The Back story

“We wanted to go from good to awesome.”
“Post a restructure, the team had made great strides in vision setting, reforming, building confidence and doing great work. But I thought we could still get better, and create a culture that provided meaning for our people, and a workplace they liked to come to. I knew we needed some help to continue to improve.”

The Solution

A series of team based sessions to create a deeper understanding of personal and business drivers, challenges and opportunities. As a performing team, the interventions required were around a performance reset rather than any form of “search for dysfunction”.

High performance teams need high performance leaders.
The first layer of intervention was focused on resetting the alignment and direction of the leadership team; challenging them to move beyond the ordinary. These sessions were quickly followed by full team, leader led events, supported from the sidelines by our coaches. This layer of activity developed both a deep level of trust and connection between leaders and followers, and valuable in the moment learning for the leaders who were applying key leadership principles – vulnerability, honesty, emotional intelligence, values led, focus and purposeful story telling.

The Outcome

Team members left clear about outcomes required on a business level, and on a behavioural level. The ‘tuned up’ leadership team were able to continue driving forward with a renewed leadership agenda and real clarity about “how” to co-lead and with refreshed energy and trust levels across the entire business unit (made up of more than 500 people).

The Back story

“We were looking for someone to help us figure out how to get our culture to work more effectively, while we were reconsidering our brand architecture, and how it related to our organizational structure, our strategy and our corporate culture.  After completing a diagnosis the results showed we had a passive aggressive culture, people weren’t engaged or supportive of the organization’s direction. We needed help to tune into our market, accept feedback, enable significant change and grow to become a more a nimble, responsive organization – to better align to what he market was telling us. We knew what we had to do, but needed advice as to the best way to go about it, and enact the changes.”

The Solution

“From the onset they were clear about what needed to be achieved and were able to immediately provide us with a plan of attack that addressed our priorities.”

Over 9 months…The Coherence Group conducted an initial series of workshops with leadership groups across the business. They helped get everyone on the same page by raising awareness around the need to change and aligning the leadership team on the key priorities going forward. Through this process we were able to identify our adaptive challenges, and opportunities to address this within our organisational structure. Importantly, we identified the course of action that made the most sense in setting ourselves up for the future. This initial diagnosis work and the development of an action framework for moving forward was done exceptionally well

Coherence Group rolled out a series of communication change management support initiatives during the significant structural changes that were implemented, as well as a Team Recharge (realignment) program to help connect whole organization with the culture and identity change journey.

The Outcome

Coherence Group helped us to make a significant shift as an organisation.

We now have a new streamlined structure directly connected to our new brand architecture and a focused strategy with clearer parameters that will support our future growth and evolution. Our people are all onto the same page, having had the chance to critically look at how we work with each other and how we get practical about moving forward to collectively achieve our strategic objectives.

As a result of this partnership we’ve been able to clarify roles and responsibilities across the board, and implement the most effective methodologies to guide our work. We now feel confident to continue the journey on our own, having achieved the foundations required to continue to build a strong and robust culture that supports our strategic objectives, and effectively responds to market needs.

The Back story

“We were looking for someone to help lift the coaching capacity of our leaders through facilitation of our Coaching Essentials program.

The Coaching Essentials program involves training some of our most senior leaders in coaching others. We have found that before the program leaders are often very solution focused and driving a culture that is more directive than consultative. The coaching essentials program offers an opportunity for professional growth that enables them to help others grow and take ownership of their roles and responsibilities.

The facilitators we were seeking needed to demonstrate innovation, the ability to work dynamically and lift the energy of the team they are working with.”

The Solution

Coherence Group were chosen as one of our key external facilitators of the program.

“Coherence Group are clearly passionate about coaching, they know and understand our program, and constantly strive to be the best they can be including making the program uniquely relevant to the constantly changing audience of NAB managers. We love the way Sonia and Team deliver this program to our leaders. Their confidence, skills and wealth of experience are evident in the way they have ably and passionately delivered the program.”

“The Coherence Group are not only passionate about coaching but highly resourceful too. When the time came to rollout the program in two overseas locations, Coherence Group was extremely helpful in enabling us to source and engage some of their excellent international facilitators based the USA and the UK. They quickly and effectively ensured the new facilitators were thoroughly briefed on all aspects of the program’s concept and content, offered a highly competitive price, ensured the training was delivered to our expectations – resulting in outstanding reviews from our international participants. – A huge help!”

