Do you have the proven executive development horsepower to execute on your most critical strategies and meet your business growth goals over the next 2 – 3 years?
In a recent study, 97% off organizations surveyed cited significant leadership development skill gaps. In the same survey, as many as 70% percent off those companies confessed that they are doing nothing to close those gaps. Why?
We believe that there are two fundamental causes for these findings which have been reported by research firms for the past decade.
1. Current Leadership Training Programs Not Adding Measurable Value: Those companies which have leadership development programs are not producing leaders who meet the specific needs off their organization.
2. Skeptical of the Value: Those without leadership development programs are r reluctant to start down the traditional leadership development path and are skeptical of the results they will achieve.
Showing posts with label Leadership Development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leadership Development. Show all posts
Leadership for Employee Retention - A Case Study
The Client:
Global Manufacturer - High Tech Industry
Background:A large, highly respected global technology manufacturer changed its strategy to create a high performance culture and therefore remain competitive in its market segment and financially viable as an ongoing entity. The new strategy fundamentally repositioned the company from commoditized offerings to value-added services and high margin products.
Challenge:
After two years, major functional groups in the company had yet to adopt the new philosophy or implement enabling strategies. People were also highly skeptical about the new strategy succeeding. Finally, implementation would require substantial effort throughout the company with significant change in the following functions:
The company embarked on a comprehensive, structured process working with intact teams to create implementation project plans and actions. The process, supported by training and ongoing executive coaching, was cascaded down through the organization with the following objectives:
As a result of this process the company achieved significantly improved and sustained business results as well as higher levels of employee retention and engagement. Specific results include:
Global Manufacturer - High Tech Industry
Background:A large, highly respected global technology manufacturer changed its strategy to create a high performance culture and therefore remain competitive in its market segment and financially viable as an ongoing entity. The new strategy fundamentally repositioned the company from commoditized offerings to value-added services and high margin products.
Challenge:
After two years, major functional groups in the company had yet to adopt the new philosophy or implement enabling strategies. People were also highly skeptical about the new strategy succeeding. Finally, implementation would require substantial effort throughout the company with significant change in the following functions:
- Product development needed to completely revamp their R&D focus
- Renewed emphasis on executive development and coaching to support teams responsible for making sure any new strategies stick and impact the bottom-line over time.
- Manufacturing had to retool much of their production operations
- Sales needed to redefine and tune the strategic sales model and target audience
The company embarked on a comprehensive, structured process working with intact teams to create implementation project plans and actions. The process, supported by training and ongoing executive coaching, was cascaded down through the organization with the following objectives:
- Align all efforts in the organization around the achievement of the new strategy
- Engage each group and individual in a process to create ownership around goals and objectives need to successfully implement the strategy
- Develop capacity for change within the workforce to facilitate the transition from old to new ways of doing business
As a result of this process the company achieved significantly improved and sustained business results as well as higher levels of employee retention and engagement. Specific results include:
- 22.6% increase in Q4 revenue over the prior year
- Gross margin improved to 61.4 %, up from 54.7 % in the prior year
- Developed and launched over 150 new products supporting the new model
- Significant measurable increases in commitment/action to the new strategy
- Measurable increases in virtually every dimension of employee engagement and retention
Sales Leaders Create Performance
Are You Building a High Performance Sales Environment?
It is the Sales Leader’s challenge to create the circumstances that stimulate improved sales performance and strategy execution from their sales force.
Of course having the right sales and customer service people is critical, but once “on the bus” how does a sales leader create a sales environment that improves the performance of the sales force? That is the sales leader’s challenge and, when it is not done, it will matter little if you have the right people or not. An ineffective sales leader can greatly hinder sales employee retention. Like a great coach improves the performance of an athlete, effective leadership can improve the performance of the sales force.
Research has indicated that 46% of organizations cite creating a high performance sales culture as one of their top 3 talent management priorities and yet 61% of executives do not feel that the talent and management training processes they have today are driving greater performance from the business.
So the question is not whether you should do it but rather HOW.
How do sales leaders drive improved execution and individual contribution? How can sales leaders consistently make the right move to stimulate performance improvement? How can sales leaders ensure that performance improvement scales throughout an entire sales organization? The answer is to create and maintain a High Performance Sales Environment.
People Change When Their Environment Changes
It has long being held that people will adapt to their environment. Physically, mentally, emotionally people will make subtle and sometimes significant shifts in their behavior based upon the environmental circumstances. Driven by this presupposition our research project has been investigating the specific environmental circumstances that stimulate improved performance in people.
