Teams and Alignment - Case Study

Developing High Performing Teams around a Strategic Plan to Deliver Results

 

The goal was to design and implement a global strategy to exponentially grow the overall revenue for this Fortune 50 technology company.

Challenge:

The team was widely distributed around the globe; approximately 35 members of the team were in a matrix reporting structure to Kristin and had additional responsibilities in their respective countries which represented a higher value to their overall compensation package. The company for which Kristin worked was heavily investing in their own integration capabilities which competed directly with her potential partners' offerings.  Individual team members were compensated for individual performance independent of the overall team goals or results. The internal team was mis-aligned with the company's overall strategic direction, and this triggered mis-alignment with its alliance partner's overall growth strategy with technology partners. The initial goal of the global team was to grow the business by 35% in the first fiscal year of her assignment, as measured by 'through, to and with' revenue.

Action steps:

• Analyzing and gaining a strong understanding from all sides of the equation (team, partners' executive team, company's executive team, and all supporting parties from both companies) of what worked and what didn't work in prior years.
• Listening and recognizing what drives each individual contributor on the team, and supporting teams within the company, designing roles/responsibilities which optimized their unique skills, and areas for contribution, and launching a global planning effort for all cross-functional teams to mutually collaborate and align their respective go-to-market strategies.
• Building compensation programs which rewarded individual and team behavior to drive the specific results needed.
• Defining clarity around each company's respective product and service offerings, mutually framing areas in which they could each augment and extend their reach into key vertical and horizontal markets, without competing, and building ongoing communication mechanisms to maintain alignment in joint activities globally.
• Aligning both companies around key focus areas: geographically, vertically, and with strong solution orientation, to deploy resources for optimal return on the investment.
• Gaining strategic commitment and alignment from the executive leadership of both companies to insure ongoing sponsorship through implementation within their respective global organizations.

Results:

Kristin's approach was successful in building a highly motivated and tightly connected team of individuals. Through this teams' collaborative efforts, the relationship between the two alliance partners grew in strategic significance to both companies, resulting in 40% growth in the first year, and growing to a three-fold increase in the overall revenue stream three years after this teams' strategic implementation began.