Bringing the workforce from two organisations together and building working relationships between the staff is essential to ensure quality of service to customers and success of the business. When it is done through a facilitated process the results can be outstanding.

Healthy outlook facilitates initial planning with the leadership group and assists them to gel so that they are able to work together. As many staff as possible are then invited to join an initial workshop(s) to identify what's working and what they would prefer to do differently as the "new" organisation emerges, creates a vision, identifies its strengths, resources and barriers and determines actions that will bring the two different cultures into alignment. Time is taken to acknowledge personal feelings, fears, dreams and hopes and to allow people to connect with others that they do not know, yet may need to work with. Once the whole-of-staff process has identified the steps to be taken, people self nominate for activities in which they have a passion or interest, and are willing to take some action on.

The leaderships group's role is to support the champions of these work groups, recognise small "wins", and provide support to ensure ongoing actions. The leaders are trained in the use of Solution Talk, a simple solution-oriented communication methodology found to be very effective for collaboratively solving difficult issues and keeping people focused on the vision they have chosen as a group.

Day-to-day actions that support the healthy growth of the new organisation are acknowledged through the daily five-minute continuous improvement Sanity Circles ™, in which staff reflect on what has gone well and what they could do differently. This reflection helps to keep people focused on the big picture, to recognise that seemingly insignificant actions have a big effect on the whole, and that what they do matters. It also helps to build communication and teamwork.

Two aged care facilities merged but staff were not talking to each other or solving the day- to-day issues to improve quality of care for clients.

A workshop was designed that enabled people to express their grievances and realise they all had common feelings of a sense of loss. Once these had been expressed, staff were invited to come up with solutions that would enable everyone to feel welcomed to the "new" organisation. A number of initiatives were implemented including recognising each other's successes and staff-organised social events.

Members of staff presented their experience at a Best Practice Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Conference. They reported high levels of energy and sharing, feelings of belonging to the new organisation, better resident care, higher morale and a harmonious workforce.

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Healthy Outlook specialises in designing and customising workshops to address the specific underlying issues and bring about the changes that will benefit the organisation. We pride ourselves in developing strong relationships of understanding and trust, so that your changing needs can be met as soon as they arise during the path of the project. Our facilitation styles are flexible to move with the energies of the participants in order to bring out the best, and help people access their inner power to be creative and find solutions.

The process of designing a workshop begins with meeting you to discuss your issues, concerns and desired outcomes. Each service is individually tailored and designed according to the needs of the organisation.

Glenara Lakes is a large aged care and retirement facility. Staff needed to align around shared values, improve communication between departments and form an organisational community of strong relationships with greater trust.

A whole-of-staff visioning and values program was held in which staff designed their new vision, agreed on behaviours they wanted to enact and set up teams to organise new initiatives. Many of these were implemented in the first six months. Subsequent to this, the organisation rated equal fourth for employee satisfaction levels when benchmarked against 125 Australian and New Zealand high and low care aged care facilities

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Sue's strategic planning processes are designed to access not only the "head" view but also people's hearts, to identify what they are most passionate about. Her work collaboratively aligns these visions and dreams to the spirit of the group as a whole - the "oomph' or energy to do something. This is what creates the initial force for change. Workshops can be for Boards and senior management or conducted as large, whole system events that involve members from all levels and departments of the organisation plus external stakeholders.

To sustain ongoing actions towards the goals, the strategic planning process can be complemented with Solution TalkT or Sanity Circles. (Can clink on button for more info in other section). Solution TalkT is a very simple solution-oriented communication methodology found to be very effective for collaboratively solving difficult issues and keeping people focused on the vision they have chosen as a group. Sanity CirclesT are daily five-minute continuous improvement circles in which staff reflect on what has gone well and what they could do differently. This reflection helps to keep people focused on the strategic direction, to recognise that seemingly insignificant actions have a big effect on the whole, and that what they do matters. It also helps to build communication and teamwork.

Strategic planning sessions can range from half day to several days.