11.5. Next Steps

The issues raised during the workshops were brought to the attention of the management team, which assigned each issue to one of the team members. In addition, we gave each participant a list of the others' contact information and key areas of expertise. Several months following the initial workshop, we began to bring each workshop group together for lunch sessions with the executive who had addressed the group. These sessions, which included updates on strategy implementation and issues raised by participants, continued to assuage skepticism and involved employees in deepening the networks that would support the new strategy.

As a result of other, unrelated changes in this financial firm, it was very difficult for us to gauge the long-term success of the workshops. It seemed clear to us during the workshops, however, that participants appreciated the time set aside for voicing their concerns and working to understand how they could contribute to the new strategy. It also seemed clear that efforts to align organizational networks with a new strategy could not be limited to these workshops, however much we packed into each session. This kind of alignment and network building is a process that requires continued executive-level attention.