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Post Doc Research Team, Faculty and Administrators
Corporate Wisdom facilitated an offsite with the faculty, administrative staff and post doc fellows of a private university. The university wanted to kick off an intensive year of entrepreneurial immersion and innovative product development with its fellows. Aligning the three functions with communication and team skills provided a smoother process for the groups. Follow-up work included team development and individual coaching with the research fellows.
Business School Managers
When a department undergoes rapid change along with a structural remodel, employees must adapt to both internal and external pressures. This client requested an off-site training program that utilized a collage art project to represent what needed to be let go – and what would remain and be transformed in the future. Change management tools and techniques were interwoven into the creative art project. The finished and framed collage hangs on the wall as a symbolic reminder of the old and new way of operating the department.
Government Union Leaders
Senior leaders in a high intensity union do not always have verbal skills to overcome conflicts which have escalated into threats and workplace violence claims. Corporate Wisdom worked to restore respectful, open, and safe communication and collaboration amongst these union leaders.
Medical Devices Company – Multiple Mergers
When multiple mergers took the senior executives out of their offices and on the road, the Directors of the locally based company needed to run the firm. However, communication barriers and resource limitations had reduced the Directors' ability to work together effectively. Corporate Wisdom stepped in to facilitate effective meeting design and cross functional alignment.
Life Sciences Engineering Team
When an old, well known and highly respected firm changes engineering leadership, new strategies replace outdated processes. Corporate Wisdom assessed the culture of creativity and innovation, finding some departments in need of an acceptance of risk-taking without blame. Fear of criticism blocked some from exploring new possibilities.
High Tech Engineering Department Post Merger
After a merger with a huge multi-national company, the small engineering department with a start up mentality was tasked with implementing quality metrics and outsourcing some functions. Morale quickly diminished and the engineers reported that fun was no longer a part of the day-to-day culture. The creative engineers began to rebel against new corporate initiatives. Corporate Wisdom stepped in to facilitate improved communications between the new leader and the highly creative engineers. Change management techniques were taught to reduce the resistance to growth which requires clearly defined processes. Compromise positions enabled the parent company and the newly acquired company to work more harmoniously together.
High Tech Project Managers
A global data storage company headquartered in Japan found their US sales and market share dismally falling. When Corporate Wisdom stepped in to facilitate skills based training for the project managers, there was a larger issue that needed to be faced. Red tape, outdated processes, and low morale kept the organization from being competitive. The project managers took on the challenge to shift the team's ability to finish projects by empowering each other to loosen sabotaging procedures that disabled productivity and performance.
Start-up Biotech Firm
When the CEO is a critical perfectionist, the start-up culture is stifled and the company cannot grow. In this case, Corporate Wisdom stepped in to coach the CEO. Turnover had become costly and the remaining scientific team was tentative about the future of their roles and the company's ability to succeed. Once the CEO learned to own his style and change some of his negative behaviors, management training was facilitated by CW, supporting the managers to build skills and work in alignment with their boss.
Hi Tech / Biotech Research Firm
Academic research and commercially oriented research are very different mind-sets. In this firm with decades of an academic focus, changing the business model was a painful endeavor. Corporate Wisdom stepped in to coach the CEO, and then custom built an executive management series. All the firm's managers went through extensive management training, also facilitated by CW.
Bioinformatics Company
Often missing in the scientist's education is basic management training. In this successful company, the next step was to provide tools to the scientists before the company grew any larger. Corporate Wisdom provided a series of leadership courses customized for the scientific manager.
CEO's can be brilliant, and grow small companies into multi-million dollar organizations. However, addictions and other relationship issues eventually spill over onto professional performance. This CEO was enabling his V.P.'s, and some were protected in spite of illegal tactics. Lying, manipulating, and protective communications reduced the trust and eroded the productivity of workers in the company. Corporate Wisdom™ stepped in with an executive coaching program to connect this CEO to his inner wisdom, ethics, and courage. Understanding addictive behaviors and their impact on others, was one of many steps toward personal and organizational recovery.
Top notch, highly educated software engineers working in the Silicon Valley in this organization, struggled because of multi-cultural expectations and style differences. Collaboration and cooperation was not a competency taught to these brilliant engineers. Corporate Wisdom was asked to teach a series of short, basic management skills courses. We first assessed the corporate culture, and then we customized learning modules in communication skills, conflict reduction, developing direct reports, and team effectiveness.
