1. Why all this talk
about HelixPLAN ?
®
The Helix Group, Inc.
14105 Allison Drive
Raleigh, North Carolina 27615
919-870-9345
www.helixgroup.com
helix@helixgroup.com
® HelixPLAN is a registered trademark of The Helix Group, Inc.
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2. Contents
• Would you like to improve your productivity?
• What is HelixPLAN?
• How does HelixPLAN fit with other Methods?
• How was HelixPLAN developed?
• What technology does HelixPLAN use?
• How does HelixPLAN work?
• For what can HelixPLAN be used?
• What are some specific scenarios in which HelixPLAN has been
used?
• What other benefits does HelixPLAN offer?
• Who has been trained in HelixPLAN?
• HelixPLAN Facilitation Methodology Training Class
• What support is available after HelixPLAN training?
• Appendix A - Client Feedback
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3. Would you like to improve the productivity of:
• Meetings
• Working sessions
• Strategy sessions With twice as much
• Projects done in half the time!
• Processes
• Etc.
That’s a 400% increase in productivity with
the participants committed to actionable results
Unbelievable…read on!
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4. What is HelixPLAN?
HelixPLAN® is a structured methodology
with a set of principles, tools, techniques
and materials, that enables groups to:
• Share information
• Simplify complex issues
• Create/develop ideas
• Assess ideas and information
• Formulate solutions to problems or issues
• Make decisions, set priorities
• Develop plans and actions
• Come to consensus as a team
• Foster participation, teamwork and
commitment
HelixPLAN is robust, formalized, well-documented and proven.
It addresses all aspects of working sessions, including design, preparation,
facilitation, and documentation/report writing.
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5. How does HelixPLAN fit with other
Methods?
If you have invested in methods like PMI, Lean, Six Sigma, Process Redesign, Strategy
Development/Deployment, Organization Redesign, Work Out, Kaizen, etc.
HelixPLAN is NOT a replacement; but an enabler.
Think of these methods as the “What” that needs to be done and HelixPLAN as the
“How” you get it done.
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6. Can HelixPLAN really be married up with ANY method for
improving business performance?
Every method in the world for coming up with business performance improvement plans,
designs and projects involves ONLY a finite set of generic kinds of tasks.
The basic building blocks of building business performance improvement
plans, designs, initiatives and projects…
1. Collect data
2. Brainstorm/generate/gather ideas
3. Summarize a group of ideas
4. Reach consensus on the meaning of a set of ideas
5. Determine inter-relationships among a set of ideas
6. Analyze data (matrix analysis)
7. Assess/rank past, present and/or future importance of a set of items
8. Assess past, present and/or future performance/occurrence of a set of items
9. Discuss an issue or set of issues
10. Formulate a problem, goal, mission, vision or other kind of statement
11. Define multiple scenarios for things outside your control
12. Refine and sequence a set of actions
HelixPLAN has a set of Lego block exercises that can effectively
execute the “HOW” of these generic tasks. That is how we can
guarantee “Twice as much done in half the time!”
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7. How was HelixPLAN developed?
• Developed by two former IBM executive
consultants with 40+ years experience working
with clients using a process consultation
approach
• Studied how the brain generates ideas and
processes information
• Studied and experimented with how groups of
people carry out: idea generation, consensus-
building, problem-solving, priority-setting and
decision-making
• Examined logistical thought-process hurdles that a group experiences when
developing and judging ideas and making decisions
• Developed, acquired or modified techniques to leverage individual and group
thinking processes
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8. What technology does HelixPLAN use?
HelixPLAN uses highly
sophisticated technology,
like:
• Paper
• Cards
• Pens
• Dots
The “magic” is in how we use them!
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9. How does HelixPLAN work?
6
The tools and techniques in HelixPLAN: 5
4 Sessions are
• Keep groups on task, one task at a time, all the while 3 a set of steps to
reach specific
building toward the overall objectives of the working 2 objectives.
session. 1
• Separate the judgment of ideas from the generation of
ideas to reduce problem-solving time exponentially.
