Finance Leadership Team Development

Our client is a leading international IT services provider, providing integrated design, build and operate solutions to large multi-national clients in carefully targeted industry sectors. They are one of the few companies that can provide all the 'design, build, and operate' elements of a business solution. More than 60% of the revenue base is recurring, deriving from multi-year outsourcing and application maintenance contracts, and they deliver this within a global framework of three major Service Lines – Business Consulting, System Integration and Managed Operations. 

The Need

The top Finance Team had recently experienced significant changes with a new Leader having been appointed from within the team in recent months. He recognised the opportunity to take ‘time out’ to review how the team was working both with each other and with their internal clients.

In the past each individual team member was focussed on their own area of the business and there was little real team working across the finance community as a whole. This was a team of extremely competent and experienced leaders in their own right with strong personalities and equally strong views.

Team meetings were at times quite frustrating with everyone offering a wide range of views and opinions but little shared decision-making. There was little focus on the role of the Finance community across the businesses.

There was a need to have a shared understanding of the role of the CFO across the business and for the group to work more as a team, especially in meetings where agreement was needed on issues which went across the Finance function such as performance management, development and succession planning

The Solution

In 2008 Greenbank was invited to work with the Finance Leadership Team and to facilitate a Leadership Team Workshop.

Ahead of the workshop we spent time talking with both the Leader and their HR Business Partner to gain a better understanding of both the current situation and the desired outcome. The objectives of the workshop were agreed including

• the identification of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that exist within the Finance community
• the creation of a headline strategy for the people agenda for 2008/9. 

We agreed to use the Insight Discovery tool as a way to increase the team’s understanding of each other and support the building of trust, openness and improved team communication. The Team Workshop was designed to be highly interactive with each person having the opportunity to freely voice their views and concerns.

There was a framework agenda, however also the opportunity to spend time and energy on the issues that arose during discussion. The team was able to identify their vision for the Finance community and their own roles within that vision as well as the behaviours and competencies needed to be successful. Their workshop provided a climate that encouraged openness, constructive feedback and straight talking. 

The Result

The workshop closed with a specific action plan with clear responsibilities and deadlines for each team member which were followed thorough and reviewed at subsequent team meetings. Clear standards and expectations were agreed for future meetings-both in the terms of agenda and timing as well as a ‘Code of Conduct’ comprising the norms of behaviour for the team.

This has had an immediate effect on the productivity and focus of future meetings-with realistic agenda being set and team members focussing on prioritisation of issues and decision making.