7-Step Process

Understanding who is speaking… in order to speak clearly

The 7 Steps

1. Gather 

Time to gather information and elements related to the project. Together, we’ll identify relevant issues and understand what the real scope of the project is. 

Warning! There will be lots of questions!

2. Play 

The “productive play” period establishes a detailed map of you, and/or your organizational landscape, as it relates to your vision.

In this phase we do more research, ideation, sorting and categorizing. Lists! Color-coded post-it notes! Then there are the questions: Which are the key components? How do they work together? What most concerns each person/function involved?  Where are gaps, missing links? What don’t we know? 

All this clarifying and confirming helps us illuminate disconnects in the existing ecology of the project, explore new ideas, and expand the vision.

3. Sift

We’ll edit, prune and focus, looking at how your organization’s ‘real world’ constraints and resources intersect with your goals for this communication and its target audience. What options ‘dance’ with you or your organizational culture? What fits your values, mission and vision? What works in terms of real-world resources, time and budget constraints? 

Time to get rid of what doesn’t belong.

4. Build

We produce a draft or, if it is a more expansive project, design a prototype to be “stress tested” in some semblance of a real-world situation with key stakeholders and target audience(s). 

Reality check. A strong foundation.

5. Iterate

It’s time to make sure everything (and everyone!) is being fully addressed.

Do all the moving parts work as planned? Is anyone running into the scenery? Maybe it’s stored in the wrong place? We’ll be asking everyone involved: “Does it work as expected?” “What needs to be changed?” “How could it be better?” Have new gaps appeared that need to be fixed… ??

6. Final Dress 

Everything seems to be solid. Time for implementation! 

Our plan will include protocols to deal efficiently with real-time monitoring and evaluation, revisions and updates. Unexpected contingencies are to be expected, so we build in buffers and blocks. 

7. Celebrate! 

We did it! Time for the Can-Can finale! 

But wait… it’s not quite over. Like most dancers, we believe in ongoing improvement. So now’s when we’ll be asking you: Did our solution meet or exceed expectations? Were there elements that could have been done differently, or better? Has the project had the expected/desired impact? And so on… we’re still listening!