ENGAGEMENT SPOTLIGHT
WITH ERIC DUEA

Recently, I had the opportunity to partner with a regional-sized financial institution focused on a “future of work” project. The project was centered on the organization’s plan to permanently transition to a hybrid work environment. The client had navigated 2020 and the associated pandemic-related challenges well by intently listening to their employees and customers. Operational teams were adapting quickly to new standards, technologies, and expectations. The company was confident in their people and they felt ready to be one of the first companies to make such a transition.

As I began my work with the client, it was easy to see how much leadership valued their people and how much employees valued their place of work.  Additionally, leadership also recognized the significance of the change impacts that accompanied this decision. Their highest priority was to maintain a thriving company culture. 

Many of the anticipated change impacts were universal to the employee experience. For example, all employees knew that video conferencing was simply now a part of their everyday experience. For the most part, all employees working onsite could anticipate similar changes. Sharing desks, equipment, meeting rooms, and flexible common areas would be the new normal.

However, there were also different implications company-wide depending on department, team, and role. It was widely understood that not every role would allow for flexible work arrangements. The nature of communication to certain employees that their position does not enable the same flexible work arrangements as their peers, was a critical element of the overall work effort. This process, if not properly navigated, presented a potential threat to company culture. 

We kicked off the engagement through employee surveys, focus groups, interviews, and all-employee communications. We knew that detailed data on employee experiences would be key in informing how we structure work sessions, but it was also pivotal to the expansion of our awareness and empathy as facilitators. Most importantly, all employees were invited to participate in the process, offer input, express concerns, and share what was most important to them regarding this upcoming change. For example: How important is it to employees to have the option to work from home? What resources do they need to work from home? What are their top concerns?

We formed multiple working groups comprising a balanced cross-section of the organization to ensure sufficient representation existed during these difficult conversations. The working groups collaborated over a 3-month period to co-design a hybrid work program that they believed would enable the company and its employees to succeed in this new semi-virtual workplace arena. 

The most rewarding aspect of this engagement was the privilege to be a part of a group of people defining how they wanted to show up for one another on a daily basis. It was truly delightful to observe how naturally teammates gravitated towards themes of collaboration, responsibility, and doing right by one another.

In hindsight, it shouldn’t have been surprising. After all, leadership had given up control and trusted employees of the organization to work through these difficult conversations. Naturally, the employees reciprocated by centering discussions on what was best for the company. This is not to say that some of the conversations didn’t involve contentious debate. For example: Is it an expectation that everyone’s camera is on all the time? And, if someone elects to work from the office every day, can they opt out of desk sharing and reserve their own desk?

Fortunately, the leadership team did not expect the working groups to design the perfect hybrid work experience on the first attempt. Leaders understood that the transition to a new way of working together and serving customers would be a learning journey for everyone. They emphasized the importance of embracing adaptability and a spirit of continuous improvement.

Throughout this engagement, I was reminded that high collaboration, inclusivity, and consensus building are as time intensive as they are worthwhile. The decision to allocate several team members to a change process such as this is always difficult. There is always opportunity cost for where resources could be spending time instead, but it’s an investment.

The result of this investment was an organization of employees that felt included and valued in a change process that was very important to them. The returns on this investment will be realized over the years ahead. While these returns may not be measured and calculated in direct association with the investment made, they will be nested within employee retention rates, employee satisfaction, cross-departmental collaboration, company culture, and of course the experience employees provide to customers. They learned a lot about one another, and I saw the multi-level value of doing change well.

Eric applies a systems thinking approach to problem-solving. He is highly collaborative and genuinely passionate about helping others succeed. Eric’s experience spans across multiple industries including resorts and hospitality, international non profit, sustainable business/social enterprises, and events management space. His areas of expertise are sales and marketing, sustainable business, project management, business development, business process management, and business planning and analysis. Eric holds an M.B.A in Sustainable Systems from Presidio Graduate School as well as a B.S. in Business Administration from Methodist University; he is also a Certified Scrum Master and PGA Golf Professional. Eric is an avid golfer. Outside of work, he can be found strolling the fairways of Central Oregon and Southeast Washington.

EXECUTION PRACTICE Q&A WITH TRISHA BENNETT

At The Gunter Group we categorize our work into four practice areas: Technology, Execution, People, and Strategy, with client engagements often stretching across multiple service categories.

Our work within our Execution Practice supports clients as they pursue large transformation programs and change initiatives, in order to achieve complex and impactful objectives.

