Our Clients
Companies we’ve enjoyed working with include:
Finance Team - Global Media Company
High staff turnover, low morale, a disappointing employee satisfaction survey, and an imminent divisional restructuring programme, led to Inspire being invited to support the Finance Leadership Team and their wider team of 55.
The Key Issues Raised:
Support the Leadership team in leading the change
Work with the other teams to understand their needs
Help engage the whole department in the change
Improve communications
Encourage personal responsibility
How did Inspire the Best help?
Inspire designed a bespoke ten-month change programme, using Appreciative Inquiry and other creative change approaches. This included small and large group workshops and a series of one-to-one coaching sessions.
The programme achieved strong team buy-in; group members gained an appreciation of the bigger picture and a real understanding about how their activities impacted on the performance of the whole department. In the next employee satisfaction survey, 61 percent of employees reported that they felt they had had the opportunity to make a significant contribution to their department’s performance, compared with 35 percent in the previous year. Job satisfaction improved from 28 percent to 54 percent. 64 percent of respondents said they believed that the volume of their work was now manageable, compared with 24 percent in the previous year.
"Terri took the time to understand what we needed and developed a programme specific to our challenge. Over a ten-month period, she facilitated a variety of sessions from one-to-one interviews and coaching, interactive workshops, project work and full team presentations. The inspirational programme encouraged us to step outside our comfort zone and identify the major obstacles, while celebrating the successes we had achieved. Terri explored our individual values and beliefs and facilitated a move towards common values which would bring the team closer together"
Finance Director, Media Company
European Chemical Plant
With a brand new leadership team of four, the Chemical Plant needed to ensure those chosen would work well together. Each hired for their expertise, there remained a number of problems between the team which needed addressing and overcoming.
The Key Issues Raised:
Distance, competition and lack of communication between team members.
Trust needed to be built.
Diverse backgrounds creating division between members.
A sense of individualism rather than a team attitude.
Unsure of how best to work with each other.
How did Inspire the Best help?
We spent two days together covering a range of issues within the team, both personal and professional. We worked through a number of interpersonal challenges and managed to integrate the differences in a way that added real value to the team. After establishing this, we could then discuss their individual and joint visions of the future business, forecasting what everyone needed to do to get there. The result was a strong leadership team formed, ready to deal with the challenges ahead.
"We've had team building before Terri, but never like this. You guided us through a minefield and helped us blow up a number of mines along the way! We’ve gained confidence in each other."
Operations Manager, European Chemical Plant
Head Office - Facilities Management Team
The Facilities Management Team consisted of a number of different functions and personalities, all responsible for the smooth running of the 3000+ people Head Office Complex.
The Key Issues Raised:
Differing personalities created individualist approaches.
Individuals felt unable to raise concerns.
The lack of unity was impacting the success of the business.
Varying priorities made it hard for each team member to be focused on the same goal.
How did Inspire the Best help?
Over two days, we worked with the Leadership Team to develop a deeper understanding of one another's perspectives and priorities. In bringing differences in opinions and priorities to the surface as a group, we were able to work through all issues raised in a constructive manner. After establishing these variables, the team worked together to envision a shared desired future.
“I was delighted with Terri's contribution towards building a winning team. She provided facilitation at our 'away-days' at the very beginning of our journey. The quality of Terri's processes and the effectiveness of her intervention techniques created an environment that enabled our team to confront areas of concern and potential threats to future success. The Inspire workshop was the beginning of a very successful venture and the benefits endure today.”
General Manager, Head Office Facilities
Oil & Gas – Safety Standards Implementation
With a desire to address and further reduce the number of safety incidents, a new set of standards was to be introduced globally across all businesses. A group of the top 20 leaders responsible, was brought together for 3 days, with the aim of ensuring best practices were to be implemented consistently across the Company.
The Key Issues Raised:
Very different business needs and drivers.
A need for consensus on the final safety standards.
Agreement as to how they would be applied to each of the 5 business areas.
How did Inspire the Best help?
We designed and facilitated a 3 day meeting which included;
Hearing key players views on what was required.
Understanding each area’s interpretation of the safety standards.
Sharing each area’s gap analysis.
Learning from each other and exploring synergies.
Gaining a common understanding on key topics such as competencies, compliance and Joint Ventures.
Exploring possible solutions for Engineering Technical Practices, competencies and accountabilities.
Reaching an understanding of the overall cost of implementation
Agreeing guidelines/actions to move forward following this meeting.
"Unlike many consultancies that want to drive you from A to B, Inspire’s approach is flexible enough to allow the group to go where it needs to go, with the assurance you will end up where you need to be!
With Terri, facilitation becomes a combination of structured process, participant checking and intuition – which is an intimate and powerful combination of both thinking and feeling. I have no hesitation in recommending her"
Technical Vice President - Refining & Marketing
Chemicals - Worldwide Team
Working with engineering and technology leaders, Terri supported the introduction of the new Chemical Stream Innovation Process, an initiative to encourage more creativity and innovation within the leaders themselves.
The Key Issues Raised:
Leaders to generate and develop new ideas.
Leaders to look for more creative solutions within the business.
To build a community which fosters creativity and innovation.
Support in providing engineers with a creative space to generate new ways of thinking and innovative solutions to build on.
How did Inspire the Best help?
We designed a series of workshops around the world, to provide leaders with an experience of different ways to foster both creative and structured thinking.
It was a stretch for many, away from their more familiar way of looking at problems. Leaders were encouraged to experiment with various new approaches and work together to see how they could think about things differently and bring more innovation to their specific departments.
Through the experimentation and generation of new and different approaches and ideas to build on, the leaders grew in confidence and came to understand the benefits that this could bring to the business. This has helped to enhance the performance of the Chemical Division.
"Terri is a true coach and workshop facilitator - empowering the participants to own and run the process, making sure milestones and objectives are met and that outcomes are delivered.
Terri maintained team focus by continuously, yet unobtrusively, monitoring and advising on all leadership, communication and networking aspects of the workshop. Terri has distinct skills in maintaining a positive 'vibe' amongst workshop participants and is able to achieve exceptionally high levels of inclusion and participation."
Technology Manager, Refining
