Large Public Sector Department-
Creating alignment through action
The challenge
Prior to the formal integration of
two large government departments, the Executive Committee wanted to
get clear on the role a strategy function could play in the new organisation.
A need existed to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the current
role strategy played in both departments, and to gain leadership alignment
on the requirements for the new organisation going forward.
Corven were engaged to work with a team of six people to agree a design
for the new organisations strategy function with key stakeholders.
We decided to run a four week ‘Lab’, a powerful approach
to addressing intractable or political problems within a business,
focused on action and results.
With the team in place, the challenge was to go beyond producing a
descriptive report and to achieve a real shift in the organisation
that would be visible, meaningful and sustainable.
Approach
The Lab:
The key challenge of the
Lab was to engage and align a broad set of stakeholders; achieving
this successfully would lead to an outcome that was sustainable in
a changing organisation. Stakeholder engagement was therefore key,
and the team spent over 50% of their time out visiting internal and
external stakeholders, whilst concurrently designing the future strategy
function. Typically, key individuals were visited at least three times
– first to solicit their opinions, then to syndicate an aligned
view and finally to seek formal approval. The Lab formed a physical
space that acted as a safe and supportive environment where the team
could work.
After a comprehensive kick off event, the team spent the first week
assessing the existing strategy organisation and drawing up initial
thoughts on the objectives and potential design of the new strategy
function. Half-baked ideas were taken out to stakeholders to solicit
their views; this was brought back into the Lab room for discussion
and debate. Stakeholders were continually mapped and actions reviewed
and adjusted on a daily basis.
The second and third week focused on syndicating with key individuals
to refine and gain alignment on the design. During the final week
of the Lab the team understood in detail what it would take to make
the recommendations stick, and requests were put forward to the Executive
Committee to appoint an interim Head of the Strategy Unit –
this would ensure that the recommendations of the Lab could not be
ignored or undone. At the end of the four weeks the team presented
the recommendations to the Executive Committee. Following their successful
engagement throughout the four weeks, the design of the Strategy Unit
was signed off immediately and an interim Head appointed to establish
the operational unit.
Corven’s role was both facilitator and coach. The team were
continually challenged and supported to deliver more than they thought
possible, meaning they were stretched to maximum productivity. Motivation,
team building, organisation and ensuring a clear allocation of roles
were central to the success of the Lab.
Implementing and embedding the Strategy Unit:
Following the sign off of the
new Strategy Unit, Corven were asked to support the team as they established
themselves in the new organisation. This involved:
- Challenging the team: particularly in addressing
the direction and vision of the team, scoping what it was going
to deliver to the organisation during its first year and what activities
needed to be in place to establish itself
- Clarifying KPIs: working alongside the team to
identify how the unit will add value to the organisation and how
this translates to team and individual performance targets
- Designing and facilitating key events: supporting
the team in designing and delivering meetings, events and workshops
with key stakeholders
- Supporting the communications and engagement programme:
providing tools and techniques to understand how best to manage
to influence key stakeholders
- Building the team: identifying natural roles and
responsibilities and helping to form the team as a standalone unit
through facilitation of team days
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