In this Q&A we explore our Execution Practice in greater detail with Trisha Bennett, Principal Consultant and Execution Practice Service Leader.

Tell us a little bit about the nature of work TGG focuses on within the Execution Practice:

Our Execution Practice is the intersection of all our practice areas and brings ideas to life for our clients. It’s about implementing strategies and using technology to align and serve people. These types of engagements usually take the shape of larger transformation programs or change initiatives. Our clients may think of these types of programs as focused efforts that just need to be executed, but we make sure that our team is bringing a perspective for how to realize strategic objectives through changes to the people, process, and technology ecosystem of a business.  

Tell us about a recent engagement supporting a client initiative:

We have partnered with a national insurance provider that is undergoing an effort to move from their 20-year old legacy on-premise ERP to a more flexible cloud based solution using Workday Financials. Our consultants supported the organization’s business transformation by leading the program management, technical project management, business analysis, process design, and training strategy and delivery. This engagement was a great example of how our consultants in the Execution Practice used their skills in analysis and project management to make sense of a complex organizational, process, and system environment in a way that was collaborative but with a relentless focus on outcomes.  

What do you anticipate impacting organizations over the next 3-5 years in the Execution category?

Organizations will do more projects in the digital space and these projects are going to require companies to show up differently for their customers and their employees. To make these changes happen, organizations can’t work in the same way that they were working. Internally these changes impact organization structures, internal communications, HR/hiring, and work has to be managed and measured differently. 

Tell us about one of your favorite projects your team has worked on:

Working with executives in translating their visions of the digital space into executable work for the teams that make it happen. These range from creating a new customer experience for a health insurance company to standing up apps for retail sales.

More about Trisha Bennett:
For nearly 15 years Trisha Bennett has partnered with business leaders to advise and lead strategic initiatives in the healthcare, insurance, retail, education, and veterinary services industries. Her career has focused on delivering best-in-class portfolio strategy, program management, project management, and analysis. As a Practice Leader, Account Leader and Manager, Trisha leads teams of consultants to support clients, solving complex business problems. She has a proven dedication to deliver and a reputation for building highly effective project teams by seeking clarity and understanding, even in the most ambiguous environments. Trisha’s management style is focused on collaboration, transparency, and meaningful communication. Trisha holds a BA in Supply Chain Logistics and Business Management from Portland State University; she is also certified as a Project Management Professional, Change Manager, and SAFe Agilist.

TECHNOLOGY PRACTICE Q&A WITH MATT JAMISON

At The Gunter Group we categorize our work into four practice areas: Technology, Execution, People, and Strategy, with client engagements often stretching across multiple service categories.

Our Technology Practice focuses on understanding clients’ technology needs and challenges, and crafting pragmatic action plans.

In this Q&A we explore our Technology Practice in greater detail with Matt Jamison, Principal Consultant and Technology Practice Service Leader.

Tell us a little bit about the nature of work TGG focuses on within the Technology Practice:

Our Technology service line stands out in that it’s an extension of our management and business consulting work. We’re always engaging with our clients from a business lens, utilizing processes and people, and adding a technical depth and expertise to our client partnerships.

What is the most rewarding aspect of supporting clients in TGG’s Technology Practice?

Meeting our clients where they are, understanding their needs and challenges, and crafting a pragmatic action plan. This means evaluating their tech stack, teams, and asking, “What can we do in the next 6 weeks and 6 months?” With this approach we can start helping and start delivering value right away and not just toward a project’s end.

Tell us about a recent engagement supporting a client initiative:

A national education services provider planned and started a digital transformation initiative. We helped them step back and assess their readiness to execute their digital transformation strategy. Additionally, our team made a series of digital program structure and agile product delivery recommendations that we are helping drive forward.  

What are recent trends you see impacting organizations in the Technology space?

COVID has substantially increased consumer expectation for a robust digital experience for many companies. People are much more willing to engage in a digital experience now because it became a reality during the pandemic. And this aligns perfectly with our Technology Service offering. Consumers are demanding a great digital experience and we’re able to help because that transformation is built from everything TGG does.

What do you anticipate impacting businesses over the next 3-5 years in this area?

Expectations of digital experiences are going to be high. Whoever is doing this experience well right now, will likely be doing it well in 3-5 years. Ones that aren’t doing this well or didn’t do it in the past, might not be here in 3-5 years and expanding and creating a digital experience is expensive. Instead of buying property for storefronts, you’re investing in technology costs and data centers — and this will be just as true in the future as it is now.