• Leverage the trade-offs between speaking and writing,
listening and reading.
• Integrate multiple individual agendas or perspectives into HelixPLAN leverages multiple,
a team perspective quickly, cooperatively and decisively. diverse perspectives.
• Apply a unique visual medium that accelerates a
common, consistent understanding of the relationships
between ideas, and overcomes our short-term memory
constraints.
• Differentiate between assessing: importance (e.g.
priority), performance (e.g. how effective), existence (e.g. HelixPLAN enables groups to deal
effectively with lots of ideas.
to what extent does a situation exist), similarity, etc.
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10. For what can HelixPLAN be used?
HelixPLAN can be used for any set of objectives that benefit from the collective
wisdom and participation of a group of people.
Following are generic examples of what HelixPLAN has been used for:
• To develop mission, vision and strategy
• To assess proposed initiatives, decide priorities,
and build plans for execution
• To jumpstart project teams, by defining what
success looks like in the project and building the
overall plan to achieve it
• To design processes and roles, and actions
required to implement required changes
• To brainstorm new ideas around solutions to
problems, or new product or service offerings
• To analyze information, glean insights, and define
required responses
• To develop balanced measures linked to desired
business results
• To assess progress against measures or objectives
and decide corrective action
• To develop IT requirements
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11. What are some specific scenarios in which
HelixPLAN has been used?
Strategic Planning
Client: The CEO and senior leaders of a mutual
insurance company.
Purpose: Define the key processes and roles needed to
do strategic planning company-wide to reduce
the threat of Health Care reform. Company
revenues were 80% dependant on indemnity
health care insurance.
What We Developed a strategic planning process that fit the company culture. Due to the
Did: critical nature of the threat, the plan was updated every four months. We were
asked to run the process (using HelixPLAN) for a business cycle. We eventually
ran the process for three business cycles and trained company personnel to
assume the responsibility.
Key • The senior leaders faced the external threat of health care reform head on.
Points: • A new strategy was developed to replace indemnity insurance products with
financial services products.
• Scenario planning was done to identify threatened markets and develop
appropriate strategies.
Results: Today the revenue dependence on indemnity health care products is 18%.
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12. What are some specific scenarios in which
HelixPLAN has been used?
Corporate Culture Change
Client: A CEO-initiated task force at a US
automobile manufacturer
Purpose: Develop a program to instill a continuous
improvement quality culture throughout the
corporation
What We Supported the team in developing its strategy and project plan.
Did: We trained the rollout teams in the HelixPLAN Methodology for implementation.
Key The team members were experiencing considerable frustration in their
Points: inability to develop the plan. We worked with them for two days and
completed the strategy and plan. We asked how long it would have taken
them without our support and they estimated nine weeks.
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13. What are some specific scenarios in which
HelixPLAN has been used?
IT Alignment with Business Unit
Client: The President and senior leaders of the
T&O (Technology and Operations)
group of a global financial services
company with 60,000 associates.
Purpose: Enable the T&O group to dynamically align
itself with the ever-changing business unit’s
direction.
What We Developed a strategy to:
Did: •Implement a process-centric organizational model
•Developed well-defined process
•Established process ownership
•Clearly defined services provided and how to get them.
Key Work done on this project was part of the foundational process work that has
Points: evolved into a corporate wide initiative that includes Hoshin Planning and Six
Sigma.
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14. What are some specific scenarios in which
HelixPLAN has been used?
Organization Redesign
Client: Management team of the IT
organization supporting the
nuclear division of a global energy
company
Purpose: Redefine the IT organization to reduce
redundancies, gaps and rework across
sites, and improve cost/efficiency
What We • Clarified all the work the organization does
Did: • Decided where primary responsibility should lie for each piece (at sites
or in central group)
• Rolled all the work up into jobs and departments
• Defined reporting structure
Key • The management team had struggled with this redesign for more
Points: than three weeks
• We solved the issue in one day
• The new organization saved $4 Million in its first full year
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15. What other benefits does HelixPLAN offer?
