While people are contemplating others’ contributions to the content, they are simultaneously processing the consequences (both positive and negative)
They may miss or lose track of some elements of the dialogue and the complex interdependencies throughout the discussion
Some speak, even promote, while others stay silent during discussion and at decision time

The consequences are ...

• Many teams have difficulty converging on a specific direction
  
• Often the selected direction is not fully aligned with the preferences of the participants, with consequences that will be “addressed as they arise”
  
• Lacking mitigating solutions to potential barriers, the pace is slower than desired
  
• Execution suffers due to lack of commitment to the chosen direction
  
• Results are poorer than anticipated and frequently miss expectations

Less than complete commitment to the final destination, in combination with inadequate attention to the potential negative consequences and barriers, significantly reduces the chances of achieving the desired success.

Using this innovative tool, each member of the team can focus on a rich discussion of the plan, strategy, or decision at hand, covering the potential destinations, outcomes, objectives, and barriers. The complete list is rapidly recorded into the SchellingPoint web-based assessment tool.

Each participant in the discussion privately identifies their degree of support or dissent for each point through their personalized portal. The responses are passed to SchellingPoint’s Active Convergence Engine™ (ACE) - a proprietary algorithm which evaluates the composite level of support and stratifies each point for subsequent action.

The result is a graphical and tabular analysis of ...

• Those elements of the decision/destination for which there is complete concurrence
  
• Those items with some dissent that may be readily converged
  
• Those items where the team is divergent and exhibits a material difference of opinion requiring targeted discussion
  

• Access for each participant to all discussion input germane to the topic
  
• A safe, private mechanism for conveying support or dissent on each point
  
• Web access for local and remote participation
  
• A proprietary algorithm providing an objective visual representation of the degree of concurrence across the team
  
• Actionable identification of potential barriers to execution success
  
• Fast, easy to use, and clear output

• Complete, focused discussion of the attributes of the decision, plan, or strategy without the burden of having to make an immediate determination of direction
  
• Privacy for all involved, mitigating the negative group and meeting ‘dynamics’
  
• A quantitative statement of where the team is like-minded and able to proceed
  
• Identification of those elements of the decision which require further work to maximize convergence and enable execution success
  
• Input for the Collaborative Design process to converge the most divergent issues

• Significantly reduced time to converge on an optimal direction
  
• Decisions, plans, or strategies that encompass the full sentiments of the entire team
  
• Increased productivity and agility of the direction-setting team
  
• A maximized commitment to plans and agreements enhancing implementation success
  

• Increased individual productivity through an efficient direction-setting process
  
• Reduced time and cost in the concurrence process
  
• Comprehensive assessment of commitment to goals including shared concerns of unintended consequences and barriers, resulting in cost-effective execution of plans and strategies
  
• Elevated confidence in the direction and timeline through a deeper understanding of the implementation journey
  

• Transformation initiatives
  
• Strategy development programs
  
• Management and Project teams
  
• Process design and reengineering
  
• Product development
  
• Partnerships and contracts
  
• Mergers & Acquisitions
  
• Corporate programs and initiatives
  
• Boards and governing bodies

Any implementation in progress that is not meeting expectations, in either results or conduct, is a strong candidate for an Alignment Assessment, in order to understand root causes and develop remedial actions.