Giving an identity to a department born of a reorganisation
TessalineInvented name
A cross-functional department brought together three worlds, research, operations and development, without yet being one team. In two days, its managers looked their working relationships in the eye, took ownership of a long-term vision and wrote who they wanted to be. Owned workstreams came out of it, including a workshop between two teams told in the story “From lab to plant”.
- Sector
- Industrial chemicals
- Size
- A department of a few dozen people, some fifteen managers
- Format
- Two days, residential
- In the room
- Some fifteen managers and the leadership team of a cross-functional department of a few dozen people.
Context
- A recently created department, where research, operations and development meet, organised as a matrix.
- Roles were still unclear and the original identities held on. Teams felt “caught in the middle of everything”, with a growing workload.
- The leadership team wanted to build a vision and an identity, not a reporting exercise. The roadmap would come later.
The challenge
Get to know each other better and carry a shared message. Look far ahead before discussing the year’s priorities. And deal with few topics, but deal with them properly.
The design
Key ideas
Trust before the roadmap
Four principles guide the design: build trust before the roadmap, truly co-create, link vision to action, follow through after the offsite. Day one is about people and relationships.
A survey shared unfiltered
A survey went to the whole department. Its results open the offsite. Everyone reacts on coloured sticky notes: what surprises me, what is missing, what I live day to day.
In the other’s shoes
In pairs, I describe my job, then the other person presents it to everyone. Next, a large wall map of the links between the ten or so entities, in three colours: fine, could be better, not working or not there.
Feedback that gives energy
In rotating pairs, each person says what gives and what drains their energy in their working relationships, with a stance drawn from non-violent communication.
The vision in kiosks
The director presents the long-term vision. The room works on it in rotating kiosks, moving at a musical cue: what inspires, the fears, the unique opportunity. Then the collective identity: what unites us, what makes us unique, what we want to become.
One Voice
To finish, anticipate the questions from the teams back at the office and agree a shared answer. Managers leave with the same message.
How the time was used
- Open
- Explore
- Decide
- Celebrate
Day 1
Open
The survey
The results, then coloured sticky notes.
Open
Crossed feedback
Rotating pairs, what gives and drains energy.
Explore
Vantage points
An input on the levels of an organisation, from purpose down to tasks.
Explore
In the other’s shoes
I describe my job, the other person presents it to all.
Explore
Mapping the links
One wall, ten or so entities, three colours.
Explore
The vision
Presented by the director, then worked on in rotating kiosks.
Decide
Collective identity
What unites us, what makes us unique, what we want to become. A vote with three dots each.
EveningDecide
Choosing the workstreams
The sponsors review the day and pick the next day’s workstreams.
Day 2
Decide
Workstreams
In self-selected groups, from ambition to plan.
Decide
One Voice
The absent teams’ questions, one shared answer.
Celebrate
Close
What each person takes away.
The seminar in miniature
The unfiltered survey
The offsite opens with the results of a survey of the whole department, shared as they are. Everyone reacts on coloured sticky notes: what surprises me, what is missing, what I live day to day. From the first hour, people have permission to speak plainly.
Cross feedback
In rotating pairs, each person tells the other what gives and what drains their energy in the way they work together. The stance draws on non-violent communication: talk about what you experience, not judge. Relationships come before org charts.
In the other’s shoes
After a short input on the levels of an organisation, from purpose down to tasks, people pair up. I describe my job, then the other person presents it to everyone. Research, operations and development find out what their neighbours really do.
Mapping the links
Everyone stands at the same large wall, where ten or so entities are joined in pairs. On each link, a coloured sticky note says how the cooperation is going: fine, could be better, not working or not there. People look at their links honestly, together.
The vision in kiosks
The director presents the long-term vision, then the room works on it in rotating kiosks, moving on at a musical cue. Next comes the collective identity: what unites us, what makes us unique, what we want to become, with three dots each to vote.
The sponsors’ evening
While the group enjoys the evening, the sponsors go back over the day: sticky notes, link map, vision, identity. They pick the next day’s workstreams, only a few of them, so each can be dealt with properly. The roadmap comes later: the next day starts from what the room said.
Workstreams
Everyone joins the workstream of their choice, in self-formed groups. Each group fills in a sheet, from the ambition to a plan over three horizons, with owners and a sponsor. One of these workstreams led, a few months later, to a role-clarification workshop between two teams.
Long-term goal: …
Stakes and indicators: …
Levers and obstacles: …
Short, medium, long term: …
One Voice
To finish, in a circle, the group anticipates the questions from the teams back at the office and agrees a shared answer. Managers leave with the same message, and each says what they take away from the two days.
The materials, redrawn
The map of links
- Works well
- Could be better
- Doesn’t work, or doesn’t exist
A workstream sheet with three horizons
Workstream
Long-term goal
What’s at stake
Indicators
Levers
Obstacles
Short term
Medium term
Long term
Deliverables and follow-up
- A full report: the survey summary, a cross-reading of roles and links, the vision, and a short identity statement.
- Workstream sheets, each with its ambition, stakes, indicators, levers and obstacles, a plan over three horizons, owners and sponsors.
- A shared message for the teams who were not there.
- A follow-up: one workstream called for a role-clarification workshop between two teams. It took place a few months later (see “From lab to plant”).
What we take away
- You do not build an identity by decree. You start by telling each other about your work and looking at your links honestly.
- A survey shared unfiltered gives permission to speak plainly from the first hour.
- Deal with few topics, properly: a handful of well-owned workstreams beats a long list.
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