General Topics

What does Visceral Change do?

Visceral Change is an Organizational Development consultancy, based in Arizona and operating world wide. We work with organizations, institutions, corporations, for profits, nonprofits, primary and secondary schools, etc… on helping them create sociosystems by centering their professional frameworks around diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 

How do I know if Visceral Change is right for me/my company/my organization?

If you are looking for a safe place to lean into discomfort, continue the work of DEI, or to better grow in your own development, then Visceral Change is the company for you. Most DEI groups provide training that focuses just on the person or the people, we at Visceral Change, focus on the system, allowing you to better understand the ways in which society shapes our behaviors and conceptions of reality. As an organization, our SsOD packages cannot and will not be found anywhere else in the world. Our original content means that you will not be getting what many people see as “the same old thing” in the world of DEI.

 

Consultation

Do you provide traditional consultation?

Yes! We are not only available for you via consultation, but you can also hire us on retainer for your organizational needs, as well.

 

How much are traditional consultations?

$500.00/hr. 

 

What is the difference between a Consultation and a Focus Group?

A consultation is where we help advise you on matters pertaining to you and/or the company. Things like ideas for working through a business plan, what to do with new hiring opportunities, and how to deal with DEI pushback from staff. Focus Group discussions are designed around a topic of concern that is pertinent to you or your organization. This discussion would include specific questions from employees relating to the problem and an overview of how it should be addressed by us. Focus Groups in the past have included “How to improve allyship in our Marketing” and “How to create a more inclusive Astrophysics department” among many others. 

 

How does retention (retainer) work?

When you hire Visceral Change on retainer, we avail ourselves to you whenever you need us! Similar to legal council, you would hire us to represent you at a fixed rate to address, consult, advise, or work through any problems, issues, challenges, or concerns that may arise for your organization. Unlike consulting, retention includes information on all areas of Visceral Change’s expertise, such as workshops and organizational development, and strategic planning. 

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Workshops

How long are typical workshops?

All workshops have a 2-hour minimum. This does not include Round-Table discussions which are 1-hour. 

 

How interactive are your workshops?

Entirely! Our Founder, Sherard Robbins, harkens on his days as an athlete and always says, “If the event was billed as a basketball training, I expected to dribble or shoot while I was there.” For us at VC, training does not = lecture - keynotes and lectures = lectures! Therefore, all of our Inclusive Diversity Training Workshops include large group discussion, small group discussion, activities, exercises, and lots of opportunities for call and response!

 

Why should I opt for a 3-hour workshop over a 2-hour workshop?

We don’t necessarily want you to opt for a 3-hour workshop, but it is something we offer up for consideration. It does impact the price, so before anything, it’s important to be mindful about your budget. It is for this reason that we require all workshops to be 2-hours as our experience has shown us that 2-hours is an adequate amount of time to get through all of the material without feeling rushed. However, some groups are more engaged than others, so adding an extra hour allows for more attention to be paid to the discussion and critical dialogue portions of the workshops. Additionally, and most importantly, the standard 2-hour workshops are designed to address the broad topic of the workshop and not the specific needs of your institution. Thus, the final reason a 3-hour workshop is recommended is so that we can help tailor the workshop to the needs of your organization. 

 

Who should attend these workshops?

Anyone who is interested in growing or continuing to grow in diversity, equity, and inclusion should attend these workshops. Also, anyone who is interested in learning about the Core Five Components to Social Justice. 

 

What if I don’t know what workshop will best benefit my team?

Contact us! We always encourage discovery meetings with our clients for this very reason. It helps us get a feel for what your most pressing concern may be and identify which workshop makes the most sense. Visit the workshop section of our website for more information!

 

What’s the difference between the Core Five 101 and the Core Five?

The Core Five 101 is considered to be a primer for the Core Five. The Core Five Components are 5 independent workshops (Power & Privilege, Identity & Intersectionality, Systems of Socializations, Cultural Competence, Allyship & Advocacy) that are booked either individually or as a package of 5. The Core Five 101 is a 2-hour (minimum) workshop that synthesizes the Core Five Components, ultimately highlighting each of the main takeaways from the individual workshops. Essentially, the Core Five 101 sets you up to have an understanding/preview of what would be expected in a full 2-hour (minimum) stand alone workshop of any of the Core Five workshops.

 

What workshops are included in the Core Five Components to Social Justice?

1. Power & Privilege

2. Identity & Intersectionality

3. Systems of Socialization

4. Cultural Competence

5. Allyship & Advocacy

 

If I purchase the Core Five workshop package, how should I space out the workshops?

