Client Profile
A 5000+ employee company had scaled extremely rapidly and was now facing significant market headwinds.
Client Needs
Amid re-organizations, cutbacks and layoffs, VPs-SVPs across interdependent functions needed to align in order to deliver on aggressive product/business goals. Their teams were operating in silos, doing redundant work, “throwing work over walls” and missing critical financial targets. Their objectives for a virtual “offsite” meeting included to build and improve relationships, to clarify roles, processes, and accountability, and to align on two vital decisions in advance of an upcoming executive review.
Program / Approach
The Mariposa executive coach working with the sponsoring leader understood the dynamics of the organization and the urgency of the situation and collaborated with the leader to:
- Match – they identified a Mariposa coach/facilitator who could quickly understand and facilitate the complex dynamics and would connect easily with the diverse group of leaders.
- Design – the facilitator jumped in to design an impactful experience. After interviewing participants to understand goals and interpersonal dynamics, the coach drafted an agenda, vetted it with appropriate participants, and prepped the group with read-ahead content and instructions.
- Meet/Coach – The agenda included two successive days of virtual meetings, in 90–120-minute increments with long breaks to prevent Zoom fatigue and allow for reflection and further preparation. Day 1 focused on relationship building and understanding each other’s functions and objectives. Day 2 was dedicated to digging into the critical and complex decisions that needed to be made. Both days included useful frameworks on topics such as trust and decision making.
- Evaluate – The facilitator held a de-brief meeting with the sponsoring leader and his executive coach to share observations, thought–partner on next steps, and discuss feedback on the offsite. (An informal email was sent to capture feedback per the client’s request, versus a more structured survey.)
Results
- The group made two significant decisions and created an action plan for garnering further support in the organization and preparing for the executive review.
- They identified clear ownership and direction around several initiatives that had been stalling.
- Role clarity was gained, and action items agreed upon around those roles that needed further review and discussion.
- Most importantly, participants reported sentiments such as:
- feeling like they got to know and respect each other more.
- improved trust, and comfort in discussing tough issues.
- alignment around common ground and objectives.
- less stress as they were creating a true team and support system.
One of the most important things as a group of leaders is that you beat to the same drum… group coaching allowed us to connect better, to respectfully challenge each other… to divide and conquer how we strategically lead the organization.
Having these conversations professionally designed and facilitated was the best thing for us right now. It helped us leapfrog forward faster and better than we would have done on our own.
The coach/facilitator was so great at putting us at ease, getting all of the voices out…and keeping us on track. (Not an easy ask!)
