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A Capability Snapshot
Experience
A MULTI OFFICE ENGINEERING CONSULTING FIRM
PRESENTING ISSUE
Each office had its own methods and
programs, and was successful in its own right. However, they had many problems in dealing
with national accounts because of their different approaches. The differences affected
their ability to compete with national oriented consulting firms on contracts that were
cross regional in nature.
CONSULTANT INITIATIVES
Had them undertake a Capability Snapshot on each location
"Due to their individual success, each branch had a
lot of pride in their own methodologies and were very resistant to change. I had to create
a positive atmosphere with them to accept changing anything that they were doing",
explained the consultant. "Using the Capability Snapshot process and the resulting
feedback, I had the key branch executives meet together. My theme for the meeting was
'best practices' "
In part their agreement to undertake the project was related
to their desire to relate the results to improved financial performance.
The feedback meeting clearly identified that there were
strategic alignment issues between the branches. It also identified which branches
excelled in each of the 15 Essential Capabilities. Consensus was reached on the four most
important Capabilities. The selection process was driven by which Essential Capabilities,
one having to be selected from each branch, would improve the branch alignment the most
Four best practices cross-branch task forces were
established. Each one was assigned the task of understanding what was behind the best
practices capability that was assigned to them
OUTCOME
SUMMARY
Each task force reported their findings at a weekend
retreat. "It took us the full weekend to understand the essence of their findings,
and to identify the steps each branch would have to undertake to implement that practice
in their branch"
"By focusing on positives, and getting cross branch
participation in the exercise, I was able to avoid dealing with any branch
weaknesses", reported the consultant. "The process broke the communications
barrier between the branches, and helped them see how they each could contribute to the
company's overall betterment"
The 2nd Capability Snapshot was undertaken 8 months after
the initial one. It demonstrated a strong shift towards alignment between the branches.
Most interesting was the improvement in the Learning Culture of all the branches. " I
found that the jealousy between the branches was greatly diminished. The feedback review
meeting atmosphere was dramatically better then the past. The group acknowledged that
although they still had a ways to go, they openly embraced the creation of differently
populated task forces to work on four new best practice areas, while maintaining the
original groups to continue working on the first four. A significant difference this
time" noted the consultant, "is that they dropped the requirement that there had
to be one from each branch"
Another interesting outcome, as a result of their surveying
their client's, was resurgence in attracting national projects, which was directly
contributing to better financial performance for the company as a whole
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