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Soft Skills
The vision fellowship
Lavanya Jayaram explains why people participation is necessary
for creating a dream organisation
 Vision is the
act of seeing or the act of imagining. The dictionary offers both as meanings
of the word ‘vision,’ just as organisations might accept both as their
concept on envisioning. But is it merely about seeing a future for the company?
What’s ‘vision’ for you?
Vision is the act of defining the possibilities for an organisation, and it
is very much in the hands of the stakeholders to create the vision for the organisation
and to take it to that eventuality in the future.
Organisations have different styles of visioning, from a top-down autocratic
style to a bottom-top democratic style to a centrifugal all-participative style.
Zensar in 2001 created a unique participative forum of the vision community
called the Vision Fellowship. This group encompasses all the levels of management,
senior management, mid-level project / programme management and the junior management
who are team leaders, project executives, etc. These parties have a good view
of the various levels or domains in the organisation, which they can effectively
represent in the vision fellowship. Participation in this forum is totally voluntary.
The visioning exercise is a formal process which gets more effective with the
support and guidance of top management, the commitment of all the individuals
participating in it, and the belief in the cause of a dream company, and the
possibility of making it happen.
Process
The process involves various groups coming together and discussing their dream
organisation, putting on paper what they always thought of while driving back
home—the ‘that should have been there,’ the ‘what-if-this-and-what-if-thats?’,
and all the ‘might-have-beens’ that are discussed over a drink with
colleagues that would take the company to the dizzy heights of the dream organisation
every individual wants to be part of.
This involves people from various rungs and backgrounds,
and with different levels of experience in the organisation, getting to the
drawing board with their thoughts. This amalgamation of thoughts is a systematic
process that needs able facilitation. At Zensar the process is kept high on
priority, with participation from senior members of the organisation right from
the board members and CEO to the other senior members of the management. The
whole process is facilitated in such a way that all the thoughts that emerge
as aspirations of the participants are documented and then categorised into
a logical sequence as drivers towards ‘creating a dream organisation.’
People participation
The effectiveness of this ‘fellowship’ can be through, and only through,
wholehearted people participation.
The importance of their enthusiasm and genuine belief in their aspirations can’t
be emphasised enough in envisioning a future as also making the vision work
for the company. People across all levels are involved in the envisioning process,
making it as inclusive as possible and allowing for opinions across rungs and
domains. People are encouraged to talk about their dreams. A series of workshops
are conducted to bring all members on the same platform with facilitation.
Vision sessions
Participants in vision sessions also experience a kind of paradigm shift. They
learn to see beyond their routine jobs by participating in decision-making processes
for their organisation. Emphasis is placed on driving the change through their
own initiatives. It is heartening for them to be part of the process which enables
them to shape up their organisation’s future.
Their desires and aspirations no more fall under the head ‘wishful thinking.’
They are encouraged to find practical ways of changing them into reality. It
is a self-motivating process which also instills a certain sense of responsibility
and accountability among the members of the vision community. The realisation
that they can contribute to the organisation’s growth in more than one
way is inspiring and challenging. The chance to interact with people from different
workgroups widens their perspective. It is an opportunity for them to understand
their organisation better.
Branding
Part of enhancing people participation in this movement is creating a brand
value for the fellowship or the vision community. It takes a lot of grit and
drive to take onto your plate more than the project deliverables if there are
no returns of any sort. So for every individual in the community, there needs
to be an answer to the classic question, WIIFM? This question is one that most
human resource functions need to address to get their teams motivated and kicking
with action: “What’s in it for me?” The organisation has to build
a brand around the vision community to motivate people be part of this movement,
to be part of the change that they would drive.
It is the responsibility of the top management to partake in this movement and
lend the necessary guidance and support to the teams.
Walk the talk
The visioning exercise is the fun part that has all the people involved, talking
about their dreams and where they want to take this organisation that they work
for. But for the dream to be moved out of this phase—of being a figment
of one’s imagination, an overflow of creative aspirations— it is essential
to lend tangibility to the agenda post-envisioning. It will involve detailing
aspirations to the minutest of action points that are measurable and can be
achieved against a timeline.
Lavanya Jayaram is senior executive, business integration,
Zensar Technologies
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