Case Study – The Parthenon

Situation

Our client has undergone massive change and enormous growth in its 11 year history, and now employs 650 staff across 10 locations in the UK. It has grown as a silo organisation from the board down. Each director has run his own part of the company almost as a separate organisation. Operating in the technology and communications sector, there have been diverse opportunities for growth until more recently, when the market has become saturated and margins squeezed.

With the majority of key systems in place from an early stage in the company’s history, the IT function had more recently focused its efforts on developing solutions for small problems, with minimal consultation with other areas. The company recognised that it had a wealth of untapped ideas and opportunities but needed an inclusive, non-disruptive way to build greater cohesion and change the silo behaviour.

Solution

DPI was initially engaged to tackle the pressing IT problem and to initiate better communications between the different functions. The broader strategic issues facing the company became apparent at an early stage of doing this work.

It was important to engage as many people as possible from across the 7 functional areas; DPI Solutions offered the ideal means for enterprise-wide engagement. 5 open discussions were held involving 250 employees. The sessions were optimised to ensure that the most important topics were covered. There was a particular focus on the IT issues, but the discussions also covered issues involving other departments, such as Sales, Marketing, and HR.

Using unique and intuitive iPad technology, the sessions presented a more engaging and rigorous alternative to Powerpoint, flipchart, or colour post-it workshops suggested by other consultancies. Using proprietary mind-mapping software, facilitators could ensure that the wealth of ideas, questions and opinions were captured and instantly shared at the end of the workshop. These “playback” sessions were revelatory for participants. They also ensured that DPI could validate understanding of the key issues raised, before these were reported back to the company.

Outcome

The sessions have been the crucial first step to building a connected company, which has the capability to agree on a set of common goals and working practices.

The organisation has committed to a series of development initiatives to be taken forward by cross-functional teams.

Due to the need to re-evaluate the company’s position in the marketplace, and develop new winning strategies, DPI has recently been engaged to work with the company on a full-scale strategic review.