• HelixPLAN compliments other methodologies and turbo-charges the
working sessions they require. Most methodologies require working sessions
for certain pieces of work (e.g. a process mapping session in a process redesign effort,
or a scope definition session for a project). HelixPLAN provides the “how” to get the
working sessions done fast, thoroughly, and with a high degree of participation and buy-
in!
• People who share the HelixPLAN language and toolset can partner very
effectively…even on a moment’s notice. Each HelixPLAN technique is like a
“play”. Everyone who knows the playbook can run the plays when they’re “called”.
• HelixPLAN session designs can be stored and re-used across multiple
clients. Each session design is a “container”. Each time it is run, the client fills it with
“content” specific to their business.
• HelixPLAN makes it possible to guarantee working session results.
Like any well-designed process, a well-designed HelixPLAN session provides
predictable results…every time.
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16. Who has been trained in HelixPLAN?
Partial list of client companies:
• Accenture • Infinitive
• Alcoa • Landsbanki (Iceland)
• Ally Bank • Jefferson Wells
• A.O. Smith • Lincoln Financial Group
• Arion Bank (Iceland) • FIS/Metavante
• BB&T (Branch Banking & Trust Co.) • National TechTeam
• B&H Photo • ParX Iceland
• Bank of America • PayPal
• California State Automobile Assoc. • Piedmont Natural Gas
• Campbell Co. of Canada • Sheshunoff Consulting + Solutions
• Catalyst Telecom • Sovereign Bank
• Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana, C. • SunTrust Bank
por A. (Dominican Republic) • UTMB Galveston
• Cognizant Technology Solutions (India) • Wachovia / Well Fargo Corporation
• Convergys • Webconference.com
• Daimler-Chrysler • WRQ
• Duke Energy • YMCA
• IAP Worldwide Services
• IBM Global Services
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17. Who has been trained in HelixPLAN?
Typical roles and responsibilities of people certified in HelixPLAN:
• Consultant
• Business Analyst
• Business Strategist
• Project Manager
• Process Architect/Designer
• IT Strategist
• Leadership Development
• Personnel/Human Resources
• Six Sigma Master Blackbelt / Blackbelt / Greenbelt
• Hoshin Planners
• Senior Managers
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18. HelixPLAN Facilitation Methodology
Training Class
•Three day class
•Taught at your location or
Here is what you can expect to take place during the
attend Helix regularly scheduled HelixPLAN class:
classes • Day 1, understanding the concepts, architecture, and
•Maximum ten participants principles related to HelixPLAN. Understanding how the
first eight or so of the 15 HelixPLAN techniques work by
•Experiential learning techniques being active participants and observers as they are
employed demonstrated.
• Day 2, will primarily be a day of learning by
experiencing, doing and observing. You will have an
Our objective during the three-day class is opportunity to practice and to watch how others do it.
to train you in the Techniques not introduced the first day will be
HelixPLAN Facilitation Methodology. demonstrated. Day 2 will also include learning about
HelixPLAN modules and scenarios -- frequently used
combinations of HelixPLAN techniques.
At the completion of the class, you will have
• Day 3, will focus on session design. Working in a small
acquired the skill to: team with two or three other participants you will have
• Facilitate sessions an opportunity to design:
• Design and prepare facilitated – A Critical Success Factors planning session
sessions scenario. This will be a take-away from the class
• Report results of facilitated sessions that you will have on the shelf ready for use when
the need arises.
– A complete planning session given only the
The HelixPLAN facilitation methodology session objective and a list of topics for the
includes: session. These session objectives and topics will
• A robust set of facilitation techniques. be germane to your consulting work; so the
• Session design concepts and tools. session you design will be another take-away.
• Methods and templates for writing reports of – We will also do a guided tour of the report writing
techniques associated with facilitated HelixPLAN
facilitated session results sessions.
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19. What support is available after HelixPLAN
training?
