ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
THE REQUEST:
Transform boring company meetings into events people look forward to
ATTENDEES:
200 employees from one of the U.S. offices of an international power and automation technology company
THE EVENT:
A bi-monthly “Town Hall” meeting, where employees come together to be updated on the direction and vision of the company, held in the company’s conference room
WHAT WE DID:
Our task was to develop, write and direct a comedy sketch with ten members of the management team to be presented at a Town Hall meeting. We met with the management team over the course of six 1-hour lunchtimes.
The objectives of the comedy sketch:
· Reflect current challenges and show how the company always figures out solutions
· Acknowledge the tremendous workload and that everyone is a superhero
· Establish a long-term goal for the company to be a more fun and pleasant environment, using the model of Southwest Airlines as inspiration
Our facilitators first set the context and objectives for the project, created an environment where the managers felt safe to honestly talk about the challenges and possible solutions for the company, guided the team through the process of writing a sketch, and assisted each one to find a character they could have fun playing in the performance.
The management team delivered a hilarious comedy sketch about a superhero and his travails to a surprised and appreciative audience - and fostered the good will that was desired.
RESULTS:
The sketch was extremely well-received and met every objective we were given. The managers also met their objective of leading the way, showing the employees they are willing to do whatever it takes to change the company’s culture. The Town Hall meetings have since become events that everyone looks forward to and the employees are now part of the “performances”.
