CLIENT: Design/Build at Boeing Test and Evaluation
SERVICE: Management Team Strategic Retreat
Generating Management Buy-In For A Divisive Strategy Using Participative Play
David was tasked with deploying a large engineering statement of work to a brand new Boeing office in India, and needed first line managers to be able to respond to employee concerns and resistance so that the statement of work could be completed effectively, and long term working together processes and structures effectively designed and implemented. The Design/Build Organization consisted of senior managers from Boeing sites across the enterprise. Senior leaders from Arizona, Missouri, and Everett were gathering in Seattle to build relationships and strategic alignment.
How We Helped
We customized a full day of strategic alignment and problem solving. Teams were formed to solve for risks and commmunicated using Lego Serious Play to address cultural barriers and enablers, generating alignment, solidarity and buy-in.
Build, Share & Reflect
The beginning of the day consisted of presentations from organizational leaders on the details of the strategy and each regional leader sharing their strategy and capabilities. Key risks and opportunities were identified and teams formed to solve for them delivering a pitch to share their solutions. The afternoon was spent exploring the deeper cultural barriers and enablers to change, including fear of globalization and opportunities to grow the business and scale talent.
Our Results
The leadership team were able to voice concerns and fears from their employees about the strategy, and responded to them with data and a unified sense of the benefits. The experience deepened trust that was immediately applied to improve performance and buy-in.
01. After the workshop, participants reported an increased sense of alignment to the strategy
02. Senior Managers Delivered a series of town-hall meetings based on the outcomes from the retreat, to openly communicate the strategy with working level employees. This generated widespread buy-in to the strategy.
03. The workshop resulted in clearer and agreed upon solutions and focus areas for delivering more consistent performance based on problems that were identified by the group. Each senior manager had documented ownership of solutions - providing a structure for accountability.
“Jyoti designed and facilitated a day-long workshop with my management team to help us gain strategic clarity and alignment with our ambitious strategic plan. Feedback from my team was very good, and engagement around our strategy was noticeably better after the workshop.”
— David Woodward, Director, Boeing