True Story: Team Coaching

Alarge support organization with several hundred employees had recently reorganized into a matrix structure. This required team members to partner with other team members for the first time to serve their internal clients. Senior leaders were receiving feedback that team members were frustrated. Committed to the new direction but recognizing the effect of the change, they engaged Suzann Arseth for team coaching.

Discover Truth

The coaching process began with each member of the leadership team approaching his or her group to get feedback about what was and wasn’t working using a structure and format provided by Suzann. The feedback varied across the organization, but the senior leaders prioritized four important areas of focus across the functional groups.

1. Lack of long-term vision for their organizational function
2. Lack of a strategic plan to execute against the vision
3. Lack of role clarity and decision-making authority in this new matrix organization
4. Lack of empowerment and trust

Overall, team members across the organization approached their job in a tactical manner and were concerned they weren’t adding the value they were capable of. The biggest source of contention was the uncertainty regarding roles and decision-making authority in the new matrix structure.

Get Coached

The next step was to create an agreement on how they would operate as a team going forward. Suzann facilitated a series of team sessions over the course of six months, starting with a session to envision their future. In addition to coming out of the session with a better understanding of their shared vision, the leaders decided to move a few key people into critical roles that would support the new matrix structure and enable a more consultative approach―their vision for the future.

With a vision in hand, the leadership team was able to develop a strategy and plan to support the vision.

An exercise in role clarity identified areas of duplication and redundancy that were causing pain. This led the team to further discussion on process improvements. Each member of the leadership team took and shared the results of a Hogan Assessment, which helped them better understand each other. Having previously clarified roles, this assessment helped reduce miscommunication and improve trust.

Lead Powerfully

In the previous year, this organization had one of the lowest results in the company’s annual employee engagement survey. The subsequent year, after their work with Suzann, the organization’s scores were the highest in the company. In addition, surveys of their internal clients indicated a significant difference in how the organization was perceived.

Ready to rally the troops?
Contact Suzann today for a complimentary consultation.