Through a process of interviews and analysis, we have spent the last 16 years researching human high performance and the factors that shape a high performance environment. Research subjects include: Nelson Mandela, Carl Lewis, Sir Edmund Hilary, military generals, leaders of NASA, MIT, Harvard Business School, the Juilliard School of Music, and CEOs of leading corporations among a bank of over 7,500 research participants.
Every performance population has a primary comparison. Leaders need to ensure that this comparison drives performance.
The Key to Building a High Performance Sales Environment
The key to implementing high performance in a sales organization is:
Many sales environments have goals and objectives that are not stimulating performance. Equally many sales forces have consequence systems that don’t motivate the population to perform or appraisal systems that are viewed as a bureaucratic process not a tool for performance exposure. Each concept has a set of “effectiveness criteria” that need to be met in order to stimulate improved performance in a sales force. This issue, a lack of clarity and effectiveness in one, some, or all of the nine components of the High Performance Environmental Structure®, is the cause of many of the problems with driving improved execution and enhanced productivity in sales forces today. Sales Leaders believe they have provided goals and training measurement and rewards and have engaged employees, but they are merely ticking the boxes not making those concepts “clear and effective” in stimulating sales performance.
It is the Sales Leader’s challenge to create the circumstances that stimulate improved sales performance and strategy execution from their sales force.
Of course having the right sales and customer service people is critical, but once “on the bus” how does a sales leader create a sales environment that improves the performance of the sales force? That is the sales leader’s challenge and, when it is not done, it will matter little if you have the right people or not. An ineffective sales leader can greatly hinder sales employee retention. Like a great coach improves the performance of an athlete, effective leadership can improve the performance of the sales force.
Research has indicated that 46% of organizations cite creating a high performance sales culture as one of their top 3 talent management priorities and yet 61% of executives do not feel that the talent and management training processes they have today are driving greater performance from the business.
So the question is not whether you should do it but rather HOW.
How do sales leaders drive improved execution and individual contribution? How can sales leaders consistently make the right move to stimulate performance improvement? How can sales leaders ensure that performance improvement scales throughout an entire sales organization? The answer is to create and maintain a High Performance Sales Environment.
People Change When Their Environment Changes
It has long being held that people will adapt to their environment. Physically, mentally, emotionally people will make subtle and sometimes significant shifts in their behavior based upon the environmental circumstances. Driven by this presupposition our research project has been investigating the specific environmental circumstances that stimulate improved performance in people.
Through a process of interviews and analysis, we have spent the last 16 years researching human high performance and the factors that shape a high performance environment. Research subjects include: Nelson Mandela, Carl Lewis, Sir Edmund Hilary, military generals, leaders of NASA, MIT, Harvard Business School, the Juilliard School of Music, and CEOs of leading corporations among a bank of over 7,500 research participants.
Every performance population has a primary comparison. Leaders need to ensure that this comparison drives performance.
The Key to Building a High Performance Sales Environment
The key to implementing high performance in a sales organization is:
- Clarity,
- Effectiveness
Many sales environments have goals and objectives that are not stimulating performance. Equally many sales forces have consequence systems that don’t motivate the population to perform or appraisal systems that are viewed as a bureaucratic process not a tool for performance exposure. Each concept has a set of “effectiveness criteria” that need to be met in order to stimulate improved performance in a sales force. This issue, a lack of clarity and effectiveness in one, some, or all of the nine components of the High Performance Environmental Structure®, is the cause of many of the problems with driving improved execution and enhanced productivity in sales forces today. Sales Leaders believe they have provided goals and training measurement and rewards and have engaged employees, but they are merely ticking the boxes not making those concepts “clear and effective” in stimulating sales performance.
Management Training - Coaching
Do Managers Really Make a Difference?
How do we get managers and senior executives more involved in management training and leadership development initiatives? With tightened budgets and increased pressure to perform, we are getting asked this question more than ever before.
The Answer:
Specifics:
Specifics:
We asked, “What difference did the coaching conversations with your manager make in your success?
Significant Results: Participants in the coached group said their manager “made a significant difference” (72%) compared to “a little difference” (33%) for the noncoached group.
In Conclusion
So what?
With the majority of training programs failing to “move the needle” in terms of increased revenue, decreased costs, or increased productivity, it is imperative that companies focus on Relevant Skills and invest in Adoption to get results. Targeted coaching is certainly one of the keys to successful adoption.
These results clearly show that coaching conversations are linked to changes in leading indicators (skills) and lagging indicators (new revenue). Every change effort, training initiative, or development program must include more than the “training” of new knowledge and skills. Manager involvement is a key link to getting measurable results.
How do we get managers and senior executives more involved in management training and leadership development initiatives? With tightened budgets and increased pressure to perform, we are getting asked this question more than ever before.
