Do we need to be laser-focused on one front-burning need? Or, is this going to be the time to think broadly and dream big? As our saying goes, no Phase 0 projects are alike.​

• Composition of the Phase 0 team.
  Phase 0 projects provide excellent development opportunities for future leader and enables team members to take a break from daily tasks to engage in strategic thinking while collaborating with peers in a new way. Phase 0 also provides an opportunity to build connections across HR or the broader business.

• Process specifics, including timing.
  A lot of details go into planning a productive Phase 0 efforts. After all, a dream without a plan is just a wish.

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Next, we engage the team. 

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It's critical that at all team members understand the importance of the effort, and that they know their managers are aware of, and will accommodate, their active participation.

 

This stage may also include a formal team onboarding process, one that leverages a proprietary tool to which we have access, AgileBrain. The AgileBrain tool is a fast, fun icebreaker that can be employed in advance of or at the start of the Phase 0 "Imagine" Workshop. It provides each team members insight into their own emotional needs and motivations, which in turn helps them begin to "empathize" with those who will ultimately be impacted by future changes.

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Now it's time for the fun to begin... it's time to imagine! 

 

Imagining the future can take many forms. The one we most frequently employ is a live-and-(ideally)-in-person (!) workshop.

 

As experienced workshop facilitators we have a number of tricks up our sleeve to ensure the workshop pace and feel is appropriately balanced between energetic and fun and productive and thoughtful. ​

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We'd like to tell you more, but our approach to Phase 0 is a trade secret, which we're willing to share in a conversation.

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It's time to take a step back: It's time to reflect and potentially engage other stakeholders.

While your team members go back to their usual work, the emHrge team is at work reflecting on the  workshop: What were the key takeaways? What wasn't explored that should have been? Do the remaining Phase 0 steps need to be modified in any way?

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At this time, we re-engage the project sponsors and owner, providing a debrief of the workshop and discussing our proposed next steps. It's here where you may determine that obtaining additional input from from other stakeholder groups, including from a small subset of your employee population, would be valuable: helping you and the team refine the vision and consider the implications. (You can find an overview of our approach to market research/stakeholder sensing under exploring by emHrge.)

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Now that we've aligned on the purpose and parameters of the Phase 0 process, engaged stakeholders, imagined what the future could be, we're ready to create a document of the envisioned future and ensure alignment.

 

We do this by facilitating another workshop, one that typically is shorter and more focused (and can be more easily conducted virtually). The outcome of the workshop is a brief that will be delivered to the senior leadership team that includes:

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• The finalized vision statement and guiding principles

• A summary of what benefits are anticipated to be realized by implementing the vision

• High-level "specifications" of what the vision will entail, including a visual timeline, and

• Considerations to be made regarding potential barriers and pitfalls.

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As the Phase 0 process can be used as a development opportunity for team members, we then (if applicable) serve as mentors to the team, helping them prepare to present to the project sponsors and owner, and other key stakeholders, the newly envisioned future - one that is clearly articulated and ready to be further explored and expanded upon to create an executable roadmap. A future vision around which everyone is aligned.