In non-profit organizations, compensation is not tied to performance (since funds are restricted). However, annual performance reviews are required to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of all employees. Supervisors dreaded and avoided "giving negative feedback" that consumed time and had little perceived impact. Corporate Wisdom stepped in to connect performance reviews to on-going coaching and development. This process eliminated "surprise" feedback and allowed the supervisors to use tools that made their employees feel valued, while they were coached to improve performance. Connecting the review process to development, eliminated the annual review "dread" and replaced it with a structured approach to career and professional development.
Long term relationships between business unit managers can be difficult. In this case, two managers had personal and professional resentments that spanned almost a decade. Executive and HR intervention went no where, as the issues were deeply personal. The toxic environment between these two individuals became unbearable. Corporate Wisdom met with each manager separately to uncover the conflicts that had evolved over time. With neutrality and compassion, Corporate Wisdom was able to bring these two managers back to a relationship of respect and mutual understanding.
"International headquarters and the US based bio-tech research facility did not agree on the strategy and priorities in the research organizations. CW trained all managers at east and west coast sites to improve communication, reduce conflict, and to develop (coach) direct reports. Senior management was encouraged to communicate the challenges with the overseas parent company so that the research teams were not constantly shuffling goals, priorities and strategies."
"With a SSF based R & D team, CW was able to support 5 cross-functional team members to work more harmoniously together. These key players in the organization were not communicating or supporting each other's departments. CW helped each individual to set goals to further their own leadership, while simultaneously supporting their colleagues to improve their performance in targeted areas. At CW, we call this concept, interlocking accountability."
"The school faced multiple communication issues between students and administration. There were a number of emails that documented the issues, but the communication was never relayed to the senior management team. CW provided a training module to teachers and staff to coach the group to improve communication. CW helped senior management to develop a consensus approach with the staff that resulted in an email code of conduct. This addressed issues of timeliness, the widespread spam of negative information, and appropriateness of email correspondence. Underlying mixed messages was replaced with a school wide understanding of the use and misuse of email communication. Senior management became more aware of how their email was received and improved email communication to staff."
"The need to integrate sales and marketing worldwide was tackled from the UK corporate office. Training material was developed to communicate the corporate rollout. Local offices throughout Europe, Japan, and Asia worked with CW to develop local strategies to implement the rollout. Cultural differences and varied business practices were "stormed" in the local offices. Action plans and follow-up occurred via telephone and video-conference calls. Successful initiative led to 10% business unit growth."
"Too many dollars can be at stake when teams at a developing university don't get along or share resources or information. At CW, we presented a teambuilding that addressed the poor performance and issues that demoralized 2 teams that were expected to work together after relationships were severed by a difficult senior manager. Understanding the past, and working together to solve the team's troubles, CW was able to turn around turf wars and interpersonal conflicts in order to give the new leader of the blended teams a chance to rebuild his organization. At the end of the day, the integrated teams agreed on new styles of communication and behavior to support higher performance and improved morale."
"Personalities play a key role in leadership. When key members of an organization are out of touch with the impact their behavior has on others, it is important to have a coach intervene and explain the perception that these behaviors create in others. Participating in a CW leadership development (coaching) program, these leaders were able to turn around their difficult styles and recover their damaged reputations. Goals were targeted and attained using CW's 7 step process."
"With multiple branches, all members of a financial institution don't always agree on processes or procedures. With a complete turnover in the senior team, morale was low, and communication was protected. The culture had become fear-based and the trust was low between the layers of the organization. Using CW teambuilding techniques, the senior and mid-level managers were able to put their differences, fears, and conflicts on the table in order to put the past to rest. A code of conduct was established that detailed the communication needs of all members of the organization."
"When an independently wealthy senior level executive has a negative attitude and his position can not be threatened because of his status, bad blood can devastate cross-functional teams and slow product development on a critical engineering team. At CW, we got to the heart of the executive, coaching him to realize his human potential separate from his power and authority. A new, more compassionate leader evolved, as belief systems and blind spots were explored and transformed."
"When speed is the cultural norm, competition is fierce, financial resources are slim, and a merger and downsizing have occurred, conflicts and turf wars can become difficult to manage internally. CW was asked to facilitate conflict resolution meetings between two key players on a team. These two teammates had perceptions about one another because their superior spread negative rumors after her department was reorganized. Caught in the middle of the politics, our clients were unable to stop negative communication cycles. CW was able to explore the past and the original communication breakdowns. Misunderstanding impeding performance were discussed and dissolved once information and understanding replaced imagination and perception."
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