The Answer:
- Relevance: Ensure that the training and development initiative is relevant to the participant, their boss, and the company.
- Make the Value Visible: Show the value in terms of behavior change and business impact.
While we have believed in Training RAI™: Relevance. Adoption. Impact for years, our recent study of 121 professionals and their managers at a major North American financial services firm, amplifies the impact of new manager involvement on the transfer of training.
Notice the extreme differences associated with manager involvement.
Insight #1: Coaching is linked to skill application. Are you providing reinforcement coaching for your critical initiatives? It could make a 20% difference.
Specifics:Notice the extreme differences associated with manager involvement.
Insight #1: Coaching is linked to skill application. Are you providing reinforcement coaching for your critical initiatives? It could make a 20% difference.
- Comparison Groups:people who received individual coaching conversations versus those who did not
- Control Group: 47 participants who did NOT get individual coaching
- Coached Group: 61 participants who received individual and executive coaching – Note that the Coached Group scores were nearly 20% higher.
- Skill Scores: Each person’s average score for 38 individual skills, placed on a scale from 0-100%.
Specifics:
- Measurement: Each participant was asked for one example of how “coaching conversations with your manager have made a significant difference in a sales situation.” These were verified to include the situation, specific coaching, and results over the last three months.
- Significant Results: The Coached Group created 2x more new revenue over the same time period as the Control Group
Specifics:
We asked, “What difference did the coaching conversations with your manager make in your success?
Significant Results: Participants in the coached group said their manager “made a significant difference” (72%) compared to “a little difference” (33%) for the noncoached group.
In Conclusion
So what?
With the majority of training programs failing to “move the needle” in terms of increased revenue, decreased costs, or increased productivity, it is imperative that companies focus on Relevant Skills and invest in Adoption to get results. Targeted coaching is certainly one of the keys to successful adoption.
These results clearly show that coaching conversations are linked to changes in leading indicators (skills) and lagging indicators (new revenue). Every change effort, training initiative, or development program must include more than the “training” of new knowledge and skills. Manager involvement is a key link to getting measurable results.
High Performance Environment - A Case Study
The Client
The client is the Australian arm of a world leading, research-based life sciences company which operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 100,000 people. GSK consists of two operating groups—GSK Pharmaceuticals and GSK Consumer Healthcare—who research, develop, and manufacture medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products.
In Australia GSK invests more than $35 million each year in research and development, contributes significantly to export revenue through pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare exports, and is active in GSK’s $580 million investment in global/community health improvement initiatives. The Asia Pacific revenue is $2.96 billion.
The Situation
There was a sense that the business was growing complacent. The Managing Director wanted to “return a positive performance management pressure to the business.”
The Approach
We used a combination of the following:
In the words of Managing Director Paul Lirette:
“There has been a significant attitudinal and behavioral change from increasing the potency of the exposure mechanisms.” Annual reviews used to come around and it didn’t really matter as long as one does the norm. There were often no consequences for performance and there was acceptance of substandard performance. “The solution is to have clarity about the consequences for failure and the employee needs to expect appropriate consequences. This increases accountability. We see this in the executive team being more engaged.”
The client is the Australian arm of a world leading, research-based life sciences company which operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 100,000 people. GSK consists of two operating groups—GSK Pharmaceuticals and GSK Consumer Healthcare—who research, develop, and manufacture medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products.
In Australia GSK invests more than $35 million each year in research and development, contributes significantly to export revenue through pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare exports, and is active in GSK’s $580 million investment in global/community health improvement initiatives. The Asia Pacific revenue is $2.96 billion.
The Situation
There was a sense that the business was growing complacent. The Managing Director wanted to “return a positive performance management pressure to the business.”
The Approach
We used a combination of the following:
- The High Performance Environmental Structure (HPES) Diagnostic to identify the next two moves
- Senior Leadership Development Programs tailored towards key leaders to build their performance plans for their businesses
- General HPES education for the wider leadership team (80 leaders)
In the words of Managing Director Paul Lirette:
“There has been a significant attitudinal and behavioral change from increasing the potency of the exposure mechanisms.” Annual reviews used to come around and it didn’t really matter as long as one does the norm. There were often no consequences for performance and there was acceptance of substandard performance. “The solution is to have clarity about the consequences for failure and the employee needs to expect appropriate consequences. This increases accountability. We see this in the executive team being more engaged.”
Human Performance & Leadership Accountability - A Case Study
The Client
The Laminex Group (Laminex) is the leading marketer, distributor, and manufacturer of premium decorative surfaces in Australia and New Zealand and has a portfolio of market-leading brands. The organization has a long history in the manufacturing sector, approximately 1,900 employees, and about $1 billion in annual turnover.