• We have a Members section at www.HelixGroup.com that
No charge
offers:
√ A searchable database of all HelixPLAN-certified consultants, to
aid in best practice sharing and partnering
√ White papers on a variety of topics that help consultants provide
maximum value to their clients and deliver optimal working
session results
√ The ability to upload and download re-usable session designs
and other resources
• We conduct feedback sessions with your HelixPLAN-certified No charge
consultants to share best practices, solve issues, introduce
new session designs, etc.
• We review and provide suggestions on your session designs No charge
and reports.
• We partner with you to design, conduct and report working Usual rates
sessions, and, in the process, transfer additional skills and
knowledge.
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20. Appendix A - Feedback
• What working session participants and sponsors say
• What consultants who use HelixPLAN say
• What HelixPLAN training participants say
• Survey results at a large financial services company
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21. What do working session sponsors and
participants say about HelixPLAN?
• Fast; complete • My first full Helix • It ended on time and
• Application of a session; it does help to covered a lot of
structured, proven promote thought ground
process to our specific • Really liked seeing • Focused
problem others’ ideas • Kept moving
• Very focused, well • Structured process • Open forum for
prepared • Organization, flow and discussions
• Use of a group to focus drove us to • Helps get to answers
identify the issues results and results
“We got twice as much done in half the time!”
This feedback is typical, underscoring HelixPLAN’s
reliability and broad applicability.
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22. What do consultants who use HelixPLAN say?
Whenever I have to do a working session, I always use HelixPLAN. Especially on the front end
of projects because things must be absolutely clear and people have to be on the same page;
HelixPLAN fits perfectly. I go to other sessions that don’t use it and it’s really frustrating! I’ve
seen others who are experts in Six Sigma blown away when they see a HelixPLAN session—they
immediately want to learn HelixPLAN.
Six Sigma Blackbelt at Global
Financial Services Company
What HelixPLAN helped us achieve in just two days would have taken our task force six weeks
to accomplish.
Corporate Director of process improvement
of a major U.S. Automobile Manufacturer
HelixPLAN has given me not only a proven way to get a lot of work done fast with high levels of
buy-in, but also an execution-oriented way of thinking. No matter what the work at hand may
be, the HelixPLAN way of thinking helps me clearly identify what steps need to be taken to
achieve results--whether I’ll be doing the work in working sessions or not. I feel confident that
I can take on any type of engagement.
Independent Consultant in planning,
and change management
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23. What do HelixPLAN training participants say
about the the methodology…and the training?
About the Methodology About the Training
• Provides a framework to think through and • You leave with a process you can use
build engagements immediately
• Building block approach • Is results-oriented, actionable
• Easily integrates to other methods • Quality, experience-based instruction
• Can be applied to diverse situations • Easy flow to class structure
• Provides a complete language and context to • Process well thought out
think about and design facilitated sessions • Interactive, learn by doing
• Comprehensive set of facilitation techniques • Fun
that are easy to combine • Activities/materials that can be used
• High comfort level that each technique will later for real
work • Thorough / paced well
• Self--documenting • Instruction was effective and enjoyable
• It works! • Instructors very approachable and
• Flexible and easy to use knowledgeable
• Gets twice as much done in half the time. • Frequent breaks helped group to focus
This feedback is also quite common. We designed the training like we would design any other
working session, and, of course, we use HelixPLAN to conduct it!
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24. How HelixPLAN has Performed for Trained Facilitators at
a Large Financial Services Company
Sponsor Objectives Met
My Effectiveness
Productivity
Efficiency
Buy-in
% of Respondents Answering either
Definitely or To a Large Extent
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25. Certified HelixPLAN Facilitators’ Survey
Assessment at a Financial Services Company
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10 % of Respondents Answering either Definitely or To a Large Extent
0
Provides a Easily integrates A comprehensive High comfort level Flexible and easy to Most effective
framework to think with other methods set of facilitation that each technique use facilitation
through or design techniques easy to will work methodology I know
decision-making combine of
sessions
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26. HelixPLAN Training Evaluation by Associates
Trained and Certified at a Financial Services
Company
Definitely
To a Large Extent
To Some Extent
Only Slightly
Not at All
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