Our Process
Yancy Forums’ success across the business, medical, and education sectors is based on a proprietary process with proven results for members and their sponsoring organizations. The forum process consists of moderated peer interaction for members via a 2-½ day Retreat and a series of monthly on-line sessions over the course of a year. These prescribed activities and interactions provide actionable insights for members that they apply immediately to their daily lives.
Prior to the kickoff of this process, Yancy Forums helps executives of the sponsoring organization identify candidates for the forum and develop measurable personal and organizational goals that the forum will attain.
Yancy Forums then helps each forum member prepare a kickoff activity to solicit advice on addressing a major workplace problem or opportunity. This becomes the basis for forum peers to grow from relative strangers to lifelong bonded equals.
A Five-Stage Journey
The Yancy Forums process contains five stages that members step through as time and interaction with other members progresses. As members begin to grow with each other through the dozens of activities they’ll take part in, they build enhanced levels of trust and respect. They move from strangers to fully bonded peers and begin to address more complex projects and initiatives.
Strangers
The year-long Forum begins with members beginning to know and trust each other in a personal and professional way. The accumulation of individual personal experiences and stories leads to an awareness of the collective wisdom represented by the total experience and expertise of the forum members.
Counseling based on a self-awareness diagnostic and peer feedback from an initial activity, called Life-line, enables members to understand how they see themselves compared to how others perceive them.
Peers
By the end of the initial stage, the members see and accept each other as peers. Their awareness of the group’s collective wisdom transitions to recognition of how they can tap into that wisdom for their professional development and personal performance.
The members continue to provide advice and critical feedback as each seeks the resolution of problems or opportunities discussed. As the peers develop mutual respect and reliance, they become more trusting and accepting of feedback from their peers.
Collaborators
The combination of mutual respect and trust fosters a willingness to move beyond advice and feedback to actively work together to address personal, sector, or organizational issues.
During the collaboration phase, sponsor representatives may visit with the forum members to discuss progress with initiatives the forums undertake to benefit their organization.
Forum members begin to plan how they will bring back what they learn to their workplace colleagues. Guided by a moderator, forum members also examine ways to improve specific competencies – such as problem-solving, time management, mentoring, constructive feedback, and communication. The personal satisfaction from successful collaboration solidifies the trusting relationships that have emerged within the forum.
Advocates
With trusted personal relationships comes mutual support and loyalty. Members become proactive in volunteering best practices and network contacts to help peers achieve their career goals.
During the advocate stage, members are more open about their personal challenges and conflicts and work-life balance issues, and more willing to provide counsel on sensitive subjects such as health and family dynamics.
Bonding
Appreciation for the support and advocacy of peers results in a desire to maintain access to their forum and to continue building relationships that have proved valuable professionally and personally.
Recognizing the reality that new challenges and emerging opportunities will continue to come forth, organizations and members frequently decide to continue forums for one or more additional years.
Even when not extending a forum, the major advantage of a year-long forum over most other professional development approaches is that learning and relationships have time to bake in for sustainable impact.
Whatever the next organizational step, most forum members continue networking and find lifetime support and counsel by maintaining lasting bonds with colleagues.