The Situation
Laminex was aiming for:
We used a combination of the following:
In the words of CEO David Worley:
“The HPES contribute[s] to my ability as a CEO to contribute to performance. Tension around performance is a good way of stimulating and containing performance. There is good communication and clarity between what is expected of the individual or the team. I don’t think without the HPES, I would see as many individuals hitting objectives.
The HPES helps the leaders implement change in a clear way. The common language in the approach is extremely helpful and we have adopted the language in our business. Without the HPES process, I would not have gotten as much out of my management training investments and team performance as I have over the past 12 months. The process has been very helpful and is a complement to how I am aligning my leadership team and not a distraction. The HPES principles, levers that can be pulled, and concepts are easily applicable to a corporate context.”
The Laminex Group (Laminex) is the leading marketer, distributor, and manufacturer of premium decorative surfaces in Australia and New Zealand and has a portfolio of market-leading brands. The organization has a long history in the manufacturing sector, approximately 1,900 employees, and about $1 billion in annual turnover.
The Situation
Laminex was aiming for:
- A stronger human performance management focus to the business
- An increase in executive development, leadership training and overall accountability for results as the economy turned downward
We used a combination of the following:
- Senior leaders completing the High Performance Environmental Structure (HPES) diagnostic
- Individual performance plan design, i.e., all leaders to develop performance plans to: (1) Address individual performance and training measures in their own teams, (2) Increase accountability for outcomes among their direct reports
In the words of CEO David Worley:
“The HPES contribute[s] to my ability as a CEO to contribute to performance. Tension around performance is a good way of stimulating and containing performance. There is good communication and clarity between what is expected of the individual or the team. I don’t think without the HPES, I would see as many individuals hitting objectives.
The HPES helps the leaders implement change in a clear way. The common language in the approach is extremely helpful and we have adopted the language in our business. Without the HPES process, I would not have gotten as much out of my management training investments and team performance as I have over the past 12 months. The process has been very helpful and is a complement to how I am aligning my leadership team and not a distraction. The HPES principles, levers that can be pulled, and concepts are easily applicable to a corporate context.”
Customer Loyalty at 21st Century Insurance - A Case Study
Improving customer loyalty is a strategic imperative for many insurance company executives. Intense competition, commodity-driven product offerings and rising acquisition costs are driving new ways of thinking about—and executing against—a customer-centric business strategy. This case study profiles one of our clients, 21st Century Insurance, and their approach to building a culture that is relentlessly focused on one thing: the customer experience.
Business Situation
With a strong base of operations on the West Coast, 21st Century Insurance Group is focused on growth through geographic expansion. The company entered the Midwest in 2004, Texas in 2005 and three Eastern states during 2006. With a core philosophy built around customer service, they have carved out a market niche by offering insurance directly to consumers, providing a wide array of insurance products and 24-hour telephone access to licensed insurance professionals.
As the company began to enter new areas of the country, they were quick to realize the game had changed. Accustomed to having strong name recognition and a good reputation, they were now faced with being the “new kid on the block” in the highly competitive services industry. Also, their research showed that consumers were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with insurance providers in general. It was in these market conditions that they saw opportunity. By leveraging their customer service operational strengths, they could win over customers and build market share.
Strategic Approach
21st Century’s vision was to build something unique. They set out to build a truly superior customer experience—one that was good enough to differentiate themselves from the competition, drive company growth, and create a loyal base of customers.
Their approach was a delicate blend of art and science. The management team knew that, to achieve the results they were looking for, a customer-focused mindset needed to be built into the cultural fabric of the company. This could not—and would not—be a one-time event. They were in this business for the long haul and needed to build the cultural foundation and customer service best practices that could support and sustain a focus on delighting customers.
We asked Suzanne Agrios, Customer Care Manager at 21st Century, to speak with us about what made their customer service training and coaching initiative successful. What emerged were six critical success factors and a number of lessons learned, which are shared below.
Six Critical Success Factors from Suzanne Agrios, Customer Care Manager, 21st Century
#1 Create a crystal clear vision.
To build a performance culture focused on customer care, your people first have to “see it.” Everyone must share the same vision and buy in to what success looks like for your company. 21st Century’s philosophy was to treat every customer interaction as an opportunity to beat out the competition. “We set out to make the customer experience not good, but great,” explains Ms. Agrios.
Call center agents get this message from the moment they enter the 21st Century organization. Even the new hire onboarding program, which is aligned with aspects of their customer service training program, is customer-centric. Immediately after they become licensed agents, call center representatives are introduced to the company’s customer-driven business model. This is done early on so that they see how every aspect of their job ties back to the customer. Even as they learn company policies and procedures, they see it from the customers’ viewpoint. New hires come to understand that the quality of their interactions with customers is what drives the company’s success.
