Facilitation: A Case Study
*names and client details have been omitted for nondisclosure adherence.
Overview
What started as a half-day messaging sprint, turned into a deep dive into the long term plans for a special company and its people.
Over six weeks, we facilitated a ‘Groundwork Sprint’ for messaging and a ‘Business Intensive’ for internal strategic planning, and it was one of the most rewarding engagements of our careers.
Background
This client was introduced to us by their marketing lead who had attended a Messaging Workshop that I facilitated for another shared client the month prior. She had been working on a new website for this other company to help bring them out of the [digital] stone age, and she asked that we fly to California to conduct a similar messaging workshop with their leadership team, to help inform the story she would tell with the new website.
Relationships Got Them Here
In our discovery phase prior to the one-day “Groundwork Sprint” messaging workshop, we uncovered that the company has been around for thirty years, has grown and morphed over time to become a leader in their niche industry as commercial equipment representatives.
Somehow, perhaps due to the strength of their industry relationships, they had never taken the time to define concisely what their company does. What we could gather was that it was a bustling, well-respected business that grew from three hard-working sales entrepreneurs in the late 1980’s to millions in revenue, twenty-something employees and two warehouses; and that they represented industrial equipment manufacturers. However, like so many small businesses, no one on their team could have passed the friend’s mother test and explained to a random friend’s mother what their company actually does (much less write the copy for their new website), thus… a messaging workshop was a great move for them. And this one-day would no doubt save the marketing manager from months of dead-end meetings and disengaged email threads.
Approach
Phase One: Messaging
Cast of Characters / Three Generations
The cast of characters that attended the messaging workshop were all from the executive team. I was impressed with the professionalism and depth of industry knowledge in the room. Each individual presented to us as kind, intelligent, fully-engaged and committed to getting the job done well. One additional standout pattern was the three generations represented in the room: Boomers, X’rs, and a standout Millennial.
The Meeting
We gathered on site and spent six hours aligning priorities and perspectives, defining what they do and who they do it for, and compiled all the messages they have been using to communicate who they are externally and internally.
To facilitate this, I used parts of AJ&Smart’s LDJ (Lightning Decision Jam), Miller’s Storybrand Framework (which is basically Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Quest’ meets Robert Mckee’s ‘Story’) and a dash of Wickman’s Traction. I guided the group through the frankenstein'ed forms of these frameworks in a series of timed sticky-note activities.
Julie, who is the best information-gatherer I know, took notes during the meeting and probed for clarity when things got muddy. Towards the end of the workshop, we looked at next steps and allowed for some of the attendees to volunteer to implement their new messaging on various mediums such as social media, their website, and even office and warehouse walls.
A Path to Their Future
I came to understand during the course of the day that the founders of the organization were also doing some legwork to transition out of senior leadership roles on a path to well-earned retirement. Buttoning up their messaging, bringing their brand into the new decade and increasing their digital presence was just part of their effort to leave the company in good shape when that time comes.
The Deliverable: Foundational Messaging
After the meeting we went to work organizing all of their words into a digestible elevator pitch, a script for their business’ external-facing story, a Purpose Statement, and even a first draft of company Core Values. After a little back-and-forth with the marketing manager and board of directors over the next few weeks, they were satisfied with the final copy and for the first time, this incredible company had the words to represent their world.
Phase Two: Succession Planning
Good Problem-Solving Framework Works for Many Projects
Not long after our Groundwork Sprint, the Human Resources and Marketing leads reached back out to us. They were impressed by the process and grateful for the progress made during the short messaging workshop, and wanted to ask: would we be available to help them over another hurdle their organization was facing: succession planning.
Time To Talk About a Plan
With the founding leaders planning ahead for retirement, they were facing what many small businesses face: big question marks about who is going to do what when senior leadership retires. The HR Manager and the Board President saw the need for the executive team to get together, off site, to make a plan they could propose to the Board. And they wanted us to be an unbiased third-party facilitator of this process.
Would we be willing to come in as a third party and first conduct a 360 Feedback survey of all the employees, and then facilitate a leadership retreat with the objective of identifying roles and responsibilities and outlining a five-year plan for leadership development and succession? We were thrilled at the opportunity to work with this team a second time and we said yes.
360 Feedback and Pre-flight Research
If you are unfamiliar with the term, 360 Feedback is an incredibly brave tool that some organizations use to collect unvarnished opinions from employees about the organization’s leadership. Typically they will contract it out to a third party, or HR will implement it, to allow for team members at all levels of the organization to share honestly about how managers and leaders work, and how each individual comes across to their peers and subordinates. The information gathered is then [hopefully] used for professional development and/or promotion decisions, process improvement, and accountability within the organization. If you have conducted one of these or participated in 360 Feedback, you know what an eye-opening and sensitive task it is. For our client, the main goal of this was to identify perceived strengths and deficits in each member of the executive team, so they could have that information in-hand while considering the best structure for a long-term leadership plan and potential C suite reorganization.