You can space the Core Five workshops in any way you’d like! Typically, what most groups do is engage in 1 training per month (e.g., Jan-May) until all 5 workshops are complete. However, other groups have done one workshop per week or every 2 weeks, and some groups have done them as a part of day/weekend long retreats. 

 

What if some of my team members cannot make the synchronous workshops? How can they still participate?

We can record the workshops! The link will be private and password protected to protect your confidentiality in terms of the nature of what was discussed. However you choose to disseminate the video internally is up to you, however, there is a 10 day limit on recording access - after which point you will have to contact us in order to receive access again. Although your organization has full rights to the use of the video internally, the rights to the recording itself, and the material therein, belong to Visceral Change and should not be duplicated, copied, or shared externally without express consent of Sherard Robbins as the Founder.

 

Some of your workshops have activities and worksheets. Can we distribute the worksheets ahead of time to make sure every participant has access to them?

We ask that worksheets are not distributed ahead of time. All Visceral Change workshops are created with a series of factors in mind - one of which being the activities and the time it takes to do them. Handing the worksheets out ahead of time introduces the risk of individuals completing them before the workshop begins which, in turn, takes away from the team building aspect of the workshop. If you do have the worksheets head of time, we ask that you do not hand them out to participants until prompted by the facilitator. 

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Sociosystemic Organizational Development (SsOD)

What’s the main difference between the 6-month and 1-year SsOD packages?

The difference between the two could easily be interpreted as “evaluation vs. implementation.” The 6-Month SsOD is essentially an organizational assessment that includes surveys, interviews, document reviews, a SCOLA (swot) Analysis, and a final report with recommendations. The 1-Year SsOD includes everything in the 6-Month plus the implementation of, both, a Strategic Plan and our Sociosystemic Constitution as unique ways to ensure your organization is normalizing DEI in the most sustainable way possible. Visit the Sociosystemic Organizational Development section of our website for more information! 

 

What factors are used to determine the final price in the SsOD price range?

First, yes, the SsOD packages are not necessarily fixed and are offered on a sliding scale. Here are some factors that influence the SsOD price range:

• The number of people in your organization

• The number of sites in the organization that will be part of the process (i.e., sister campuses, additional office buildings, etc...)

• Unique requests to customize our services to the organization (i.e., if you wanted a recommendation on how to battle imposter syndrome within STEM, or if you wanted knowledge on some of the top conferences of color for STEM students, etc.)

 

Do we have to pay the full amount upfront?

Not necessarily! Currently, we offer two options for SsOD payment:

1. Full payment (upfront)

2. First and Last/Half and Half 

   • For 6-Month SsODs, this means that the first half of the payment would be made in the first month before the work begins, and the second half of the payment would be made at the end of the 6-Month engagement. 

   • For 1-Year SsODs, this means that the first half of the payment would be made in the first month before the work begins, and the second half of the payment would be made at the end of the first 6-Month cycle (evaluation) and before the second 6-Month cycle (implementation) begins. 

 

What methods of payment do you take?

Currently, we only accept checks or wire transfers. 

 

What workshops are offered in the SsOD packages?

6-Month Package (3 workshops):

• Core Five 101, Microaggressions in the Workplace, Diversifying Your Hiring

1-Year Package (8 workshops):

• Core Five 101, Power & Privilege, Identity & Intersectionality, Systems of Socialization, Cultural Competence, Allyship & Advocacy, Microaggressions in the Workplace, Diversifying Your Hiring. 

 

For the SsOD package, you want us to choose 15 staff members to interview. Who should we choose?

The 15 1 on 1 interviews should be anyone you think would best represent the experiences at your organization. This could be board members, staff workers, executive team members, part-time workers, etc. We want a broad understanding of what's going on, so interviewing people from different perspectives and positions are ideal/preferred.

 

What is a document review?

A document review is the first phase of our SsOD process. Here, we ask you to send us any documents you have that pertain to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Some of these may include (but are not limited to) your: employee handbook, organizational chart, mission/vision/values statements, adjudication process, website, social media handles, etc… This information will inform our SCOLA Analysis, which is our version of a SWOT Analysis. This will be the first report you receive from us which is designed to provide you with an overview of what your employees, clients, potential clients, competitors, etc., might be seeing when they look at the language your organization is using, specifically, as it pertains to DEI.

 

Is the survey you give our team members anonymous? 

Absolutely 100% Anonymous. The only people who will have access to the answers to the survey are us.

 

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