#2 Adopt a measurement system everyone can embrace.
It’s an old adage, but you can’t manage what you can’t measure. Further, people need to understand that the customer’s view is the central focus that drives your business priorities and investment decisions. The importance of the customer service measurement system can’t be underestimated. It becomes the rallying point for your efforts and helps you understand if you are “moving the needle” on improving customer experience.
While there are many approaches, 21st Century chose the Net Promoter® score as the metric to gauge their overall customer effectiveness. The score is calculated by taking the percentage of customers who are promoters (those who are highly likely to recommend your company or products) and subtracting the percentage who are detractors (those who are less likely to recommend your company or products).
“For 21st Century, the measurement approach felt right, since it got to the heart of our overall philosophy of what drives customer loyalty—the interaction of the customer and the call center agent,” Agrios says. This measurement approach was incorporated into the company’s management routines, customer service leadership development programs and people were held accountable for the results. Over time, it became clear to managers and agents that focusing on the customer experience was non-negotiable.
#3 Align your processes to succeed.
Process alignment is the backbone of any strategic initiative. The 21st Century management team took a hard look at their processes to be sure they aligned with their vision for an exceptional customer experience. They adopted our Learning’s Call Strategy™, which is part of the ServiceMentor® training system, and reinforced key tenets through targeted executive coaching sessions. The service model applies behavioral psychology to help representatives develop the skills to effectively navigate through customer conversations. The discrete steps in The Call Strategy are based on meeting the customer’s emotional needs throughout the interaction, thereby getting predictable responses that enable the agent to lead the conversation to a successful conclusion.
“The Call Strategy aligned beautifully with our goals and our measurement approach,” explains Ms. Agrios. “When we review the Net Promoter scores each month, we dig into what drove the score by listening to recordings of the actual customer call. We consistently see that calls with high Net Promoter scores follow the steps of The Call Strategy we put in place.
Business Situation
With a strong base of operations on the West Coast, 21st Century Insurance Group is focused on growth through geographic expansion. The company entered the Midwest in 2004, Texas in 2005 and three Eastern states during 2006. With a core philosophy built around customer service, they have carved out a market niche by offering insurance directly to consumers, providing a wide array of insurance products and 24-hour telephone access to licensed insurance professionals.
As the company began to enter new areas of the country, they were quick to realize the game had changed. Accustomed to having strong name recognition and a good reputation, they were now faced with being the “new kid on the block” in the highly competitive services industry. Also, their research showed that consumers were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with insurance providers in general. It was in these market conditions that they saw opportunity. By leveraging their customer service operational strengths, they could win over customers and build market share.
Strategic Approach
21st Century’s vision was to build something unique. They set out to build a truly superior customer experience—one that was good enough to differentiate themselves from the competition, drive company growth, and create a loyal base of customers.
Their approach was a delicate blend of art and science. The management team knew that, to achieve the results they were looking for, a customer-focused mindset needed to be built into the cultural fabric of the company. This could not—and would not—be a one-time event. They were in this business for the long haul and needed to build the cultural foundation and customer service best practices that could support and sustain a focus on delighting customers.
We asked Suzanne Agrios, Customer Care Manager at 21st Century, to speak with us about what made their customer service training and coaching initiative successful. What emerged were six critical success factors and a number of lessons learned, which are shared below.
Six Critical Success Factors from Suzanne Agrios, Customer Care Manager, 21st Century
#1 Create a crystal clear vision.
To build a performance culture focused on customer care, your people first have to “see it.” Everyone must share the same vision and buy in to what success looks like for your company. 21st Century’s philosophy was to treat every customer interaction as an opportunity to beat out the competition. “We set out to make the customer experience not good, but great,” explains Ms. Agrios.
Call center agents get this message from the moment they enter the 21st Century organization. Even the new hire onboarding program, which is aligned with aspects of their customer service training program, is customer-centric. Immediately after they become licensed agents, call center representatives are introduced to the company’s customer-driven business model. This is done early on so that they see how every aspect of their job ties back to the customer. Even as they learn company policies and procedures, they see it from the customers’ viewpoint. New hires come to understand that the quality of their interactions with customers is what drives the company’s success.
#2 Adopt a measurement system everyone can embrace.
It’s an old adage, but you can’t manage what you can’t measure. Further, people need to understand that the customer’s view is the central focus that drives your business priorities and investment decisions. The importance of the customer service measurement system can’t be underestimated. It becomes the rallying point for your efforts and helps you understand if you are “moving the needle” on improving customer experience.
