Strategic Teams and the Organization

Structure, Talent and the Advancement of the Organization

Challenge

A global producer of architectural product systems and services brought a series of questions to Dewar Sloan in a conversation about technical, market, and economic trends in their industry.

Three concerns became clearer in the conversations that followed:

Impact of Technology

The technology of the core business was changing from traditional mechanical and electronic — to more integrated digital systems with intelligence.

Coordination Concerns

The coordination of construction projects from design specification to operating logistics to component value-added was always complicated, subject to changes.

The Work of Innovation

The marketplace was wrestling with the working tasks and costs of conventional product options versus “smart building” options and associated costs.

The broader issue at stake?

The company’s readiness and capacity to address a different set of customer needs with a better product and service offering. This is at the heart of the Work to Be Done by Strategic Teams.

Options and Solutions

Dewar Sloan worked closely with a designated set of Tiger Teams to address the company’s readiness and capacity challenges. There are many different kinds of Strategic Teams that can be chartered to tackle problems and opportunities, explore options, and cross-over the functions, resources, culture and sub-cultures, and processes of the organization.

These Tiger Teams were assigned to general 30-to-60-day exercises to explore specific problems, define potential options, argue for and against different avenues for product system and service development, and calibrate the strategic and operating risks of execution.

One senior manager noted that each of the Tiger Teams had moved the agenda further in 30 days than the whole functional organization was able to drive in the standard “silo” structure over the past four years.

Intent and Impact

The business world seeks Better, Smarter, and Faster in so many areas … in product and service enhancement, in customer and stakeholder connections, in disciplined execution, in new technology and applications. Strategic Teams of different types and charters provide the focus, energy, power, and trust to break-out of the established processes, norms, and frictions that can slow organizations. Strategic Teams also serve to meet a company’s need for people development and talent enhancement. Strategic Teams can serve as “Structure Enhancers” for the organization.

The Challenges of Today, and the Options for Tomorrow

Opening the Conversations that Matter

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