Sheppard Moscow's Asia Pacific team gave a live demonstration of The Well at the Singapore Institute of Management - a prestigious establishment for the research and learning of modern management practices. The event was attended by the institute's Organisational Development Special Interest Group and was facilitated by our London-based consultant Frances Storr, architect of The Well.

The Well improves performance by helping individuals grow and learn within an organisation, with help from colleagues and/or other stakeholders. Delivered in the form of planned face-to-face feedback, it is initiated, controlled and driven entirely and at all times by the feedback recipient, supported by a skilled facilitator.

Our strong belief in the value of The Well means that we practice it ourselves as well as introducing it to our clients. Consequently, the recipient in this case was Guat Bee, one of our Singapore-based consultants, who courageously undertook to complete part of her own personal Well session in front of a live audience. Guat Bee is also one of the founding members of the Organisational Development Group, and along with the intriguing subject matter, drew a sizeable crowd.

Prior to the demonstration, Frances highlighted recent research published by the Corporate Research Forum (Improving Performance Through Appraisal Dialogues, August 2006), which confirms the need for honest and open dialogue about performance in organisations. She also drew attention to some of the most common difficulties that organisations face when it comes to appraisals, such as whether they add real value and the fact that what is written in appraisal forms is often so sanitised that it is difficult to tell what was really meant.

With The Well offering a very different way of managing these challenges, the Sheppard Moscow team demonstrated its value by engaging with Guat Bee in response to two of her chosen questions:

"What metaphor would you choose to describe me?"

"Highlight any specific behaviour that I could do differently to be more effective"

The audience watched the interaction and conversations between the Sheppard Moscow team and Guat Bee, including honest discussions to clarify issues and a frank airing of any concerns or hopes they had. With the demonstration a live one rather than an enactment, the audience were able to observe genuine responses and real openness between the participants. Post demonstration, the overall feedback from the audience was recognition of a need for conversations of this kind, and of how authentic communication creates trust and mutual respect - ultimately improving an organisation's effectiveness.

Interestingly, several people questioned the compatibility of the approach with the Asian culture, which drew a response from others that this was "hiding behind the Asian culture thing". Organisations are about people and performance, and The Well is a proven instrument for aligning and synergising the two. Although the concept may take time to be fully accepted in Asia, the demonstration at the Institute generated important debate about cultural barriers and about different ways of addressing and improving performance.

For more information on The Well click here.

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