New Leader Integration Process

Are you the new leader of a company or department?  Are you about to hire a new leader for your firm?  Would you like to accelerate this transition and realize amazing enthusiasm for what’s next?  Here are the steps one manufacturing plant took to get their new plant manager, and everyone else, up to speed.

First, the new leader, Pat, and the management team wrote responses to a confidential survey to get their expectations and issues out on the table.  This process made sure the new leader and the whole team would be aware of and address the “real” issues in the plant that crop up every day.  Confidentiality meant the tough, politically difficult questions could be asked:
 
1.  Is there anything you need to know from Pat right away in order to do your job better?

2.  What do you want Pat to know about the direct report team?

3.  How do you feel about being a member of this team?

4.  What is the organizational "secret" that Pat needs to know to be more effective?

5.  Who are your customers and what would they say about the service this team provides?

Second, the team and the new Plant Manager read a report of the findings listing the values, information and actions that would be most important for quickly understanding the strengths and weaknesses, alignments and misalignments that everyone would be working with.  Everyone saw themselves in the report and recognized the problem areas that were included.  Unattributed verbatim comments from the managers were included where possible, while the new plant manager’s comments showed his style, grasp of relevant subject matter, areas where learning was needed, and insight into his initial vision and direction. 

Third, after everyone had a chance to digest the report, we began a series of meetings to commit to the values and actions with which everyone agreed and to plan steps to better align where there were mismatches.  The Agenda followed the outline of the report and the discussion was lively and open-hearted.

Discussion centered on Pat's wish for open and honest communication.  The major design principle was trust building:  trust between managers, between the management team and the new plant manager, and trust in me as a designer. 

 Next Steps From the First Integration Meeting
 
The new plant manager sought to implement a leadership style based on empowerment.  He was determined to overturn the pyramid and suggest that managers are resources to their departments.  Front Line Stability, supervisor training, was his major focus.  This was a radical departure from the prior culture.
 
The managers were so delighted with the opportunity to see how others viewed them that they requested focus groups with the rank and file around how the management team was perceived and perhaps even what was bothering them in terms of productivity and alliances with their union leadership.  The process would need to start soon, in support of the goal of Level 3 Assessment, functioning Working Groups with Team Leaders.
 
Result

Extracting the themes from data ahead of time accelerated this process.  Because the participants had reflected, received feedback and reflected again, the ground was prepared for a shift in the group during the first Integration Meeting.  The change was significant – so much so that it was unnecessary to continue with the planned series of meetings!

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