Client industry:
Management Consulting & Auditing

Employee size:
80,000

Customer Situation:

One of the Big 4 Consulting Firms decided to merge two technology advisory teams to synergize their efforts to ensure economies of scale, while addressing the untapped opportunities across their common customer base. While the economics of integration was very clear, the people and cultural integration was a challenge and they decided to bring in Global Coaching Lab to synergize the two teams.

Our Engagement:

When teams come together, there is often a sense of fear, uncertainty, doubt, scepticism or inertia associated with the move – without its identification and resolution, teamwork becomes impossible. We worked with both the teams to identify the dysfunctions that could hold them back. Once a certain modicum of trust was established, we then helped them define a vocabulary to describe how every person was different and then sequence those differences to achieve more together. Given the intellectual capital within the firm, they embraced these different experiences with gusto and were able to reflect on their significance and impact. Finally, allowing them to confront the risks that could potentially hold them back, gave them the opportunity to balance pragmatism with optimism to define a way forward towards their collective goals and higher aspirations.

Customer Outcome:

Greater awareness drives better choices – they discovered that their perceptions of each other was gloomier than the reality. As a team, when they discovered that there is a vocabulary to describe differences and a higher vision that could synergize them, they were motivated to confront the risks of their integration. Risks that related to people perceptions and competencies, client engagements and commitments and future potential risks were all discussed to discover a higher normal for the combined team. This combined team has now significantly expanded to become a critical value add to the overall firm portfolio.