A digital business leader at a global analyst firm requested external support to align with a high-profile team, who were one of several internal customers.

The CEO of this highly siloed organisation had recently pulled all people with digital skills from many different teams into a global, digital centre of excellence (CoE). This new CoE was experiencing growing-pains in an organisation that was not used to working with internal shared-services.

Add to this, the strong membership in silos meant people were turning their backs on long-standing relationships with former colleagues who were taken out of silos and into the new CoE. Alongside issues from an acquisition that had not culturally merged.

With rigid silos, strong membership and a highly competitive and adversarial culture, they were missing targets due to reduced productivity—leading to poor results, misaligned goals, weak communication, game-playing, backstabbing and scapegoating.

After speaking with the manager of the CoE and their counterpart on the other team, we set up a steering committee, with both of them, and included their managers too.

We were working towards a 2-day workshop at their annual global meeting with the two managers and their team-leaders (20 people in total).

The principles and techniques I used were based on behavioural science and Organisational Transaction Analysis. Starting with understanding what exists, first-hand, via one-to-one meetings (20x 1hr). Sharing the summary of findings with the steering committee—presented as tangible structures, less tangible dynamics and how the two form a closed-loop that creates the intangible culture. Followed by mutual contracting on the scope of the workshop.

The aim was to get the teams together, build their capability and increase their capacity to be autonomous and interdependent. To playback our findings and co-create a solution.

Using a Transactional Analysis Discounting Matrix they looked at what structures and dynamics exist—the stimuli, problems and options. The significance of each. The ability to change the stimuli or their ability to react differently. Then their ability to solve the problems, viability of options and their ability to act–by improving skills and capabilities. All in the context of their locus of control as they acknowledged their circle of concern, influence and control in a large global organisation.

It emerged that the teams didn’t really understand each other’s roles and accountabilities. After sharing this they created a joint plan of action to:

• Identify, agree and prioritise new ideas and opportunities to generate business value
• Enhanced cross-business collaboration, communication and buy-in
• Clarify initiative dependencies and definition of success

They did this with full awareness of how they might unintentionally self-sabotage their own success and set up mutually beneficial agreements on how to ensure joint-results.

This lead to tighter alignment and higher attainment of joint goals with better communication in a less toxic environment.

Value was delivered by:

• Enabling a human-centric, transparent, trustworthy and agile culture
• Embedding positive behavioural change
• Effective delivery against financial targets

Pains relieved included;

• Unclear business strategy and requirements
• Misaligned goals across business and silos
• Unclear or inefficient internal communications

The client also identified a need for a leadership development program and one-to-one coaching for ongoing support to help the change in behaviour to embed so they continue to achieve their high results.

• Commercial Facilitation
• culture change facilitator
• culture
• Behavioural Change
• Business Change Management & Communication
• Business transformation
• Organisational Design
• Organisational Development
• leadership development

• Organisational Agility & Effectiveness