The Outcome

“We have an excellent and highly effective working relationship with Coherence Group; they are openly and outwardly passionate about their work and the value of coaching.

This is evident in the way they passionately deliver the programs and their ability “in the room”, but also in the way their facilitators live and breathe our content and philosophy. There is a high level of trust here – both ways – I know they will always do their best and give their all. Sonia challenges my thinking, professionally, and we have become reliant on their thoughts and feedback. They are always quick to respond, flexible and accommodating.”

The Back story

Teams were engaged at various points in a deep restructuring of organisational processes and internal value chain dynamics. This process identified restructuring opportunities for the teams, as well as changes in team focus, outputs and dependencies. However, the landscape was punctuated by low engagement scores and an under preparadness for change and change impacts which meant that finding the right partner to successfully navigate the complexity was critical

The Solution

Reset the leadership team dynamic, approach and capabilities

• Leadership Team Alignment processes, including several workshops and diagnostics, were used to understand and identify the core reasons for performance and underperformance.
• Coaching for the 5 executive team members encouraged leadership insight and practical application.
• A fresh leadership meeting agenda and decision making structure was introduced.

Address core behaviours and engagement survey issues in the broader team; support team dynamics through change; develop team culture strategies to support new ways of working.

• Next level leaders were engaged in owning a culture change project and brought together as a management group with an identity, agenda and purpose for the first time.
• Intervention was across 14 months, with a reasonably light footprint and budget.

The Outcome

• Leaders were refreshed and realigned, with clear direction for the business and personal leadership growth.
• Of the four business units engaged, three have since delivered benchmark engagement scores within a one year period, and are now engaged in developing even higher engagement though having the next level leadership step in and up a level.
• The teams approach – combining both governance and “whats” together with culture and “whys” – is now held up as a best practice internal change management approach.

The Back story

A high stakes, high profile project that recognised both culture and people approach were integral to delivering an innovative, efficient, quality outcome for the community and government. 

Balancing multiple contracts, and companies with different corporate cultures, alignment and integration was needed to deliver the project outcomes.  

The team engaged coaches at bid phase, at project start up, then again mid project as tension for delivery mounted, and swift changes were needed

The Solution

A structured review of leadership approach and culture diagnostic was completed at extreme pace, delivering insightful, provocative and engaging insight.  

Leaders were guided to diagnose and understand the underlying drivers, to consider strengths and provided with space for learning. 

Alignment of the leadership team was achieved through workshops focussed on values, mission, and leadership approach.  This was further supported and reinforced by; one on one coaching  and 360 degree feedback with more than 25 key people leaders, deep dives into various team dynamics and the occasional big team realignment events.  

The Outcome

The project delivered ahead of projected time frame.

Leaders dramatically shifted their approach to better engage teams in innovative solutions, and rethinking of design and delivery approaches.  

The Back story

A major infrastructure project, in the very high profile water space, needed to create a high performance environment that delivered key efficiencies and business outcomes.

Coherence Group was engaged to work alongside the leadership team to develop a collaborative working culture between the contractor and the client (Major Alliances).

Success would require deep relearning, for both client and contractor, about ways of working, including collaboratively engaging in major contractual agreements, work systems and methods, safety and people approaches and leadership methods.

The Solution

A values led culture which outperformed was created using the following levers

• Generation of a collaborative culture plan that was owned by the leadership team and supported by the culture coaches
• Leadership development via coaching, leadership competency assessment and training and leadership team dynamic workshops
• Large team events were co led by key leaders to identify desired state and current state and clarify the collaborative challenge
• Engagement surveys including review of outcomes and opportunities, identification of gains and losses , and planning for next steps
• Full team roll out of a values and culture based program focused on developing core competencies identified in engagement survey such as collaboration, emotional intelligence, resilience and coaching skills
• Leader as coach program for all people leaders to build a performance focussed culture with accountability for results.
• Working alongside HR and leadership teams as partners

The Outcome

• Leadership who referenced values and constructive behaviours when making key business decisions
• An engaged workforce who understood the bigger picture and delivered results ahead of schedule
• Aligned leaders who applied a coaching approach to drive performance
• An honest, open environment between contractor and client allowing benefits of alliance contract to be realised
• Personal growth for leaders around leading teams and career development
• Out performance on number of project areas resulting in industry awards
• Culture change award by “human synergistics” for significant improvement in culture