• Organizational Transition and Change
• Reengineering/Work Redesign/Reorganization
• Strategic Planning, Facilitation, Meeting and Retreat Planning
• Executive and Management Coaching
• The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
• Joint Development Initiatives, Mergers & Acquisitions
• Team Development
• Customer/Client Satisfaction

Organizational Transition and Change

Organizations are increasingly confronted with how to bring about major change with the least disruption to productivity and morale. We support organizations dealing with the following challenges: mergers; acquisitions; joint development initiatives; rapid growth; downsizing; reorganizing; work redesign; introduction of new technology; or changing your corporate culture. We can provide you with any or all of the following types of support:

• Assessing culture fit issues
• Retaining employees during mergers, acquisitions, and management changes
• Formulating an effective change and transition management plan
• Overcoming resistance to change
• Developing a plan for communicating change to employees and customers content, timing, and specific audiences
• Coaching managers, transition team members, and HR staff
• Facilitating small- and large-group sessions to renew energy and commitment and refocus work objectives; and,
• Providing resource planning for the change process

Designed change can help keep organizations change-ready, retain intellectual capital, cut down on productivity loss, and minimize the costs of making major changes.

Re-engineering/Work Redesign/Reorganization

Changes in customers, technology, competition, and the external environment all may call for a new paradigm for doing business. Organizations often reach a point where evolution and fine-tuning no longer meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

We are experts in reengineering, work redesign, and reorganizations. Many consulting firms do an excellent job on the intellectual design process; but they often leave the work force in ashes. The resulting chaos and uncertainty affects all, causes top performers to leave, and leaves others disoriented and unmotivated.

Our strength in reengineering, work redesign, and reorganization is the result of our expertise in change and transition management and our ability to integrate human factors into work and structural design. Areas often overlooked that we excel in include:

• Treating employees with respect during the change process
• Maintaining a positive work environment
• Communicating ethically and often through a clear plan
• Maintaining positive customer relationships
• Helping employees deal constructively with the difficult changes that are necessary for staying competitive and producing results

Strategic Planning, Facilitation, Meeting and Retreat Planning

We assist clients in strategic planning at the enterprise and department level from plan conception and design, throughout the facilitation of the process, and the integration of the plan into the business operations. A quality strategic plan is more than long-range visioning and forecasting--it assumes that what we decide today doesn't just predict the future, it influences the creation of that future. It also should become the basis for business planning and budgeting. The end result is a clear context for driving the future course, and a clear line of sight from employee objectives through departmental and enterprise tactical plans, through the strategies, to the mission. We design custom processes that make sense in your organization, and leverage your existing tools and resources.

In addition, we provide consultation for meetings and retreats of all types, domestically and internationally:

• Management retreats
• Board development and retreats
• Mission and visioning
• Project launch, planning and tracking
• Staff meetings
• Cross-functional meetings

Have you ever computed the cost of a meeting in your organization? Meetings are one of the most highly leveraged uses of time in organizational life. Smart meeting planning and design and skilled meeting leadership and facilitation can greatly increase productivity and serve as a key for facilitating change. We can provide direct support or coach you on how to strengthen your meeting results.

Assessment

A lot of time, energy, and resources can be misspent on addressing symptomatic issues. It's difficult to look objectively at a problem if you are too close to it or even if you are simply a part of the system in which it exists. Our assessment expertise allows us to identify underlying problems and their causes and to throw light on the subtle factors at work in a situation. We add value to the diagnostic process by:

• Drawing people out in a private setting, helping them to open up, and allowing them to fully articulate their concerns and relevant information;
• Weighing and balancing feedback to separate major issues from lesser issues and system noise;
• Focusing on what's working (build on strengths) as well as what needs improvement;
• Providing a skilled, professional, "outside" view of the situation.
• Evaluating the consequences of action alternatives on the total system in order to achieve more impactful and lasting results in your organization.

We report group themes, maintaining the anonymity of individual feedback. We also make recommendations, and help you formulate action plans and communication plans.

Executive and Management Coaching

We frequently coach executives and managers individually. Clients typically come to us as a result of one of the following situations:

• A high performing executive/manager wants to increase effectiveness, strengthen skills, and/or fast track preparation for running an organization;
• An executive or manager with a strong technical background wants individual coaching to fill in gaps of knowledge in management, organizational structure, change management, communications, etc.
• An executive or manager is stalled in his/her career and wants to overcome the barriers to career advancement;
• An individual wants to reassess his/her career path and consider other options;
• An individual is on a performance plan and needs individual support to succeed in his/her current position.

A customized plan, goals, and success factors are developed to match the unique needs of each client. We use a variety of assessment tools, such as interviews with key individuals, 360 degree feedback (Center for Creative Leadership's Benchmarks instrument or others), the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Strong Interest Inventory, and others, as part of the process. Active coaching and progress reviews are done in person and by telephone, typically over a period of 3-6 months. Clients have specific assignments to complete between coaching sessions. Ask us for a package and quote tailored for your specific needs.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

We are experts in the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The MBTI is the most widely-used instrument for executive and management development. It is invaluable for helping managers and team members understand their own interaction and decision-making styles, understand others' different styles, and appreciate the value of the differences. This tool has been used successfully in multicultural and multinational settings. With 70 years of research behind it, the MBTI is a powerful and enjoyable mechanism for building effective work relationships in intact or cross-functional teams or with customers. Our publisher is Consulting Psychologists Press, publisher of the MBTI.

Joint Development Initiatives, Mergers & Acquisitions

We help JD and M&A teams get off to a fast, positive start. You've already identified the value drivers in the JD deal. Our "Doing What Matters" process makes sure that the organizational elements and processes are lined up for success from the beginning.

Once these initiatives are well underway, the sheer volume of demands on everyone's time makes it harder and harder to figure out what to do and to get the right processes and tools in place. We provide assessment, a fast launch process to help you focus on "Doing What Matters," change and transition management, and meeting design/facilitation services to help you be successful.

Team Development

We provide team development for intact work groups, cross-functional teams, executive teams, and business process re-engineering initiatives. We have particular expertise in working with multi-national teams, and teams operating across multiple sites and broad geographies (both functional and cross-functional).

Our overall approach to team development is focused on addressing business issues, creating commitment, and improving interpersonal relationships.

• Business solutions. Teams improve their ability to work collaboratively while they address business issues.
• Commitment. We use a carefully structured process that helps teams identify their blocks to productivity and create solutions they're committed to.
• Improved relationships. We recognize that business demands and pace create ripe environments for conflict. Our approach helps team members work through the inevitable conflicts in a constructive manner. We help surface issues in an open and supportive atmosphere, focus on the critical work elements, and help negotiate differences for lasting improved relationships.

We are known for our expertise in using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The MBTI is used widely in business to help team members both more fully appreciate each other's unique strengths and capitalize on individual differences (rather than let these become obstacles).

Customer/Client Satisfaction

We work with you to develop a unified system-wide strategy to make you an industry leader in both Web-based or traditional commerce. We help you to:

1. Assess customer satisfaction through customized
   • Individual interviews;
   • Focus groups;
   • Design of survey instruments; and
   • Product or service sampling.
2. Develop clear action plans based on customer feedback.
3. Implement action plans in your organization; e.g.,
   • Redesign weak service links;
   • Building on the elements that are working well;
   • Streamline customer processes;
   • Resolve blocks in the supply chain or in cross-functional interfaces that may be hindering customer satisfaction.

Depending on your need, consulting services can take the form of a single simple intervention or a major multi-year process.

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