Case Study #1

The Client: 
A small (60 people), Canadian division of a global, billion dollar, multi-national, multi business line organization – product driven.
Topic: 
Achieve targeted results and have a better quality of customer experience.
Situation: 
New General Manager with mandate to turn business results around. Had a talented team of executives and people, but they had not achieved their Annual Operating Plan for years.
The Challenges: 

  • Functional Silos – lack of cross-functional communication and coordination resulted in missed deadlines and lost opportunities that could not be recouped.

  • Unclear Focus – merger situation and multiple brands led to far too may priorities - people were overwhelmed.

  • Lack of confidence – little belief in ability to deliver the plan.

  • Poor execution – very sophisticated planning processes but did not execute well — no process or model for implementation to keep all the pieces and functions coordinated and on track.

Actions Taken: 

  • A three-day “Breakthrough Launch” that integrated all functional areas and multiple levels including all key stakeholders (25 people) who participated throughout the entire process below.

    Three dimensions of the Launch event:

    • Knowing – preferred future visioning focused priorities, barrier identification, etc.
    • Being – group coaching and exploration of individual and collective attitudes, assumptions and beliefs.
    • Doing – “Breakthrough Planning”

  • The process established focused priorities and clear identification of key barriers to success for which cross-functional Teams in Action were created to address them.

  • Implementation Launch Event – involved “blessing of the plan” and commitment process.

  • Quarterly Milestone Meetings – held one-day events, every quarter to keep implementation on track, providing:

    • Accountability for results
    • Continuous improvement
    • Cross-functional team communication
    • Forward planning for the next quarter
    • Ongoing development of team dynamics, ways of thinking and patterns of behaviour.
    • One-on-one coaching with executive team members.
    • End of year major celebration event, in addition to recognition as an ongoing part of the process and culture.
The Results: 

  • All Key Performance Indicators were significantly improved over the previous year and on target with plan for first time ever.

  • Confidence was soaring – on a scale of 1 – 10, average level of confidence is 8.5 that they will achieve plan.

  • All major obstacles were addressed.

  • The client team was in continuous improvement mode.

  • They were riding a wave and having fun!

  • Targeted end-of-year results were met.

  • The division won the North American President’s award for Best Division results.

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