SUCCESS STORY
Our client is a leader in large scale telecommunications delivery working on a technically complex PFI funded project. The client relies heavily on the smooth running of its commercial department for the negotiation of new contracts as well as the interpretation and commercial implementation of existing ones.
The business had recently undergone significant change, moving from asset management to service solutions and yet many of the people had remained the same. The commercial department was no longer operating as effectively as it used to and the director in charge sought the help of JA Consulting to identify and implement the necessary changes to prepare the group to meet the challenges of the new environment and create a more team based style of approach.
Before deciding on the best way to approach this, we needed to understand the root cause of the issues. In this case, diagnosis was achieved using one to one discussions with all the members of the department, many of whom had many years of experience within this sector. From the interviews we consolidated the findings into a summary of what was going well and what the group needed to address in order to become more of a team. From their feedback, it became obvious that many of the individuals had needs that were not being met and did not feel comfortable voicing them in an open forum. We summarised our insights from their feedback and facilitated an initial group discussion on the findings.
Given the situation facing this team, we decided that TMI* (team management index) team profiling would help the team to understand and talk about their preferences and different working styles. Using the information from the one to one we then tailored a workshop using TMI and incorporating fun activities to align the team around common goals and develop practical solutions to engender more communication and team working. A follow up programme consisted of one to one coaching, problem solving facilitation and a step by step action plan to help implement and measure the changes.
Getting to the root cause of issues and tackling these as well as the symptoms is one of our underlying principles. In this case, from the diagnosis the commercial team could see how their input had been channelled into part of the solution creating a real emotional drive to achieve the necessary change. JA Consulting believes in using fun activities wherever possible underpinned by intellectual rigour to create open and creative problem solving environments to deal with the most prominent issues as well as to build awareness of individual preferences and working styles. This enables participants to step outside of their normal working environment and think differently.
From the initial process the team built a better understanding of each other and developed a common language (using the TMI as a reference point) to talk about their differences.
As well as an emotional alignment, they achieved a strategic alignment around their goals and for the first time had a set of common objectives to develop their knowledge and skills to deliver in the new environment.
The effectiveness of team briefings and meetings improved and they were able to articulate a common message about themselves to the rest of the organisation and their subcontractors and customers.
In this case, from the diagnosis the commercial team could see how their input had been channelled into part of the solution creating a real emotional drive to achieve the necessary change.
All the work we do is based on deep experience and we utilise the most comprehensive research sources to ensure that whatever we do will deliver results.
Our broad experience means we can quickly make interventions that are pragmatic and built on what the best do – and often brought to life with real case illustrations.
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