Case Studies/Individual Clients

Engineering a Better Work Life

Situation:
A senior level engineering professional in a Fortune 25 company was dead-ended in his job. Although he enjoyed his work, he frustrated to be working for managers with less technical skill than he had, and almost no content mastery. He was seriously considering resigning from his highly paid position.

Solution:
Working with a coach at Compass Development Group, the engineer came to recognize that while his current position had definite drawbacks, his personal values and goals were, in fact, quite consistent with those of the organization. In addition, he was able to understand that while his technical expertise was superb, his skills at interacting effectively across the organization were weak; his coach helped him sharpen those skills. At the same time, with further guidance from his coach, the engineer considered his options for potential career moves, both inside and outside the organization.

Result:
Utilizing his newly acquired skills, the engineer was able to influence others within the organization, gaining recognition for his talent and contributions. He was promoted within the organization to a role that positions him within a more appropriate peer group; he enjoys his work more than ever, feels great satisfaction in utilizing his technical (and new organizational) skills, and continues to rise to new levels of leadership.

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Learning to Juggle

Situation:
A small business owner was overwhelmed by his inability to juggle competing priorities. It was a classic tale of too much to do in not enough time.

Solution:
Compass Development Group helped this entrepreneur prioritize his goals based on which tasks had the greatest impact on the business and assess potential outcomes of decisions on how to spend his time.

Result:
The businessman has begun to work more effectively and is learning resist his tendency to micro-manage and delegate more responsibilities to subordinates; his productivity has improved; the business runs more efficiently; and profits are growing.



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Digging for Root Causes

Situation:
A small business owner was overwhelmed by his inability to juggle competing priorities. It was a classic tale of too much to do in not enough time.

Solution:
Compass Development Group helped this entrepreneur prioritize his goals based on which tasks had the greatest impact on the business and assess potential outcomes of decisions on how to spend his time.

Result:
The businessman has begun to work more effectively and is learning resist his tendency to micro-manage and delegate more responsibilities to subordinates; his productivity has improved; the business runs more efficiently; and profits are growing.

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Case Studies/Organizational Clients

Learning to Talk Like a Team

Situation:
An administrative team at a small New England college needed to establish a clear strategic path as a component of the college's overall strategic planning initiative. However, communication among team members had broken down; there was extreme distrust as key individuals lobbied for their own agendas; it had become impossible for team members to even have clear conversations with one another.

Solution:
Compass Development Group conducted multiple interviews involving all players to gain insight into the individual points of view and make an overall assessment of the issues at stake, contributing factors, and their impact on the group. CDG then facilitated a half-day off-site workshop attended by all members of the troubled department. After a series of exercises that illustrated the contrast between highly productive and completely unproductive conversations, the group began to recognize the characteristics of constructive dialogue, and acknowledged that they had long ago stopped listening to one another.

Result:
The group was able, finally, to have an open dialogue; each individual had the opportunity to participate. The key was to create an environment where all involved had confidence that they would could speak frankly knowing their ideas would be listened to and heard. Eliminating concerns about negative consequences enabled constructive and open discussion of difficult topics. With a newly established team culture that truly was collegial, this struggling department was ultimately able to identify and implement a strategic plan that led to a positive outcome.

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Getting Together to Get Back on Track

Situation:
A strategic initiative within a Government agency was making very little progress. Personality conflicts, scheduling obstacles, and nearly total inaction marked every effort to move the process forward.

Solution:
Through a series of one-on-one meetings, Compass Development Group determined that poor communication was the biggest barrier to progress. Colleagues' perspectives were so different and concerns about their individual agendas was so great that they refused to dispense with preconceived notions long enough to exchange ideas about fundamental issues. CDG recommended and utilized a variety of facilitation tools to help the group recognize and eliminate the barriers to communication that had become part of its culture. Establishing and enforcing agreed-upon ground rules for their meetings enabled them to acknowledge and validate different perspectives, and establish common ground.

Result:
Key players learned to work together more effectively and have begun to collaborate in order to move this initiative forward. Within a relatively short time progress has been made to leverage their cooperative efforts into new business opportunities.

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From Losing to Lucky - A 13th Year Turnaround

Situation:
After 13 years of consistent financial loss, a small non-profit was in desperate straits, unable to meet basic budgetary obligations, but unwilling to close its doors.

Solution:
Compass Development Group worked with the Board of Trustees, both individually and collectively, to establish goals and roles for each. CDG then facilitated an off-site Board meeting which led to establishing a clear strategic direction, uncovering the reality that new Board members were needed, and resolving ongoing conflicts among current members that had been standing in the way of forward progress.

Result:
The organization has survived and is enjoying newfound financial strength. The Chair of the Board credits their work with CDG as being the single most significant factor in this impressive turnaround. The new Board members are thriving.

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Stepping In, Then Stepping Up

Situation:
A new departmental manager recognized immediately that the group she was hired to lead was completely dysfunctional. Distrust, territoriality, and refusal to communicate had become so much a part of the group's dynamics that the new leader decided her only hope for turning things around would be to enlist expert help.

Solution:
Compass Development Group worked with the manager to formulate an action plan: after an in-depth needs analysis, CDG conducted a series of team-building exercises and strategic planning activities. Exploring fundamental questions (What can we control? What can we do? What do we want to do?) in a guided setting enabled participants to identify both a group goal and individual goals that were aligned with the group goal. Simply by experiencing this process-with its ground rules of clear communication, active listening, and mutual respect-team members were able to build the foundations of more positive working relationships.

Result:
With clearly identified roles, common goals, and improved communication, the team was able to gain trust in their new manager and in one another. Productivity increased measurably, while turnover was significantly reduced.

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Merge and Move Forward

Situation:
Two financial institutions anticipated a merger that had the potential to be mutually beneficial. A major concern of both was the smooth integration of employees and culture.

Solution:
A Compass Development Group consultant with special skills in this area met with managers from both institutions to plan and strategize the change management process. The CDG consultant facilitated team-building sessions to successfully combine groups from both organizations and worked with the new senior management team to envision a new culture that retained the best of both organizations' individual identities and acknowledged the important contributions of leaders from both organizations.

Result:
The merger was highly successful. The combined organization continued to grow while experiencing a turnover rate of less than 4%.

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