Finding Alignment: Rediscovering an Organization’s Identity
Just like people, organizations can lose their identity when they grow and reinvent themselves. The cost of success can sometimes be not recognizing yourself when you look in the mirror one day.
When this happens, it’s time to pause and reflect on where we are and where we need to be.
Reflecting on identity is a hard enough process for individuals, so imagine the challenge when a team of 12 senior-level executives from a government technology solutions firm needed to come together to reaffirm their organizational identity.
What Made this Process Work
With a group of 12, it’s no surprise to find different understandings of a company’s current challenges and growth opportunities. While some may be excited and ready for the future, others may be mired down by the day-to-day challenges faced in their unit.
To help the executives find alignment, we focused on internal and external trends and mapped the organization's clients and capabilities before moving forward with new objectives. We did this by…
Designing a custom customer/capabilities matrix based on Blue Ocean Strategy methodology to identify areas of alignment, potential, and further exploration.
Engaging an open-style Objectives and Key Results (OKR) process that expanded on areas of potential.
Providing visual tools that enabled participants to lead themselves and pivot with ease when the need arose.
The process enabled much-needed clarity for the leadership team regarding their current offerings and high-level future direction. Leaders left the retreat with improved meeting rhythms and a clear list of next steps for continued progress.
Setting the Scene
Having experienced more than a decade of rapid growth, a government technology firm found itself in a period of intense confusion. With many customers, offerings, and silo product divisions, the firm was struggling to compete for prime work and lacked clarity on where to focus efforts. They sought to engage their leadership team in an Objective and Key Results (OKR) process to streamline efforts.
Our Process
Our one-day retreat aimed to address competitiveness, lack of clarity around services, and refine the company’s strategic focus by providing a structured process to improve alignment and define clear objectives.
We began the retreat by reviewing pre-survey data using a context map to understand the current landscape. With this context in mind, we facilitated exercises such as a Customers and Capabilities Matrix, to identify areas of alignment, potential, and further exploration.
Using flipcharts and an open-space structure, participants worked in groups to develop value propositions for key customers and contribute feedback to refine the objectives. We employed visual tools like a Bulls Eye Diagram to organize objectives and simplify decision-making.
The provided visual tools enabled the group to largely facilitate itself. This enabled us to easily pivot to address higher-level company objectives, ensuring meaningful discussion and alignment with the organization’s goals. Although some time was sacrificed in the measures process, the group left with a renewed sense of direction and purpose.
What to Take Away
Stop. Reflect. Renew.
Readiness for what’s next starts with understanding the present. Organizations without this understanding may find themselves confused about who they are and where they should focus.
Simple tools like a customer/capabilities matrix help teams easily see where they are spending their efforts and where key shifts can be made.
To learn how we can help your team host a retreat with lasting impact, check out our approach to expert facilitation.
