Global Manufacturing Organization

This manufacturing company is the leader in environmental and industrial product development, employing over 1,200 people and generating over $250 million in annual revenue.

Challenge

The Senior VP for Operations was focused on improving manufacturing quality and reducing delivery times. He understood that one of the keys to achieving these objectives was by making a shift in the way his Directors and their teams interacted. His team was facing a number of challenges related to ambiguity of roles and responsibilities, unnecessary conflict between teams and departments, and communication breakdowns.

Solution

5.12 Solutions designed and implemented a multi-year strategic team development program. Year one of the program focused on the dynamics between the Senior VP of Operations and his team of Directors. Year two focused on the Directors' teams and their inter-team effectiveness. Participants engaged in professional reading, an initial team offsite, personality style profiling, and follow-up coaching, team performance sessions, and webinars (for remote teams). Central to the program was a team project that required inter-team communication and process improvement.

Result

While the program is still ongoing, it has helped to accelerate team cohesion, align team members around shared departmental objectives, and uncover blind spots that were limiting effective communication.
There is a stronger foundation of trust between team members, enabling teams to engage in constructive conflict and make decisions faster. Clearer roles and responsibilities have led to greater accountability and fewer missed handoffs between silos. The "onboarding" process for new team members now includes understanding team norms that were created during the program and learning how to adapt to different personality styles. Improved team effectiveness has enabled the Senior VP of Operations to spend less time managing his Directors' teams and more time focused on strategic initiatives and acquisitions.