| Brief description of technique |
|
The search conference is a tool for planning
which includes main stakeholders in a process that emphasises
communication, mutual learning and participants taking
responsibility for agreed outcomes. The goals are consensus
on desired outcomes, and action plans to realise these.
|
| To what kinds of consultation situations
is this approach best suited? |
|
Communities or organisations where a diverse set of
stakeholders need to discover the common ground on which
they are prepared to act together in order to start
building their shared future.
|
| How much time is generally needed? |
| Two to two-and-a-half days, preferably in 'social
island' conditions (ie: residential or at least away from
day-to-day work and domestic pressures). |
| What are the facilitation or leadership skills
required? |
| Trained facilitation is essential; independent
facilitators may assist a planning group to design the
conference and support the collective search for common
ground in the face of diversity and possibly conflict. |
| What kind of information do participants
require prior to their involvement? |
| This depends on the circumstances. The sponsoring
body may choose to provide specific briefing material,
but this is not essential if participants are active in
the particular community or organisation for which planning
is taking place. |
| Brief outline of how the process usually
works |
|
A steering group identifies main stakeholder constituencies
and recruits from each of these in consultation with
identifiable group leaders or key individuals. A typical
size for a search conference is seven or eight
stakeholder groupings of eight people each. However,
search conferences have been successfully conducted
in Australia for up to 750 participants in parallel,
interconnecting conferences.
The conference is carefully designed as a series of
process steps, typically the following:
- Our history and what we can learn from it.
- Environment scan: the world as it is emerging, based
on current trends.
- The future of our organisation/community if we keep
going as we are.
- Envisaging the best possible future for our organisation/community.
- Analysis of needs and the gap between these and
current reality.
- Agreement about priority issues and strategic directions.
- Action planning including deliverables, commitments
and monitoring arrangements.
|
| Outcomes of a successful process |
|
Articulation of a coherent, strategic set of action
plans with commitments from participants to pursue their
development and implementation.
|
| How this approach is usually evaluated? |
| Quality of outcomes for the organisation or
the community. |
| Strengths |
- This approach to planning enables all stakeholder
groups to clarify and express their own interests,
hear and explore the interests of other stakeholder
groups, then co-create visions and plans which incorporate
the range of interests.
|
| Weaknesses |
| Requires a significant time commitment from
participants and openness on the part of the sponsoring
body to the outcomes that emerge from the conference. |
| Resources Required |
|
Space large enough to hold participants seated at round
tables of approximately eight, with break-out spaces
for action planning discussions. Flat wall space to
display group reports, and/or technological processes
to enable effective reporting.
|
