“I appreciate all the work and effort you put into today’s session with my team. It was without doubt original and innovative and above all, it fulfilled my objectives. You can consider me to be a Lego Serious Play apostle and I will do all I can to recommend your methodology to both teams in my company and indeed to other companies, should the opportunity arise.”
This is specific feedback from the manager of a team of 15 people following an 8 hour Lego Serious Play workshop we did recently.
Sector: Financial / Banking
Workshop Objectives:
Based on the overall company objectives, identify personal objectives for each team member
Align the individual objectives so that they become common team objectives for 2012
Identify all the obstacles to reaching the 2012 objectives
Find solutions to the main obstacles
Brainstorm how the team can improve its overall performance
Unite and strengthen the team and develop closer relationships and ties between its members
Methodology
We built a workshop exclusively around Lego Serious Play – working with both individual and group models
We also combined the model building with some more well known training concepts (SWOT analysis and Circles of Control and Influence) to map what they built
The Results
We met all the objectives set out by the client
We had full involvement from all participants throughout the whole day
Although there were some difficult “crucial conversations”, participants enjoyed the experience
By the end of the day, the team had a full understanding of how they performed and how they could improve
An improvement in the sense of “team spirit” was noticeable by the end of the workshop, and even more so two weeks later at a follow up meeting.
The following phrase came up during the workshop and captures very well the overall result: “we are much more a team than I thought we were”
Case study illustrating the use of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method courtesy of Robert Rasmussen:
“The founders of a large architectural firm based in the United States had passed the reins of leadership over to two senior architects who had been groomed to lead the firm. The new leaders could see that shifting market demand and increased competition required a radical change in the firm culture. In the past, the founders (now retired) had been responsible for getting new clients, leading project design and managing the firm. The new leaders envisioned a culture of market-focused shared leadership.
The new leaders worked with LEGO SERIOUS PLAY facilitators to design a workshop that would surface the “skeletons in the closet” (separate today’s firm from the cultural “rules” established by the founders), help develop nine emerging leaders, and begin to design and implement a market-focused culture of shared leadership.
The workshop helped all participants see each other in a new light. The two workshop sponsors were able to assess the interests and drives of their nine emerging leaders. The emerging leaders were able to form new bonds and also play an integral part in shaping the future direction of the firm. The collective aspirations voiced during this workshop became the foundation for firm planning goals. During the workshop sub-committees were formed for each of four areas of focus – design, technology, marketing and finance. These four committees became internal designers and advocates for change. All workshop participants became stakeholders in the changes they designed together.”
Case study illustrating the use of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method courtesy of Robert Rasmussen:
“A large family entertainment park, located in UK, merged their park operation department with their food service department. The two departments had radically different cultures. The head of the operations department was selected to lead he new combined department. The climate between the two management teams was hostile and untrusting because the food service department, the larger revenue generator, felt their contribution wasn’t valued. Operations acted more like this was a “take-over” than a merger .
After meeting with the workshop sponsors, we recommended a LEGO SERIOUS PLAY workshop designed to get the beasts on the table and help the two department build understanding and mutual respect. “I am willing to give this merger a chance, but I want to let you know that I brought my ‘weapons’ just in case“ was the opening statement by one of the managers in the food service department.
During the creation of a three-dimensional business landscape, workshop participants developed a shared understanding of the identities, cultures and daily business realities of both departments. Once the business landscape was developed the team was able to visually map the impact of a number of business scenarios.
Over the course of the workshop, the operations department realized how their dominant attitude, language and communication style had unconsciously created and environment of hostility and distrust. At the end of the two day intervention, all “weapons” were off the table, trust was reestablished, and all participants aligned on a business strategy. Workshops insights have had lasting value and supported the successful integration of the two departments.”
Case study illustrating the use of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method courtesy of Robert Rasmussen:
“A team leader, employed by a global communications company headquartered in the United States, faced communication challenges among members of her own geographically dispersed team. The team was responsible for coordinating logistics, nationally. To be effective, team members needed to develop a deep understanding of each other’s critical success factors, understand how individual roles and responsibilities impact team objectives, and function as an integrated team. Reliance on virtual communication further complicated team interaction.
The team leader decided to bring the team together in a central location, and worked with a LEGO SERIOUS PLAY facilitator to design a workshop to improve team communication and productivity. The workshop building challenges clarified each team member’s responsibilities, functions, constraints and the interdependencies of all the members. Individual special strength models and team identity models were also constructed. Using the visual landscape they created, the team replayed a number of team breakdown situations. Using their new team knowledge, they played out alternative responses.
The workshop had a dramatic impact on the team morale and productivity. In the words of the team leader, “We continued talking about the business scenarios after the workshop. My team wants to discuss a different scenario at each staff meeting, and they want to get together once a quarter, face-to-face. The staff meeting will be much more about how we can help each other. Dinner that night was so different from the previous night. We had become a team overnight.””
Ready to try something different to get better results? Contact info@considiom.com.
Case study illustrating the use of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method courtesy of Robert Rasmussen:
“Banking / New Initiative Launch
A US bank planned to strengthen their core business by launching a new retail business development strategy.
Historically, the managers responsible for the new launch had resisted business strategies handed down from the top. The initiative would require the regional branch managers to assume new responsibilities and to work together as a team. Geographically dispersed, they had little reason to interact on a regular basis. Instead of functioning like a team, they operated like a group of individuals who occasionally work together.
Working in close partnership with the program sponsor, a LEGO SERIOUS PLAY team building workshop was designed to help the branch managers develop a deeper understanding of each other and how, together, they could advance the new retail business development strategy. In the words of the retail operations leader, “The entire team now has a better understanding of the team’s goal and each person’s value to the journey of reaching the goal. Everybody was completely exhausted at the end of the day – exhausted after a good day of teamwork!”
Lasting results followed. The branch mangers came together as a team, discovered each other’s strengths and how to work together. The retail strategy has been in place for over five years. The LEGO SERIOUS PLAY process was so successful that it is now integrated in the bank’s business planning process.”
