Turnover, disengagement, or poor communication costing you money and holding you back?
Cheri Torres, Lead Catalyst and CEO of Collaborative by Design, can help you retain top talent, increase meaningful engagement, and transform communication throughout your organization. Working with Cheri, leaders develop the ability to foster agility, creativity, and resilience, dramatically improving organization outcomes. From the basics of everyday communication to the complex challenge of engaging your whole system in solving complex challenges and strategic planning, Cheri can work with you to foster success. Key areas of focus:
Chai Pani
Indian street food from four-time James Beard nominated chef Meherwan Irani with restaurants in 4 locations.
Goal: Improve communication between management and staff, especially in how to talk about critical issues while maintaining quality relationships among team members.
Approach: Provide a 1-day Conversation Bootcamp customized to address specific communication issues and desired outcomes.
Initial Outcomes: Managers report feeling more comfortable having important conversations and that the outcomes of those conversations are positive.
Southern Veterinary Partners (SVP)
Veterinarian owned and managed regional network of animal hospitals with the common goal of providing the highest quality veterinary care to companion animals with exceptional client experiences.
Goals: Enhance productivity and teamwork, reduce stress, increase wellbeing, and develop leaders who can inspire excellence.
Approach: Developed a process for regional managers to engage members of each hospital in developing their own strategic plan aligned with SVP. Designed and delivered a customized leadership and team training in Conversations Worth Having. Trained SVP regional managers as certified CWH trainers so they can continue to develop and reinforce communication practices across all of their hospitals to foster collaboration, productivity, and excellence.
Initial Outcomes: Hospitals that have completed the training and with management that is onboard are reporting positive outcomes. These managers say having common language around conversations is supporting effective communication. They are reframing problems as desired outcomes and using questions to engage staff. Relationships are improving. They are excited about the shift in energy and engagement and report they have a strong sense of how to inspire both teamwork and excellence.
Rainbow Community School
A 40-year old private school with a national reputation for holistic and mindful education, serving 200 students, preschool through eighth grade.
Goals: Create a culture of positivity and unity aligned with the values and principles of the school.
Approach: Engaged Board of Directors in conversations to reflect on and align with agreed upon principles and practices of the school. Trained a cadre of administrators, faculty, board, and parents in Appreciative Inquiry (AI) so they could develop their internal capacity to utilize AI for strategic planning, problem-solving, and strategic conversations. Provided system-wide (all teachers, board, and interested parents) training in Conversations Worth Having, which was then taught to students by teachers. Supported a system-wide strategic planning process, lead by those school personnel who’d been trained.
Outcomes: Faculty, staff, parents, students, and the board experience a culture of positivity on campus. AI is used as the approach for handling problems and their strategic plan is moving forward. [Previously, I facilitated a strategic planning process for the school. They achieved their 5-year goals in 4 years, including all their blue sky goals. During that time, they doubled their campus size, doubled student enrollment, and almost doubled their income.
The Jewelry Industry Summit
Bringing the jewelry industry together to encourage and facilitate meaningful, solution-driven activities that continue to advance sustainability and responsible sourcing.
Goal: Inspire the industry to take a leadership role in sustainability and responsible sourcing across all industry segments.
Approach: We hosted two Appreciative Inquiry Summits that challenged the industry to reinvent itself on an on-going basis to become more and more sustainable and responsible. We designed a third gathering and sharing format that was used without the aid of outside facilitators to continue to bring members of the industry together.
Outcomes: A number of important initiatives have been developed and are moving forward to make it safer for people working at various jobs within the industry, strategies to support small jewelry business to take important sustainability steps have been developed and distributed, and a non-profit organization has emerged to continue to support continuous reinvention across the industry.- Communication
Chai Pani
Indian street food from four-time James Beard nominated chef Meherwan Irani with restaurants in 4 locations.
Goal: Improve communication between management and staff, especially in how to talk about critical issues while maintaining quality relationships among team members.
Approach: Provide a 1-day Conversation Bootcamp customized to address specific communication issues and desired outcomes.
Initial Outcomes: Managers report feeling more comfortable having important conversations and that the outcomes of those conversations are positive.
- Leadership and Collaboration
Southern Veterinary Partners (SVP)
Veterinarian owned and managed regional network of animal hospitals with the common goal of providing the highest quality veterinary care to companion animals with exceptional client experiences.
Goals: Enhance productivity and teamwork, reduce stress, increase wellbeing, and develop leaders who can inspire excellence.
