Epics by Esséré

RENNES 2021-01 : Sharing company’s roadmap with a large team

Our client is a BU of 250 employees that has recently experienced a growth disruption.

Several months were necessary, with an external consultant expert in business turnaround, to define a roadmap for the next 3 years. This ambitious roadmap was co-constructed with some twenty employees and validated by the board of directors. Today, it must be executed by each employee of the BU. This is often done by using a managerial waterfall process to communicate where everyone is expected to execute. Meaning is often included in this communication, but mainly business meaning.

Our client wanted to go further in this ownership experience. They wanted to let their emotions be expressed in the face of this challenge. He wanted to hear, from the start, what the potential obstacles would be. It also wanted to honour the dignity of each manager by accompanying him or her in the process of mourning the loss of part of their existing situation. Finally, he wanted to begin to create the collective strength necessary to overcome the fears and anxieties generated by this unknown to come.

He brought together the 100 managers of the BU for a day.

We first set up the conditions for authenticity, calming egos and start-up stress. Then the two BU leaders spoke to share why this roadmap is important to them, even beyond their role as leaders. After three 40-minute presentation sequences, interspersed with more “feel good” questions, we asked everyone, “on a scale of 0 to 10, how achievable do you think this roadmap is?” After lunch, the managers physically placed themselves on a scale from 0 to 10 placed on the floor. It was an impressive moment of exchange and to see that everyone was between 5 and 10… while the CEO of the group, also present, was at 5. The afternoon was dedicated to projecting everyone into this imminent and new future. We explored emotions, apprehensions, joys, needs and ended by writing a request on a small piece of paper, for another manager present in the room, which was handed to him/her at the end of the seminar. At the end of the seminar, several managers expressed their desire to organise this type of event for their own teams.

At Esséré, the guidelines of our work are to ensure that egos are put at the service of the collective project, that confidence in oneself, in others and in the project is established and that each person feels taken into account and belonging to the collective. Interacting and communicating with kindness, respect, authenticity, vulnerability and emotional agility are the basis of our work on leadership. This requires courage, even bravery. It leads to honouring the dignity of everyone! Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)