Workshop Facilitation
When it makes the most sense to get everyone in the same room.
Problem to solve: Where to start when the process is broken, the merger is coming, or the culture needs adjustment.
Solution we provide: Half-day to multi-day options tailored to the complexity of the challenge and the size of the group. After the workshop closes, we provide actionable next steps with a recap of the workshop outcomes. Each session is designed for your specific problem to solve:
Process Transformation: The process is broken. How can we fix it?
M&A Discovery & Change Management: The merger is coming. What does that mean for our employees and how do we communicate it?
M&A Culture Integration: Teams are coming together. How do we align leadership and employees under a blended company culture?
DEI Strategy & Engagement Design: Define goals and strategies for recruitment, retention, and psychological safety.
Why it works: By designing and facilitating workshops that create a space primed for open collaboration where every participant can bring their thoughts and opinions, the solutions surface themselves.
Who needs it: Leadership teams and/or cross-functional groups at an inflection point with a broken process, impending merger, transitioning culture, or DEI challenges with no clear solution or next steps.
Case Studies
Case Study: M&A Migration Management
Situation: A technology team was given 30 days to deliver a plan for completing a full system migration in 90 days as part of a larger technology merger.
Friction: The technology teams were not given additional resources or reduced scope of their existing responsibilities to absorb this newly urgent work.
What we did: We hosted a series of Discovery workshops with the various technology teams. By listening to the team’s concerns about the unrealistic expectations around the timeline and scope of work, we were able to formalize a reasonable MVP for the initial phase of the migration with fast-follow items and longer term milestones.
Result: The approach was approved as submitted by the CEO and Integration Management Office leaders and justified onboarding temporary resources to take some of the load off of the full-time team.
Case Study: From Adversaries to Allies
Situation: An enterprise platform team was suffering reputational risk due to their confusing workflow and unclear escalation process.
Friction: The platform teams were consistently blamed for data errors in the system, and there was no clear way to demonstrate where the errors were actually occurring.
What we did: We met with platform teams and consumer teams separately to fully understand where the breakdowns were happening, then hosted a workshop with the platform team to fully document the process for the first time since it was built. Openly discussing the concerns on both sides allowed the teams to build a partnership rather than perpetuate an adversarial dynamic.
Result: With clear documentation and mutual understanding of where breakdowns were occurring, both teams were able to communicate effectively and resolve issues without the need for escalation.
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“I was introduced to Abby online, met Abby in person 24 hours later and walked out 30 minutes after that with a notebook full of ideas and total gratitude for the way her brain works. She was warm and totally on it. She didn't waste a moment of my time or hers but I never felt rushed. I'm looking forward to working with Abby in the future!”
M. Hicks, Midwest Real Estate Data LLC
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“I recently had the pleasure to work with Abby, where I brought her into Serendipity Labs Chicago Loop to speak. Not only did she give valuable information, she was very engaging with our members and sent a well organized and professional follow up document that reviewed all the information we covered during our time together. Very helpful!”
A. Seaverson, Serendipity Labs