The Ambition
To bring people together from across a newly formed government ministry to discuss the future of their diversity agenda and share their thinking for a strategic plan.
Comprising three previous government departments, the new ministry (now with 85,000 employees) approached us for consultancy and support in designing and running their first national conference on diversity.
Our Response
Instead of the usual conference forum we proposed an “open” two-stage event where all 250 delegates could work together to get results.
We used Open Space Technology (OST) and ‘Think Tanks’ to generate creative thinking about the future, in a truly open discussion with free and frank talking – and listening.
In the morning the focus was on five key questions that enabled participants to move around the space and join facilitated discussions as they chose. By contrast the afternoon needed to be focused and action orientated. For this we proposed facilitated ‘Think Tanks’ to develop specific proposals for the future.
Key to the event’s success was a skills development workshop for 17 in-house facilitators. It was vital that they were able to host the morning OST session and then later adopt a very different facilitation style to lead the ‘Think Tanks’. Their skill was critical to the success of the event.
Outcomes
The event attracted participants from across the country especially the numerous diversity networks and staff associations within the ministry.
Despite the “newness” of the organisation, delegates felt they were able to mingle freely, form new relationships and make positive contributions towards shaping the future. As a relaxed, yet tightly structured event, participants felt able to communicate openly and passionately, as well as tackle difficult issues in a constructive way.
Key note speakers included, Anita Bharucha, the Director of Judicial Services MOJ; Grace Ononiwu, Chief Crown Prosecutor, Northampton CPS and Michael Wills MP.
Feedback
“They were able to communicate with, and gain the co-operation of, staff from Director General to AO - who all felt included and valued.”
“It was important to have a conversation with our staff about equality and diversity. Both former Departments had a strong reputation for staff networks and associations but the issues we were inheriting were very different. We knew there were well-informed people with passionately held views – so we knew it would not be easy.”
“From the outset we were impressed by Faraday’s grasp of the issues, their imaginative suggestions and their professionalism.”
“Their idea for the day was novel and radical — just what we wanted! But they presented well thought out plans, so we were confident it would work.”
“A challenging day - but a success. And we got the result we wanted.”
“The facilitation was outstanding – calm and professional and dealing with some thorny issues with consummate skill. The staff who acted as facilitators had a very hard task, but the feedback I had from each of them was that they enjoyed it, had learnt an enormous amount and would happily do it again.”
