You developed the strategy. It’s the right strategy. You clearly explain it on a company-wide Webex and send the PowerPoint out to everyone all-company email: “We are going to put customers at the center of our strategy and create the best customer experience.”
You know you have a thriving feedback culture if you can see people openly sharing different perspectives, working hard to understand each other, and taking time out to work through conflict. Conversely, if your team resorts to passive aggressive quips to express their differences, only gives feedback behind one another's backs, and resorts to the “meeting-after-the-meeting” to voice what they really think (this is absolutely impacting your team’s performance and results!), you’ve got work to do.
Are you hoping to attend the Visual Thinking Workshop in September, but need to get professional development funds to cover it? We are here to help!
Even though XPLANE likes to wear our Great Place to Work badge with pride and love to brag about our consistent 4.25+ out of 5 employee satisfaction rating, we still face a lot of the same challenges that our clients in organizations of all stripes face as the landscape evolves. When departments are stuck working in silos, employees are feeling anxious, and the overall company culture is in a slump, how do we turn our organization around?
This reminds me of the story about the mice who held a meeting to figure out what they should do about the cat. Have you heard it? The mice get together and after much discussion, they decide that the solution to their cat problem is to put a bell on the cat. That way all the mice will be able to hear when the cat is nearby, and the cat will no longer be able to sneak up on them. All the mice agree that this is a perfect solution, and they are about to adjourn the meeting when an old mouse speaks up:
“But who,” he asks, “will put the bell on the cat?”
XPLANE is offering two immersive learning experiences for individuals this fall.
Visual Thinking 101: The Foundations
Thursday, September 21, 9am - 5pm
Visual Thinking 201: Applying it to your Org
Friday, September 22, 9am - 5pm
After more than 15 years of operation, touching every part of the digital economy, a global non-profit found itself in need of a robust organizational strategy. Inextricably linked with the growth of the Internet, they were keenly aware of how rapidly the digital, political, economic, and social landscapes were shifting. As a non-profit with just a few hundred staff but thousands of stakeholders around the world, they also faced unique challenges gathering input and building consensus. Despite these challenges, they realized it was time to update their strategic planning process, to start creating coherent visions of how the organization needed to evolve, rather than just operational plans.
Many traditional organizations are now driving away both potential employees and new business by not putting their users (employees, customers, and partners) first. They’re caught in a web of outdated processes and old technologies. They favor the traditional way of working instead of following the lead of their customers. They just can’t keep up.
Recently, XPLANE has received some notable recognition. We were awarded the When Work Works award which highlights our efforts in creating an effective workplace for our employees. We are thankful to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) for the award, but more so to our employees for saying such amazing things about us. We have been really fortunate to add this recognition to the list of workplace awards from Oregon Business Magazine, Great Place to Work, Fortune Magazine and others.