Approach: Developed a process for regional managers to engage members of each hospital in developing their own strategic plan aligned with SVP. Designed and delivered a customized leadership and team training in Conversations Worth Having. Trained SVP regional managers as certified CWH trainers so they can continue to develop and reinforce communication practices across all of their hospitals to foster collaboration, productivity, and excellence.
Initial Outcomes: Hospitals that have completed the training and with management that is onboard are reporting positive outcomes. These managers say having common language around conversations is supporting effective communication. They are reframing problems as desired outcomes and using questions to engage staff. Relationships are improving. They are excited about the shift in energy and engagement and report they have a strong sense of how to inspire both teamwork and excellence.
- Culture Transformation
Rainbow Community School
A 40-year old private school with a national reputation for holistic and mindful education, serving 200 students, preschool through eighth grade.
Goals: Create a culture of positivity and unity aligned with the values and principles of the school.
Approach: Engaged Board of Directors in conversations to reflect on and align with agreed upon principles and practices of the school. Trained a cadre of administrators, faculty, board, and parents in Appreciative Inquiry (AI) so they could develop their internal capacity to utilize AI for strategic planning, problem-solving, and strategic conversations. Provided system-wide (all teachers, board, and interested parents) training in Conversations Worth Having, which was then taught to students by teachers. Supported a system-wide strategic planning process, lead by those school personnel who’d been trained.
Outcomes: Faculty, staff, parents, students, and the board experience a culture of positivity on campus. AI is used as the approach for handling problems and their strategic plan is moving forward. [Previously, I facilitated a strategic planning process for the school. They achieved their 5-year goals in 4 years, including all their blue sky goals. During that time, they doubled their campus size, doubled student enrollment, and almost doubled their income.
- Continuous Reinvention
The Jewelry Industry Summit
Bringing the jewelry industry together to encourage and facilitate meaningful, solution-driven activities that continue to advance sustainability and responsible sourcing.
Goal: Inspire the industry to take a leadership role in sustainability and responsible sourcing across all industry segments.
Approach: We hosted two Appreciative Inquiry Summits that challenged the industry to reinvent itself on an on-going basis to become more and more sustainable and responsible. We designed a third gathering and sharing format that was used without the aid of outside facilitators to continue to bring members of the industry together.
Outcomes: A number of important initiatives have been developed and are moving forward to make it safer for people working at various jobs within the industry, strategies to support small jewelry business to take important sustainability steps have been developed and distributed, and a non-profit organization has emerged to continue to support continuous reinvention across the industry.
“Dr. Torres is an expert in the practice of appreciative inquiry and through her knowledge and leadership she guided us through a deeper understanding of the concepts and framework. She is a masterful communicator and deeply intuitive, fully grasping the needs of individuals and the organization. Dr. Torres was instrumental in helping us ensure our AI summit was both successful and transformative. She is a gem who lives an appreciative life that positively impacts all she comes into contact with.”
~Dr. Peter Dry
Associate Head of School for Innovation and Strategy
Principia School
How much of your time is spent in Conversations –
even with yourself?
Top Corporations Use This Approach
Improve Morale and Performance
Cheri always approaches each project with respect and with a deep concern to actually help clients reach their goals. Cheri blends humor with her years of experience and knowledge to ask key leaders tough questions and to facilitate collaboration, even where there is disharmony. I worked with Cheri recently and one of the client’s key leaders decided to no longer participate. Cheri immediately asked to set up a meeting in the evening with this person to assess and evaluate the issues. With Cheri’s expert facilitation of so many complex views about the direction of the company, they were able to experience open and respectful conversations about areas of disagreement rather than ignoring an issue that could have prevented them from achieving a successful outcome for their long-range planning.
Cheri’s vast experience and wisdom is a terrific asset to her clients. She brings perspective and understanding to situations that opens up creative space for new learning. As a teacher, facilitator, or consultant, Cheri helps bring out the best in individuals, organizations, and systems by tapping into innate potential. I have studied and taught the basics of self-efficacy (personal confidence) for many years. Cheri is one of the most gifted persons I know in facilitating increases in personal and collective confidence to succeed.
Cheri Torres’ approach to strategic planning and culture transformation is remarkable. The energy, enthusiasm, and commitment built across our system catapulted us into the future. We achieved every one of our 5-year goals, including our bluesky goals, within 4 years! We doubled our campus, doubled our student body, and almost doubled our revenue.
Stress and conflict avoidance are giving way as we use the communication practices Cheri Torres taught us. The change is palpable. We were having interpersonal issues in our team that were really getting in the way of collaboration. Her approach totally shifted the dynamics. We are now able to have the kinds of conversations that help us understand one another and move forward as one team.