While there are many approaches, 21st Century chose the Net Promoter® score as the metric to gauge their overall customer effectiveness. The score is calculated by taking the percentage of customers who are promoters (those who are highly likely to recommend your company or products) and subtracting the percentage who are detractors (those who are less likely to recommend your company or products).
“For 21st Century, the measurement approach felt right, since it got to the heart of our overall philosophy of what drives customer loyalty—the interaction of the customer and the call center agent,” Agrios says. This measurement approach was incorporated into the company’s management routines, customer service leadership development programs and people were held accountable for the results. Over time, it became clear to managers and agents that focusing on the customer experience was non-negotiable.
#3 Align your processes to succeed.
Process alignment is the backbone of any strategic initiative. The 21st Century management team took a hard look at their processes to be sure they aligned with their vision for an exceptional customer experience. They adopted our Learning’s Call Strategy™, which is part of the ServiceMentor® training system, and reinforced key tenets through targeted executive coaching sessions. The service model applies behavioral psychology to help representatives develop the skills to effectively navigate through customer conversations. The discrete steps in The Call Strategy are based on meeting the customer’s emotional needs throughout the interaction, thereby getting predictable responses that enable the agent to lead the conversation to a successful conclusion.
“The Call Strategy aligned beautifully with our goals and our measurement approach,” explains Ms. Agrios. “When we review the Net Promoter scores each month, we dig into what drove the score by listening to recordings of the actual customer call. We consistently see that calls with high Net Promoter scores follow the steps of The Call Strategy we put in place.
10 Simple Tips to Help Virtual and Global Teams Succeed
A recent survey conducted by Chief Learning Officer Magazine found that at least 74% of those surveyed stated that they work in a virtual team environment or manage a global cross-functional team. Virtual and global cross-functional teams are now the norm, and not the exception.
When teams are dispersed geographically, they face some common challenges related to being remote:
Here are 10 simple talent management and communications skills tips to ensure that your virtual and global teams are on track.
1. Share the Pain
Each evening, someone’s dinner is inevitably ruined during a global team’s conference call. For that person half-way around the world, a call in the evening after a long day at work can be trying. Assuming that most people do not want to have dinner during a conference call, what can be done to alleviate time difference challenges and increase global teamwork? Always being the person or group with the late night or 6 AM call is a drag. But people show remarkable flexibility if they can see that the pain is shared. Remember to Share the Pain—rotate with one location taking the early morning time slot one month and the evening slot the next month. You will be surprised at the results.
2. You do yoga, too?Recently, a colleague in India casually mentioned to his US-based team member that he did yoga at home after the calls. His US teammate’s ears perked up and soon the teammates were IM’ing about their latest yoga insights. Not unusual, you might think, except these two had never connected even though they were on the same team for over two years. It was surprising how much better they communicated and worked together after this small personal connection. Remember, “you do yoga, too”—use little bits of “scrap time” to develop a virtual relationship and build rapport.
3. Conference call as Podcast
For some people, attending calls outside of work hours is just not possible because of personal constraints. A client recently shared how she solves that problem by recording these conference calls, downloading them, and then playing them back on her way to the office. Listening to the calls gives her an immediacy that she says is lacking when she reads the notes. She can also gauge people’s level of interest or concern by the sound of their voices.
4. You’re kidding…it’s that late?
While some people may be willing to meet for a late night conference call, it is good to at least know what time it is where they are so you can thank them for their flexibility. To tell what time it is at your global sites, there are a number of terrific web resources like http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html. You can enter your teammate’s cities and instantly see what time it is in up to four worldwide locations.
5. Why are we here?
OK, be honest. How many meetings have you been pulled into when you don’t know the purpose of the meeting or why you were invited? It’s the same with global conference calls. If people know the expected outcome of the calls, they are more likely to be of value. Remember the simple meeting management rule of thumb: prior to any conference call, send call participants the desired outcomes, their roles and responsibilities, the overall objective for the call, and the objectives for each agenda item (a plan, a decision, and agreement).
6. Keep'em focused
When teams are dispersed geographically, they face some common challenges related to being remote:
- Communication skills gap issues
- Time zone obstacles
- Travel budget restrictions
- Subtle cultural differences
- Isolated team members
- Limited “face time”
Here are 10 simple talent management and communications skills tips to ensure that your virtual and global teams are on track.
1. Share the Pain
Each evening, someone’s dinner is inevitably ruined during a global team’s conference call. For that person half-way around the world, a call in the evening after a long day at work can be trying. Assuming that most people do not want to have dinner during a conference call, what can be done to alleviate time difference challenges and increase global teamwork? Always being the person or group with the late night or 6 AM call is a drag. But people show remarkable flexibility if they can see that the pain is shared. Remember to Share the Pain—rotate with one location taking the early morning time slot one month and the evening slot the next month. You will be surprised at the results.
