The Client.

Vice President of Research & Development
Midwest
$1 Billion International Manufacturing Company

The Situation.

Senior Management in the corporation did not believe that the Engineering department was committed to the success of the company because they hadn't embraced the mission and the goals.

At the same time, the Engineering department believed that Senior Management didn't understand the complexities of the engineering process.

The Frustration.

Each side held the other side responsible for the lack of cooperation and empathy they all felt. Efforts to plan and achieve the ambitious goals of Senior Leadership were met with negative responses and missed deadlines. 

The Action.

The VP realized that each side had a negative - and incorrect - perception of the other side, and that a change was needed immediately.  He engaged SynRG to facilitate a Team Communication Workshop that included one-on-one coaching for each participant. One of the Senior Managers was invited to participate in the workshop, to increase the Engineering Team's understanding of the Senior Leadership Team's perspective. Each person learned which Behavior Style Profile suited them.

The Insights.

Both participants learned that they had extremely different behavior styles. The Senior Manager wanted to get right to the point and move on to the next issue, while the Engineer wanted to examine every aspect of the question to make sure they had considered everything.

They learned that their professional success depended on them maintaining their different styles. What made the Engineer a good engineer was his attention to detail and his total focus on the issue at hand. What made the Manager a good leader was his penchant for looking at the longer view and leaving the details to those charged with the process.

The Results.

Process Changes. The Engineers learned to organize their presentations to suit the rapid-fire, bottom-line style that Senior Management could understand.

Mutual Respect. Senior Management realized that the success of the company depended on receiving more input from the Engineering Team during the planning process. They appreciated the Engineer's focus on detail and recognized its contribution to the company. The Engineers realized that relating their detailed input to the "big picture" focus during the planning phase would improve the overall outcome.