Regional team Alignment
How did we help regional team leader gain clarity and build new team shared understanding accross four brands and five markets in the mids of pandemic?
USE CASE
Change Management
Team Alignment
DELIVERY
Online
RESULTS
Shared understanding and buy-in in record time
Clarity on goals and different market/brand perspectives
CLIENT
Natura&Co represents four iconic beauty brands united by a shared purpose. Natura, Avon, Aesop and The Body Shop share a commitment to sustainable and ethical business practices. It is the fourth largest beauty group in the world.
Challenge
Natura&Co merged four distinct brands (Avon, The Body Shop, Aesop, and Natura) and changed structures across global and regional offices. Asia Pacific Procurement team head Laura Ferrington was tasked to lead a new team formed out of people working in five different markets and four distinct brands in the midst of the pandemic in 2021. Her first task was to formulate the procurement team regional strategy and streamline the processes with other functional teams. In addition Laura was challenged by the low engagement survey results - as the organization and teams were going through a storming phase there was a lot of insecurity and frustration among employees.
Approach
We started the project through discovery interviews with Laura and some of her peers. Initial situational analysis showed that teams are overwhelmed with workload and frustration, so one of the main tasks for us was to relieve the frustration through building connections and understanding. Initially we advised Laura to create space for the team to connect on a deeper human level. We shared some of the best practices of facilitating online collaboration which Laura implemented and immediately saw results.
The main idea was to build team cohesiveness through co-creation of the vision, strategy and goals without adding too much additional workload. We decided to approach it through a few structured online sessions no longer than 2 hours each. To help every individual fully participate we use a virtual whiteboard (Mural) and carefully design the flow of the session.
Process
We started with onboarding all the participants (all together 17 people) with a short one hour session to introduce the Mural tool and agenda for the upcoming sessions. The first session was focused on creating rapport and making sure technology aspects are all in tune.
Following sessions were co-created with Laura and carefully designed to deliver desired outcomes. Team needed a psychologically safe space to express their views, clarity on upcoming strategy, challenges, and potential resolutions of top issues.
The first session was focused on getting the team coherence and creating shared context understanding. We used our WakeMake model and designed two hour sessions called: Wake Visions, and Make Goals. In the Wake VIsion session we focused on articulation of the individual perspectives and creating a shared understanding of where the team is and where it needs to go. In the make goals session we focused on articulating shared understanding of the strategy and developing concrete goals for the year that teams want to commit to deliver.
Results
In only 6 hours of online sessions people that previously felt disconnected and overwhelmed gained clarity and connection. They stated that it was great to see what others think and learn about the roles of people in other markets and other brands.
Laura as leader gained clarity and confidence to help teams in most needed areas.
“I enjoyed it so much. Biggest takeaway was understanding how I can help people precisely. I see who is ok and who needs help with what.
”She also learned tips and tricks in managing meetings and strategic decision making with teams going forward.
“I have one board that shows me how people feel. I didn't realize the importance of the breakout groups and how people need to meet each other.
”For leader of bing teams with great business responsibility it is critical to feel the people. Our method and approach helped Laura gain some critical aha moments and shift assumptions.
“It didn't occur to me that some people never met and I had assumed that the team feels down because of the restructuring but actually they are quite energized and want to change things.”
Co-Creation of an Operating Framework
How did we develop "buy-in" and a sense of ownership to co-create an operating framework for members of a diverse global professional association in a short time period?
People, Process, and Technology Alignment
How did we break the silos and changed leadership mindset in only six online co-creation sessions?
START THE CONVERSATION
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