Galvanising a Pharma leadership team
There is plenty of great knowledge out there about the phases of team formation , key dysfunctions of teams (Patrick Lencioni’s famous book: the 5 dysfuntions of a team), what high performing teams do differently and yet highly engaged and effective teams are still a rarity in organisations. Some of this is down to the leadership, some of this is down to the behaviours and processes and some of this is simply due to factors outside of the team’s control. There is plenty that can be done to support you in any of these cases but we thought it would be useful to share a case study regarding the impact of changes beyond a team’s control and share how this team chose to respond by engaging our support to help them get back on track.
Following a re-organisation at a large Pharma company, the team leader of a sizable department realised he needed to create a new sense of purpose and generate alignment of his new leadership team. His challenges were:
- The new team had some historical members, some new members and one individual that would be present for a few months but was leaving the organisation.
- The core activities within the group had not changed but the alignment and emphasis of the team in the context of the wider organisation was now different.
- There was an urgent need to re-focus and re-energise the whole department to ensure business continuity.
By taking the time to understand his needs we were able to develop a bespoke 2 day workshop that achieved a number of significant tangible outcomes.
The key factors in making this successful was our understanding of the importance of each member as an individual as well as the group dynamics. Through our expertise we were able to create a safe environment where new members felt comfortable to share their concerns and the departing member could engage and impart their knowledge from a positive perspective without feeling disengaged. Knowing that the team had previously undertaken MBTI, we leveraged these preferences and wider Myers Briggs principles to create understanding and an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses in the team. It also revealed ways of working across the global team, ensuring they got the best out of everyone’s knowledge and expertise. By working through problems in non-conventional ways, often putting the individuals out of their comfort zone (or indeed enabling some to show hidden talents!), we created high levels of engagement on a level playing field. This built trust across the team members, created opportunity to add value for all and most importantly a shared experience that energised them and which they subsequently took forward to the rest of the organisation.
Out of the workshop came:
- A new vision statement (aligned with the wider organisation and new identity of the team) which emphasised the mindset and desired impact, making messaging with the wider group clear and concise.
- A set of agreed strategic imperatives that would be utilised in additional workshops with the wider team- to engage them in the new focus.
If this resonates with you, then we can help you too, so don’t hesitate to get in touch. Contact us (see below) to discuss any aspect of leadership, team effectiveness, change, internal/external relationships.
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Written by Chris Williams.