2. You do yoga, too?Recently, a colleague in India casually mentioned to his US-based team member that he did yoga at home after the calls. His US teammate’s ears perked up and soon the teammates were IM’ing about their latest yoga insights. Not unusual, you might think, except these two had never connected even though they were on the same team for over two years. It was surprising how much better they communicated and worked together after this small personal connection. Remember, “you do yoga, too”—use little bits of “scrap time” to develop a virtual relationship and build rapport.
3. Conference call as Podcast
For some people, attending calls outside of work hours is just not possible because of personal constraints. A client recently shared how she solves that problem by recording these conference calls, downloading them, and then playing them back on her way to the office. Listening to the calls gives her an immediacy that she says is lacking when she reads the notes. She can also gauge people’s level of interest or concern by the sound of their voices.
4. You’re kidding…it’s that late?
While some people may be willing to meet for a late night conference call, it is good to at least know what time it is where they are so you can thank them for their flexibility. To tell what time it is at your global sites, there are a number of terrific web resources like http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html. You can enter your teammate’s cities and instantly see what time it is in up to four worldwide locations.
5. Why are we here?
OK, be honest. How many meetings have you been pulled into when you don’t know the purpose of the meeting or why you were invited? It’s the same with global conference calls. If people know the expected outcome of the calls, they are more likely to be of value. Remember the simple meeting management rule of thumb: prior to any conference call, send call participants the desired outcomes, their roles and responsibilities, the overall objective for the call, and the objectives for each agenda item (a plan, a decision, and agreement).
6. Keep'em focused
Virtual Team Collaboration at Verisign - A Case Study
Business Need
As a global provider of Internet services, having experienced rapid growth, vast market and organizational change, VeriSign recognized in late 2005 that innovation and operations were suffering from reduced collaboration due to growth and the need to have teams work virtually. With major functions in India, Washington D.C., San Jose, and many individual acquisitions in other areas, sales revenue growth increased but service suffered.
Goals
We were engaged initially in early 2006 to help build consensus within the leadership team (including the CTO and CEO) for what came to be known as the Customer Focus Program. We developed a mechanism to communicate the change, why it was important, and how it would impact each discipline. We created education, leadership development workshops and coaching prior to rolling out a series of Consultative Partnering workshops. Approximately 1,200 people in the Infrastructure and Product Development Groups attended these workshops over a two-year period using real life scenarios and business cases to examine different approaches and attitudes. We advised VeriSign on changing organizational and operational elements that presented obstacles to customer service strategy execution and focus, and provided coaching to existing and new managers in how to work with staff to reinforce skills and drive the needed behavioral changes.
Results
At the completion of our engagement at the end of 2007 the teams were working more collaboratively and the organization was more unified and focused on building customer loyalty.
Some specific examples included:
As a global provider of Internet services, having experienced rapid growth, vast market and organizational change, VeriSign recognized in late 2005 that innovation and operations were suffering from reduced collaboration due to growth and the need to have teams work virtually. With major functions in India, Washington D.C., San Jose, and many individual acquisitions in other areas, sales revenue growth increased but service suffered.
Goals
- Bring a fragmented, global team together.
- Assist in transitioning a highly technical workforce into a more consultative, collaborative high performance organization.
- Change in how the technical, global teams functioned and work together—from silos to teams.
- Improve customer loyalty and satisfaction for the IT Infrastructure and Product Development Groups
We were engaged initially in early 2006 to help build consensus within the leadership team (including the CTO and CEO) for what came to be known as the Customer Focus Program. We developed a mechanism to communicate the change, why it was important, and how it would impact each discipline. We created education, leadership development workshops and coaching prior to rolling out a series of Consultative Partnering workshops. Approximately 1,200 people in the Infrastructure and Product Development Groups attended these workshops over a two-year period using real life scenarios and business cases to examine different approaches and attitudes. We advised VeriSign on changing organizational and operational elements that presented obstacles to customer service strategy execution and focus, and provided coaching to existing and new managers in how to work with staff to reinforce skills and drive the needed behavioral changes.
Results
At the completion of our engagement at the end of 2007 the teams were working more collaboratively and the organization was more unified and focused on building customer loyalty.
Some specific examples included:
- The Network Operations Center utilized three of our Consultative Partnering tools to understand common systemic issues and build alignment around their solutions. These call center best practices contributed to a reduction in call center volume on systemic issues by 50%.
- After attending the customized virtual teaming workshop the leadership team realized that the primary issue was not an inability to be strategic, as they had thought, but was an inability to execute well. This changed their management training and strategy significantly.