Tell us about one of your favorite projects your team has worked on:

A global athletic wear company started their digital transformation back in the mid-2000s mostly focused on North America. Now we’re helping expand their global footprint because they sell so many products outside of the United States. This leads to interesting questions to answer, involving how to make technology scalable and reliable. It’s even more interesting because we can use prior learnings to inform new strategic ideas.

More about Matt Jamison:
Matt is an experienced solutions architect with a results-oriented understanding of the intersection between reality and architectural theory. He has the ability to plan, develop, and implement large-scale projects while maintaining impeccable attention to detail. With 20 years of functional information technology experience, Matt has end-to-end IT knowledge from layer 1 networking to application API interaction. An expert in mapping technology solutions to business needs, Matt is also able to conform to required regulations while maintaining IT best practices. Matt’s experience spans multiple industries, including healthcare, telecommunications, and security and software. He is an AWS Certified Solutions Architect and a Certified SAFe 5 Agilist. Outside of work, Matt enjoys the outdoors and all things bike-related.

PEOPLE PRACTICE Q&A WITH
KARA O’CONNOR

At The Gunter Group we categorize our work into four practice areas: Technology, Execution, People, and Strategy, with client engagements often stretching across multiple service categories.

In our People Practice work we empower companies across all industries to align their people and strategic objectives in order to maximize results.

In this Q&A we explore our People Practice in greater detail — as we visit with Kara O’Connor, Service Delivery Manager – People Practice.

Tell us a little bit about the nature of work TGG focuses on within the People Practice:

What separates our People Practice is the unique and focused way that we ensure people and culture are cared for and prioritized in any big change. We frequently assist organizations with large complex change initiatives that balance technical proficiency (project management, business analysis, etc.) and people proficiency (change management, employee engagement, etc.). Our team focuses on being well-rounded so we can thoughtfully bring both perspectives to the table.

What is the most rewarding aspect of supporting clients in TGG’s People Practice?

If we do our jobs well, people feel like we’ve helped them prepare for and overcome something challenging. We’re helping avoid burnout, helping find clarity, and helping design a future with people at the forefront. This truly makes a difference for people’s lives, when their human emotions and reactions are respectfully accounted for. When we’re able to support change like this, it’s very meaningful and very rewarding.

What are recent trends you see impacting businesses in the People Practice space?

I’ve really loved seeing more conversations about integrating change management into agile projects. You’ve typically seen change management presented in very traditional, waterfall methods and these methods are not the only way! 

What do you anticipate impacting organizations over the next 3-5 years in this area?

I think People Practice issues are becoming more mainstream. A few years ago, change management was really on the periphery, not many people were prioritizing it in their projects. Now, we’re seeing more acknowledgement that without addressing the human component in the workplace, you’re missing half of the picture. 

Tell us about one of your favorite projects your team has worked on:

Right now we have someone working on a social and emotional wellness program for a large public school system. At a time when school staffs are being stretched thin, it is great to know we have someone to help organizations strategically plan for and build programs that support the mental wellbeing of their staff. This ultimately has a huge impact on our community as a whole in light of school staff connecting with parents and students.

More about Kara O’Connor:
Kara owns a diverse background in organizational change, team leadership, project management, communications, and marketing analytics. She is passionate about keeping “people” at the center of change management and large-scale initiatives and has enjoyed bringing strategic, people focused solutions to her clients for over 10 years. Kara is very skilled at considering issues with a fresh perspective, which results in her suggesting and implementing viable solutions that may not have been previously considered by an organization. She has worked in a wide range of industries for many nationally-recognized brands, in technology, healthcare, sportswear, and education. Kara holds a B.S in Business Administration and Marketing from Central Washington University. She is also a Certified Scrum Master and PROSCI Certified Change Practitioner. In her free time, Kara enjoys spending time in the great outdoors with her family of four.

REFLECTIONS ON CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

The Gunter Group hosted the ACMP Pacific Northwest chapter’s monthly Coffee Chats in April, May, and June. Just as everyone was figuring out how to deal with so many things changing, we facilitated a three-part webinar series entitled ‘Reflections on Change Management in Uncertain Times’. The conversations were timely but the change lessons we learned are timeless.

Afterward we sat down with our host, Stephen Bacon, to get his perspective on how to navigate through large-scale change.

