Case Studies

CASE ONE

Situation: A manager in an SMI was about to be fired for “talking nonsense” and not contributing positively and add value to inter-departmental meetings. We coached him to limit his airtime in meetings to ask questions to clarify and value-adding contributions.

Intervention: We had one-on-one coaching sessions with him to coach him ways to build close rapport with others, listen more to what others are saying, prepare value-adding responses and talk precisely.

Result: He changed by listening more to others, adding value to others ideas and contributes positively to team projects.

 

CASE TWO

Situation: A manager and her assistant had problems discussing on how jobs are done. Such discussions inevitably end up with high tension, sometimes arguments and cold-wars.

Intervention: We sat both of them down for a coaching session. We solicited a recent work issue and discuss it. We observed and highlighted the gaps in the ways they talk to each other and their respective flawed perceptions of each other. We also highlighted their lack of rapport. We then highlighted the gaps between them, taught them how to rebuild rapport with each other, realigned their perceptions and created a positive communication channel and method for them.

Result: They are having better discussions with more empathy for each other. Tensions between them reduced and they are working more effectively as a team.

 

CASE THREE

Situation: An MD was facing difficulty with a senior manager whom has been pushing back the MD’s strategies and action plans for the company. The MD was at his wits-end and approached us for help.

Intervention: We coached the MD on a one-to-one. We began by creating options on how to deal with his senior manager’s perceptions on the MD’s ideas. Then, we taught him how to build rapport with the senior manager by matching and mirroring his speech patterns and behaviour. We taught him how to use specific questions to understand his senior manager better and to talk in the way to encourage buy-ins.

Result: The senior manager gradually began to cooperate more and reduce his push-backs.

 

CASE FOUR

Situation: The company was losing two to three qualified engineers per month for the past 4 months. The CEO and his senior management team had no idea why they resigned. The HR manager approached us for help. 

Intervention: We had a two-day program in a retreat format for staff of all levels. We facilitated team sessions of questionnaires on 8 dimensions of teamwork including feedback on what the team needed from the CEO and what the CEO expects from the team members. The final analysis was that there was a lack of “vision” for the staff and they are uncertain of their career growth and the future; and there was lack top-down communications.

Result: The CEO and his senior management staff created a fluid communication channel to keep the staff informed of relevant developments of the company. One important note is that the staff started to have conversations with the CEO and the senior managers. Even during the workshop, we could see that such conversations were happening during tea-breaks and in the corridors.