- Several teams reported significant reductions in rework after using the Consultative Partnering tools to establish greater rapport with their internal customers, understand their needs better, and build responsive technology solutions.
Action Learning - Leadership Development in the Tele-Communications Industry - A Case Study
Background
This regional Tele-communications Company developed a new market strategy and began the transition from a utility company to a high-tech, communication service organization. In preparation for this strategic shift, IT leaders wanted to prepare their mid-level managers to take on a leading role in executing a new strategy that would double the size of the company and put it on a national scale.
Goal
The goal for this initiative was to provide mid-level IT managers with executive management skills, greater leadership perspective, and capabilities needed to take on critical new responsibilities, change management initiatives, and new technologies. Specific goals for emerging leaders and new managers included:
The Leadership Development Program design needed to address the following challenges:
The program combined traditional executive and leadership development approaches with an action learning format for executive development. Once a month for half a day, we provided traditional training on topics such as communication skills, problem solving, conflict management, motivating employees, risk management,and others. For the remainder of that day and in between sessions, participants worked in cross functional teams, with a goal of providing a significant contribution to the company's bottom line or competitive position.
Teams progressed through the phases of a major project while they received just-in-time training, coaching, mentoring, and the tools necessary to succeed. Four teams of 4 participants went through the following steps over a twelve-month timeframe:
While initial leadership development program objectives and metrics did not include specific dollar goals and bottom line impact, the action learning framework evolved to incorporate this focus as part of the implementation process for opportunities identified that could potentially produce bottom line results.
This regional Tele-communications Company developed a new market strategy and began the transition from a utility company to a high-tech, communication service organization. In preparation for this strategic shift, IT leaders wanted to prepare their mid-level managers to take on a leading role in executing a new strategy that would double the size of the company and put it on a national scale.
Goal
The goal for this initiative was to provide mid-level IT managers with executive management skills, greater leadership perspective, and capabilities needed to take on critical new responsibilities, change management initiatives, and new technologies. Specific goals for emerging leaders and new managers included:
- Managing technology expansion programs with high levels of efficiency, effectiveness, and quality in a cost effective manner
- Identifying non-IT opportunities that impact the company's bottom line and increase managers’enterprise-wide understanding
- Balancing strategy execution with tactical challenges
- Communicating IT’s value proposition at all levels and roles within the organization
The Leadership Development Program design needed to address the following challenges:
- Managers had little reason to change the way they worked for a very long time; now they needed to innovate and drive value
- Participants were only used to traditional training with little accountability to learn. Now they would be on the hook to not only apply their learning, but also to produce tangible business impact
- Provide a learning experience that was relevant to participants' current and future roles within the company
- Get significant levels of senior executives’ participation to link action learning experiences to current and future IT initiatives
- The company’s hierarchical organizational deisgn and structure discouraged mid-level managers from taking risks and innovating
- Balancing IT innovation with the rest of the company’s desire for IT to remain consistent and conservative
The program combined traditional executive and leadership development approaches with an action learning format for executive development. Once a month for half a day, we provided traditional training on topics such as communication skills, problem solving, conflict management, motivating employees, risk management,and others. For the remainder of that day and in between sessions, participants worked in cross functional teams, with a goal of providing a significant contribution to the company's bottom line or competitive position.
Teams progressed through the phases of a major project while they received just-in-time training, coaching, mentoring, and the tools necessary to succeed. Four teams of 4 participants went through the following steps over a twelve-month timeframe:
- Identify opportunities to either drive new revenue or decrease operational costs
- Select one high potential opportunity and create a business case to present to senior executives for implementation approval
- Lead the project implementation, engaging and influencing targeted areas within the company
- Measure results from the project
- An executive coach who provided knowledge and input on project scope, organizational politics, and how to keep on track
- A shared Executive Sponsor, the Chief Technology Officer, who met with teams between
sessions to provide strategic guidance - A senior operations manager who helped provide subject matter expertise to the program, the facilitators, and the teams
While initial leadership development program objectives and metrics did not include specific dollar goals and bottom line impact, the action learning framework evolved to incorporate this focus as part of the implementation process for opportunities identified that could potentially produce bottom line results.
- Roughly, $150,000 in bottom line impact was realized in Year One with a conservative Year Two estimate of $500,000 in impact
- Four of sixteen participants were promoted immediately following the program as a result of their performance and executive visibility
- Two participants made lateral moves as a result of interest, performance, and new relationships with non-IT executives
- Results also included the development of new critical processes and identification of marketing opportunities
- At the end of the two-year growth and acquisition period, several program participants were
acknowledged for their contribution to the successful execution of the company’s strategy
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