Evaluation of Appreciative Inquiry AI

¶ … Appreciative Inquiry (AI)

Appreciative Inquiry

The concept AI (Appreciative Inquiry) is a participatory approach that energizes organizations, and engages people actively in order to create successful changes, capture positive experience among stakeholders and stimulate successful changes. Typically, appreciative inquiry has become an effective tool to enhance organizational effectiveness using clients' relationships, business partnering, team work and effective communication. Part of the business objectives of the project management are to solve business problem as well seizing opportunities using the collaborative relationships and partnerships. Moreover, the project management objective is to facilitate achievements in order to achieve desired results and outcomes. (Mathiassen, & Napier, 2013). The appreciative inquiry is a traditional problem to solve problem, identifying possibilities and generate collective image in order to develop a better future.

The appreciative inquiry model involves the following phases:

Phase I: Learning and Discovery

Phase II: Envisioning Results

Phase III: define and committing

Phase IV: Delivering outcomes.

The AI application approach is as follows:

Start with a rapport building question

Focusing on inquiry topics that include decision making, communication and teamwork.

Creating an appreciative question to explore the topic

Conducting an inquiry interview, and Creating commitment statements as well as action plans.

For example, a bank management decides to install a new operating system on the desktop computers, and the decision has led into a conflict between two information system groups. However, the company is unable to use the traditional problem solving technique to address the problem. An outside consultant uses the appreciative inquiry approach to solve the problem.

Another project that uses the AI approach is about an organization that intends to implements the network project. The company has decided to install a new wireless network interface, however, the design group and testing group are incompatible and management tries to solve the problem using the traditional approach without success. An outside consultant uses the AI to get the team member to define the issue and create a more trusting environment. The strategy has assisted the company to complete the project within the time frame and on budget. (Kloppenborg, 2011).

Implications of AI to define Project Scope

A project that consists of different stakeholders with various uncertain desires can be challenging. Appreciative inquiry is an effective tool to achieve objectives of the complex projects. The success of a project is to identify key project stakeholders and elicit the stakeholders' needs to determine project scope. The strategy is effective because it lays a clear boundary and goal of a project scope. Since many projects are planned and implemented under the atmosphere of uncertainty, appreciative inquiry can assist the project stakeholders to navigate through inquiries to achieve positive conversations. The AI process to define the project scope is as follows:

Discovery: This phase involves a discovery of positive capacity of the stakeholders, and the community. The management can use this step to reflect on the past in order to articulate the true stakeholder's needs that should be integrated in the project scope.

Dreaming: This phase assists participants to imagine what will happen if their needs and wants become norm. Participants dream of an ideal condition to build ideal future and hope. The goal is to make participants to make a comfortable positive move.