# Giving an identity to a department born of a reorganisation > 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”. *Real case, anonymised: the company name is invented.* - Company (invented name) : Tessaline - Sector : Industrial chemicals - Size : A department of a few dozen people, some fifteen managers - Format : Two days, residential - Audience : Some fifteen managers and the leadership team of a cross-functional department of a few dozen people. - URL : https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/cas-clients/identite-departement-transverse ## 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. ## Design 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. ## Run of show ### Day 1 - **The survey** : The results, then coloured sticky notes. - **Crossed feedback** : Rotating pairs, what gives and drains energy. - **Vantage points** : An input on the levels of an organisation, from purpose down to tasks. - **In the other’s shoes** : I describe my job, the other person presents it to all. - **Mapping the links** : One wall, ten or so entities, three colours. - **The vision** : Presented by the director, then worked on in rotating kiosks. - **Collective identity** : What unites us, what makes us unique, what we want to become. A vote with three dots each. - Evening · **Choosing the workstreams** : The sponsors review the day and pick the next day’s workstreams. ### Day 2 - **Workstreams** : In self-selected groups, from ambition to plan. - **One Voice** : The absent teams’ questions, one shared answer. - **Close** : What each person takes away. ## Deliverables - 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”). ## Key takeaways - 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. Related expertise : [Leadership offsites](https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/seminaire-de-direction), [Collective intelligence](https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/intelligence-collective), [Seminar design](https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/design-de-seminaire) --- Source: Flow Design, https://www.getflowdesign.com Contact: victoire@getflowdesign.com, marie-violaine@getflowdesign.com, +33 6 72 15 94 77. Request a quote: https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/nous-contacter. Draft a run of show online: https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/concevoir-mon-seminaire.