Success Moves Up to Excellence
Situation:
The company is an umbrella organization (managed by a President and his COO) with seven additional divisions, each managed by a president. Each division operated autonomously and, in actuality, knew little of what the others did and had never been motivated to consider or seek out a cooperative inter-relationship with each other. In every case, each division was extremely successful. The overall company, less than three years old, was earning record profits and each division contributed to that. As individuals, all were extremely money-driven. This company contracted with The Third Zone to help create a sense of team along with an exploration of the related benefits that might be inherent in being a part of that team.
Our Approach
We understood that we would be working with a group of individually strong, opinionated and ‘in-charge’ individuals. Each was hard-working, with 60 to 70 hour weeks being the norm. Our overall approach involved both group and individual coaching and was designed following input from each participant through an interview process.
Bridges of communication and cooperation were created…and deals negotiated within one division were accomplished by taking advantage of strengths that existed within other divisions. |
At our suggestion, the overall president created a first-ever off-site meeting. Although this organization had been in existence for three years, they had never held any event away from their office. The two-day group event clearly allowed the full group of skeptics (“… have never been to a workshop that was worth my time“) to learn about the focus of each of the other divisions.
The individual coaching was designed to create the strong sense of individual and ownership within each person for making the team live in real-time for the benefit of both the overall organization and their own organizations.
With the individual coaching completed (two months), we again brought the group together as an opportunity to evaluate their accomplishments and added potential of the future.
Results
As a result of the two-day off-site event, participants were able to see opportunities of ways they could leverage the knowledge and skills within those other divisions to serve their own independent goals. Of equal benefit, they realized how much more powerful, and how much more profitable, they stood to be-working and thinking like the team they actually were.
Bridges of communication and cooperation were created, and before long deals that were being negotiated within one division were being accomplished by taking advantage of various strengths that existed within other divisions.
After the initial agreement was completed, the company asked and contracted to continue the individual coaching for an additional three month period. This has continued to add strength to intra-departmental working relationships. It has also created a desire on the part of some to bring coaching into their own divisions as a means of improving communication, focus and achievement within their respective teams.