Supporting a digital transformation programme in three stages
CorvaleInvented name
In a major engineering programme, the team rolling out a new design platform was moving from concept to delivery, and things were rocking. We worked with them over a year, in three stages: a retrospective to become one team again, a day of demonstrations so the business could take ownership of the tools, then a half-day in a small group on posture.
- Sector
- Energy, major industrial engineering programme
- Size
- Group of several tens of thousands of employees
- Format
- Three stages over a year
- In the room
- First the programme’s core team (the client, its integrators and its consultants), then around fifty key business users, then a small group around the sponsor.
Context
- The team brings together three worlds: business, IT and project management, on both the client and supplier sides.
- The programme is leaving the concept phase. Friction is growing over planning and priorities, and the team works as client and supplier rather than as one team.
- Delivery milestones are tight and the business will soon have to adopt the new tools.
The challenge
Get a mixed team moving together again, then help it bring the business on board, without losing the trust built along the way. Each stage had to prepare the next.
The design
Key ideas
Cross pairs for the diagnosis
At the retrospective, each pair matches an insider with an outsider. Together they name the semester’s achievements and difficulties, and what would help them. The diagnosis belongs to neither side.
“Pulse” moments on the relationship
Between two workshops, short slots on the quality of exchanges, with an input on nonviolent communication illustrated by situations from the project.
Demos that own their flaws
For the wider day, every demo owner follows the same structure: a business scenario, the demo, a discussion. They also show what does not work yet. Each visitor chooses in advance what they want to see.
The visit sheet as raw material
During the demos, each visitor notes what they take away, what surprised them and what it changes for them. In the afternoon, these sheets feed the adoption workshops.
A big picture revealed piece by piece
For the small group, the programme map is uncovered piece by piece. No one can claim a territory before the whole is visible. The sponsor’s introduction is worked on with him to set the tone.
How the time was used
- Open
- Explore
- Decide
- Celebrate
Stage 1 · the retrospective
Open
Sponsor’s opening
The frame set: authenticity, listening, timing signalled by music.
Explore
Cross diagnoses
Insider and outsider pairs: achievements, difficulties, what would help me.
Explore
Pulse moment
Quality of relationships, with an input on nonviolent communication.
Decide
Focus workshops
Planning, governance, ways of working: two rounds, with rotation.
Decide
My brick in the wall
An individual commitment, then a final round of words.
Stage 2 · the demo day
BeforehandOpen
Choosing your demos
Everyone ranks their preferences to visit two.
MorningOpen
Owners’ pitches
Two minutes each to make people want to come.
Explore
Demo kiosks
Two rounds: scenario, demo, discussion, and a visit sheet.
AfternoonDecide
Adoption workshops
In small groups, from the sheets: changes, gains, friction, support needed.
Stage 3 · the small group
BeforehandOpen
Anonymous questionnaire
Three sources of pride, three stones in the shoe, convictions and doubts.
Open
The sponsor’s introduction
A few key messages, including a simple collective contract.
Explore
The big picture
Revealed piece by piece, then discussed.
Decide
What comes next
Say things openly, align, then change posture.
The seminar in miniature
Cross diagnoses
At the retrospective, each pair matches an insider with an outsider: client, integrators and consultants all mixed up. Together they name the semester’s achievements and difficulties, and what would help them. The diagnosis belongs to neither side, and “us and them” fades before the issues are even raised.
Pulse moment
Between two workshops, the team sits in a circle to talk about the relationship rather than the schedule. A short input on nonviolent communication, illustrated with situations from the project itself, gives people words to name tensions without attacking anyone.
Focus workshops
Three rooms, three topics that had been rocking the team: planning, governance, ways of working. Two rounds with rotation, so everyone weighs in on two of them. People come out with findings, named tensions and decisions, such as governance cut to two levels and tested for a quarter.
My brick in the wall
Each person writes down, alone, the commitment they are making for the rest of the programme, at their own scale. Then a final round in a circle: everyone says it out loud in front of the whole team, insiders and outsiders alike.
Owners’ pitches
On demo day, around fifty key business users are in the room. Each demo owner gets two minutes on stage to make people want to come to their kiosk. Visitors have already ranked their preferences beforehand so they can see two.
Demo kiosks
Two rounds of visits. Every kiosk follows the same structure: a business scenario, the demo, then a discussion. The owner also shows what does not work yet, and the business asks the real questions. Each visitor fills in a sheet for every demo they see.
What I take away: …
What surprised me: …
What it changes for me: …
Adoption workshops
In the afternoon, in small groups in the breakout rooms, the visit sheets become the raw material. The business works out what will change for them, the gains, the friction and the support they will need. Debriefs also cover the demos each person did not see.
The materials, redrawn
Three stages, three audiences
The demo visit sheet
My visit sheet
Demo A
- 1What I take away
- 2What surprised me
- 3What it changes for me
Demo B
- 1What I take away
- 2What surprised me
- 3What it changes for me
→ In the afternoon, the sheet feeds the workshops
Deliverables and follow-up
- After the retrospective, a structured report: a summary of the diagnoses, then for each focus the findings, tensions, decisions and actions.
- Concrete decisions from the first stage: governance cut down to two levels and tested for a quarter, a dedicated team on a blocking issue, a single reference tool for tracking, systematic acceptance criteria.
- A demo day equipped from start to finish (preference questionnaire, demo structure, visit sheets, debriefs for demos not seen), then a plan for the rest of the year.
What we take away
- In a mixed team, a diagnosis in cross pairs defuses “us and them” before the issues are even discussed.
- A demo that owns its limits reassures more than a perfect one. The business then asks the real questions.
- A multi-stage engagement lets you change format and audience without losing the thread: each stage prepares the next.
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