First, we talked at great length with the Board President and HR Manager to determine what information would be most valuable and what type of analysis would accomplish this. Next, we talked with each leader in consideration, to give them an open format to share their own personal dreams and goals for their future with the company. Finally we used a SAS product called Survey Sparrow to build and send five different surveys to over twenty employees over the course of two weeks. Julie built the surveys and synthesized the data mostly herself, but enlisted the help of a business analytics specialist for a small-but-complex portion of creating the final reports. I should add that there are SAS products that can do all of this, but the cost of each report and the limited customization of these SAS products lead us to roll up our sleeves and dig into the information ourselves. The reports were clear, and the information was customized and, we think, compelling.
Executive Leadership Retreat
After becoming quite acquainted with the inner workings of this organization, we ventured to design a multi-day off-site meeting for the new leadership team: four individuals who would assume most of the “executive” roles and responsibilities in the company when the founders retired. The goal: for the “new” leadership team to come together without the legacy leadership team, and two days later, leave with a succession plan that they could present to the Board. This process had the blessing of the founders, who even sent a sentimental gift and wrote an encouraging letter to each attendee.
Team Building Before Planning
We needed to create an atmosphere for the four of them to bond, grow in unity and support for one another, and comfortably express thoughts and ideas.
We also needed to guide them, in a short amount of time, to organize all the roles and responsibilities that fall under the category “leadership” and make some decisions about the best way they collectively saw to reorganize the changing company, And divvy everything up for a five-year succession plan.
The HR and Marketing leads had taken care of providing a fantastic environment for this retreat; renting a huge vacation rental house with the perfect spaces for rest, contemplation, and gathering; and also a menu of meals and snacks to nourish the team’s souls and bodies for three days.
After working very closely with the Board President and the HR Manager to ensure we knew exactly what the objectives were, the actual agenda was up to us. We started with team-building and confidence-affirming activities and then moved into the harder work.
Gamestorming: Open/Explore/Close
That’s right: “Gamestorm”. Combining the principles of Game, Fun, Creativity, with the best practices of brainstorming, in a series of exercises that make workshops feel nothing like regular meetings.
For this retreat, I used much of the Gamestorming framework to organize the entire agenda. The Open/Explore/Close theme ran its course every several hours. “Openings” allowed the team to level with each other and align on what is true. “Exploring” allowed the team to imagine what could be and innovate for the future states they desired. Finally the “Closing” portions forced the team to make decisions and move forward to the next task.
Among these strung-together exercises, we also delivered the 360 Feedback at a strategic time and allowed individuals to process what they learned.
The ultimate objective of the whole event culminated in the evening of day two, when we gamified leadership roles and responsibilities on a Miro board, fantasy-football-league-draft style. Even with beers (except Julie, she was on tech duty). It was pure magic: not because of the pizza and music, or that it felt fun and easy, but because it was at this point that it became obvious that this team of four individuals was stronger together than they were individually, and that their plan was going to be fantastic.
The last morning, the individuals worked together, and each alone with Julie and I, to develop a growth plan for themselves. Then they presented a timeline to their peers to make sure everything was buttoned-up enough for them to go back to California, work on a presentation together, and propose their plan to the Board a week later.
I wrapped up the retreat with some inspiration from some of my favorite authors (Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D and Jocko Willink) and Julie also took new headshots of everyone.
There were hundreds of sticky notes. There was drawing and sketching. There were high-fives. There were tears. There was salsa music, study music, and techno music.
There were several instances of pure unplanned magic.
When we trust the process, there is space for magic.
It was special to be part of this whole experience, something I hope will be a defining moment in the careers of each of these four individuals, thus impacting not only their own families but also the careers and families of every single employee of this company, now and in the future.
Result
Our client now has Board-approved messaging that guides all their communication, a set of Board-approved core values that guide all their decisions, and a motivated leadership team with a succession plan that both satisfies the aspirational goals of the individuals involved and serves the best-interest of the company for the long haul.
Conclusion
Now that this organization has clear purpose, values, and a vision that everyone has agreed upon, they can be unstoppable. The beauty of a Foundational Messaging document is that when it’s both true and being used by the whole team, it simplifies the chaos and keeps everyone aligned to the big picture. When someone new comes on board they will be able to know the why and the how that the founders worked so hard to achieve over the years.
With this legwork done, we can achieve more than mere business objectives. When the identity of a company is clear, we can develop employees and serve customers with confidence. It can be about the people. And, since this is business, I should add that when handled authentically, foundational messaging and a plan will add to the bottom line of any company.
A Personal Note
There was not one part of this engagement that felt frivolous. From the long zoom calls to organizing the 360 Feedback data to using what I know about brainstorming and creativity to design a custom multi-day intensive -- this contract was some of the most rewarding work I have ever done in my life. I think it is mainly because of the devotion and care that the initial founders demonstrated for their organization and most importantly, the people in it; and because I know that Julie and I did good work that will make an impact on, like I said before, not only the individuals who actually sit on this leadership team, but also the families and careers of anyone else who ever comes aboard this company’s ship.
Referenced:
(external links)
AJ&Smart
Building a Story Brand
Traction
Survey Sparrow
Gamestorming
Miro
Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D
Jocko Willink