organizations to identify the source of the conflict and to develop the necessary understanding and skills needed to work through the problems. Moreover, VQA assists organizations to ensure that conflict will be managed with increased capacity and understanding. Conflict resolution processes include workshops of two to three days, which also integrate work on team building.
Strategic planning: Back To Top
Proper planning remains key to the success of any organization, yet lack of planning remains one of the key reasons why organizations do not perform according to their potential. The most common weakness in this regard is that organizations become trapped in short-term crisis planning, rather than approaching their work more strategically. Key planning steps are often neglected or omitted. The lack of planning systems which translate mid- to long-term goals into daily action steps is another common weakness. VQA assists organizations to develop planning capacity and technology, using holistic approaches which focus on the whole system and facilitates the daily execution of steps which build towards reaching larger goals. Strategic planning is usually part of larger OD processes, but it can also be provided as a stand-alone service, including workshop processes of between three and five days.
Organizational culture work: Back To Top
Organizational culture interventions assist organizations to understand the role that values, attitudes, beliefs and perceptions play in successful performance. These processes build consciousness around relationships, something which can dramatically enhance the happiness of staff, improve teamwork and cooperation and, in so doing enhance productivity and effectiveness. Organizational culture work processes include workshops of two to three days each.
Staff capacity building: Back To Top
Staff capacity can in essence be distilled to three things: knowledge, skills and attitude. Through a comprehensive staff audit, the organization is helped to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Based on this, programmes and plans are developed to address the skills and formation needs of individuals through tailor-made interventions. These may take the form of workshops of two to three days each.
Management training: Back To Top
It is imperative that organizations and their staff understand the difference between leadership and management. VQA assists organizations to make this distinction, to identify management strengths and weaknesses, and to develop capacity where it is needed. This takes the form of workshops of two to three days each, covering all the elements of management practice.
Systems development: Back To Top
Potentially great programs often collapse because the necessary structure, systems, and mechanisms are not in place to support the new initiatives. VQA assists organizations to understand systems and how they work, identifying the specific systems needed and ensuring their development and maintenance. Examples include systems for performance appraisal; information technology; basic systems like filing, workspace basics, and the management of resources like equipment and vehicles.
Change management: Back To Top
In our ever-changing work environment, organizations that cannot adapt to change in a constructive and timely way will not be able to stay on the cutting edge. VQA assists organizations to develop a better understanding of the change process and to develop the management competency and skills to embrace change as an opportunity rather than resisting it as something negative. Change management includes workshop processes of two to four days each.
Communication skills: Back To Top
Highly successful organizations develop the ability to communicate necessary information effectively and efficiently. One of the dangers we see at VQA is the belief that technology can substitute for staff having good personal communication skills. We assist organizations to understand the specific place and value of technology in communication, while making them aware of the dangers of becoming too technology-driven. Our focus is on relationships and how individuals hear and read each other. Communication is in the first instance about people, not technology. This service takes the form of skills training processes of two to four days each.
Health and fitness management for individuals and organizations: Back To Top
People the world over are beginning to understand how exercise and nutrition directly affects performance in the workplace. At VQA we recognise that problems like low productivity, emotional mood swings and high absenteeism can be strongly linked to inadequate nutrition and the lack of proper exercise. We assist organizations and their staff to unravel the mystique around exercise and nutrition and develop a better understanding of the link between exercise and nutrition and what we “give” to our families, our workplaces, and ourselves. Participants are provided with the basic skills and knowledge to address this part of their lives in constructive ways. Organizations with canteens and cafeterias are helped to tailor their existing nutritional services for optimal workplace performance. This service includes two to four workshop sessions of a half-day each, held three to four weeks apart.
Action learning: Back To Top
The ability to learn from own experience and that of others has become the key competency in successful organizations the world over. Ready-made solutions and “recipes” no longer provide us with answers in our fast changing world. Organizations have to learn to think on their feet. Action learning – a methodology developed by Reg Revans – is now widely applied throughout the world. VQA is one of the pioneering organizations of this methodology in southern Africa. VQA has also participated in publishing a number of books on this topic. Our services include assisting organizations and individuals to apply action learning in their organizational and personal lives. This service includes workshop processes of two to three days each.
Temperaments and work on personality types: Back To Top
People are different! We all have our likes and dislikes. Just as no
two thumbs are alike, no two personalities are alike. Over the
centuries attempts have been made in different cultures to try and
understand the differences in people. Recognizing these differences
in ourselves and in others offers powerful new opportunities for self-understanding and growth, for improved communication and healthier
relationships, and for teamwork that appreciates and utilizes the
gifts of each member in conscious synergy. More and more
organizations realize the importance of personality type indicators
in staff capacity building. VQA offers a practical introduction on
personality types (temperaments) as part of team building, conflict
resolution, staff capacity building, communication skills and
leadership formation services. We are also willing to provide working
with personality types as a stand-alone service, including workshop
processes of one to two days.
