How Synthetron helped the senior management of a multinational corporation to prepare a Top 100 global conference.
“Of course they all understand the strategy. This conference will be about how we implement it” – what our client said before the discussion.
“We can’t have a conference about strategy implementation now.” — what our client said after the discussion.
Situation
Senior management of a multinational corporation wanted to prepare and improve the agenda for a Top 100 global conference focused on the implementation of a new strategy.
Management wanted to engage their employees to find what they wanted the conference. In this way, management could prepare in advance and maximize the efficiency of the event.
Approach
We set up two Synthetron online dialogues to identify priority actions for the conference. All employees were invited and the discussions were segmented by seniority and geography.
We developed a script together with the client to make sure that the questions would get to the matter quickly. Then we moderated the sessions to make sure that everything ran smoothly and that the client got the input they were looking for.
Results
The analysis of the debates was done by Synthetron consultants. It showed that a significant number of the employees were not aware of the strategy. Of those aware, many did not necessarily support or even understand it.
This early warning from the online brainstorms came as a surprise to senior management. However, it helped them realise that the first job was to clarify and communicate the strategy and to build alignment. Only after clear communication and alignment around the strategy could they ask employees to implement it.
The conference was postponed and hundreds of thousands of pounds of travel expenses were saved. In addition, management avoided disengagement or an unexpected rebellion against the new strategy. This would not have been possible without the online dialogues.
