Designing the Future

• I can see the potential for new ways of working, but need to get the right people together, in the right way, to make it happen
• I need to establish a motivated and coherent team across a variety of geographical locations...
• I want to engage my customers and/or suppliers with relationship-building events which deliver real benefits...
• I want to make the supplier/customer relationship I'm in more productive...
• My company has grown through acquisitions and mergers. I want to get the best out of what each group within the new business has to offer and create a sense of community that everyone wants to be part of...
• My team and I have to work with and engage teams from different organisations to complete a joint project...

I can see the potential for new ways of working, but need to get the right people together, in the right way, to make it happen

We worked with an organisation that needed to bring together its key suppliers (there were three of them) to discuss new and radical ways of working. A conference was organised. We set the framework for cooperation and helped to prepare all the delegates for the meeting. In seven face-to-face hours the participants rewrote the rulebook – a very successful investment of time and effort.
 

I need to establish a motivated and coherent team across a variety of geographical locations...

Motivating cross disciplinary teams within organisations is not easy, but it's also challenging and rewarding.

We worked on a project with one of the organisations that distributes National Lottery funds. At its inception the organisation had three full time staff – it was the ultimate ‘clean sheet.’ Within 18 months there were 300 employees spread across 4 regional offices with 7 departments. It was our job to work closely with all the key management players to alleviate growing pains, introduce consistent standards with full buy-in and help create a fluid vision and values package. It worked and the organisation was praised for the quality of its communication.

I want to engage my customers and/or suppliers with relationship-building events which deliver real benefits...

Seven years ago we were invited to create proposals for active PR programmes to support Tesco’s Dairy Team. Our proposal was that they should run a national competition to encourage smaller producers to create a brand new cheese for Tesco. From this elegantly simple idea the Tesco Cheese Challenge was developed. Over the years it has grown in stature. It demonstrates Tesco commitment to the thousands of people who work in the UK farming industry and allows smaller producers to develop their businesses with help from the Tesco technical and marketing teams. Tesco customers get to try new hand-crafted cheeses that would not be accessible to them in any other way. It is a winning formula and we are very pleased to have been involved in such a successful project.

I want to make the supplier/customer relationship I'm in more productive...

Conventional supplier-customer relationships can dissipate energy. Time and effort are wasted building barriers and positions that serve no useful purpose. It is time to change the way that relationships are built and maintained. Our client, a major supermarket, had some very tough budget numbers to hit. There were some projects that looked as though they had the potential to drive real category volume growth but they needed cooperation between suppliers in a way that had not been tried before. We worked with each of the suppliers individually and then brought them together in a series of moderated working sessions which respected their competitive status. New cross company teams were created and the companies who competed with each other fiercely in the market found a new framework for working cooperatively. By combining their skills in this way they delivered some excellent solutions that would not have been achievable in any other way. The consumer won too with the new approach which led to a more varied in-store offering.

My company has grown through acquisitions and mergers. I want to get the best out of what each group within the new business has to offer and create a sense of community that everyone wants to be part of...

We all want to be on a winning team. It is vital during any Merger and Acquisition process that every member of each company (or companies) feels proud of what his or her business has achieved and sees how the new organisation can benefit from those strengths. The new organisation needs to be one that most people can respect and contribute to.

We worked with an international brewing group to bring together two large multi-national businesses. The value of our contribution came from our ability to set a framework that allowed all the key players to make their best contribution and understand the positives that the other participants were bringing to the new organisation.

My team and I have to work with and engage teams from different organisations to complete a joint project...

A group of academics and business people in York wanted to set up an event to allow fledgling businesses to access all the information and advice they need in the early days. They worked closely with Venturefest Oxford, an established event with similar objectives. We were briefed to help the core team to decide how it would be structured and to help them create the organisational and planning framework which would allow the project to be delivered on time and within budget. We then worked in a front line support role over the next three years. Venturefest Yorkshire is a prestigious event which attracts over 2000 delegates each year.