In case you missed the webinar series, you can view replays here:

Part 1: How Things Have Been Disrupted
Part 2: How We Are Adapting
Part 3: What We Are Learning

More about Stephen Bacon:

Stephen is passionate about understanding the overarching strategic goals of an organization and leading the changes that are so often necessary to implement those strategies. His expertise is managing strategy and change projects across a variety of organizations. Stephen has spent twenty years leading initiatives at Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions and not-for-profits in the education services, technology, financial services, consumer products, and healthcare industries, including extensive international experience. Stephen is a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), holds a green belt in Six Sigma, and is accredited in various psychometric assessments (MBTI, ESCI, NBI). He holds a B.S. in finance and marketing from Boston College and an M.A. in organizational psychology from Columbia University. In addition to his service on not-for-profit boards, Stephen has three young children and a chocolate lab. He lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

REFLECTIONS ON CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN UNCERTAIN TIMES: PART THREE

Part 3 (of 3): What will we carry forward?

We completed the last session of our series with ACMP Pacific Northwest — ‘Reflections on Change Management in Uncertain Times’. Thank you again to ACMP for the opportunity to facilitate this important conversation. 

Part 1 of the series was about how things have been disrupted, Part 2 was about how we are adapting, and in Part 3 we had a very open conversation about what we are learning.

This conversation was very candid and we highly encourage you to watch the replay. Some highlights of our discussion were around

– The importance of vulnerability and connection during this time
– Staying curious and humble in our learnings
– Not attempting to continue business “as usual”
– Creating new normals in our work environments
– Being a present listener and practicing empathy

A replay of our June discussion is now available and we encourage you to listen in on this collaborative information sharing!

Hosted by:
Stephen Bacon
Senior Consultant
The Gunter Group

TGG HOSTS ACMP’S JUNE COFFEE CHAT

On June 12th, we’ll wrap up our three-part series around ‘Reflections on Change Management in Uncertain Times’ with ACMP Pacific Northwest.

In April, we discussed what has been disrupted due to COVID-19. In May, we discussed how we are adapting to the changes. In June, we’ll look ahead to what we will carry forward.

This month, we look forward to discussing questions like:

– What has forever changed in the way we work?
– What DON’T we want to go “back to normal?”
– What will the “new normal” look like?

We encourage you to consider these topics ahead of time as this will be an interactive discussion.

REGISTER NOW to join us on June 12th at 9am PDT as we finish out this series!

REFLECTIONS ON CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN UNCERTAIN TIMES: PART TWO

Part 2 (of 3): How are we adapting

We hope you are enjoying our series around ‘Reflections on Change Management in Uncertain Times’. Thank you to ACMP Pacific Northwest for the opportunity to facilitate this important conversation. 

During our Part 1 discussion in April, we talked about how things have been disrupted and you can view a reply of that conversation here.

In Part 2, this month, we discussed how we are adapting and some key learnings out of our conversation were:

– We’re moving beyond the “how are you” platitudes
– Video call fatigue is real and we are navigating that together
– Communicating more than you think you need to is probably the right amount
– We are seeing more agile thinking from leaders
– It’s not a given that we will learn from this—we need to keep talking about it

A replay of our May discussion is now available and we encourage you to listen in on this collaborative information sharing!

Be sure to join us for the last conversation of the series (Part 3, June 12th @ 9AM PDT) when we’ll discuss what we are carrying forward. Watch Now

Hosted by:
Stephen Bacon
Senior Consultant
The Gunter Group

TGG HOSTS ACMP’S MAY COFFEE CHAT

We invite you to join us on May 8th for ACMP Pacific Northwest’s monthly Coffee Chat as we continue our three-part series around ‘Reflections on Change Management in Uncertain Times’.

In April, we discussed what has been disrupted due to COVID-19. In May, we will dive into how we are adapting to these changes. In June, we’ll look ahead to what we will carry forward.

In case you missed April’s Coffee Chat, here is a replay.

This month, we look forward to discussing questions like:

– How are you focusing on the long-term, despite the uncertainty?
– What techniques do you have for effective communication?
– How are you using this time to strengthen your relationships?
– How do you stay connected to work when you’re home?

We encourage you to consider these topics ahead of time as this will be an interactive discussion. Attendees from April’s session really enjoyed the candid conversation.

Register now for both Part 2 & 3 of this series!

May 8, 2020 @ 9–10 AM PDT  | Register Now 
Part 2: How we are adapting

June 12, 2020 @ 9–10 AM PDT  | Register Now
Part 3: What we will carry forward