Task definition

A young company that offers innovative services in the field of electromobility and was founded as part of a joint venture between automotive groups is in the scale-up phase - with the usual aches and pains of growing up. The management team was expanded with the arrival of new shareholders. Shareholders are pushing for growth while at the same time achieving break-even in the near future. The number of employees rises sharply.

The challenges

The sharp rise in the number of employees leads to increased friction and increases the need for

Team cohesion
Clear vision
Leadership development
Collaboration
A sustainable organizational structure
Optimized processes
Improved internal communication

A diverse bouquet of challenges that can only be solved together – a real project close to our hearts.

Our approach

Tailor-made instead of off the peg

We started at the top (leadership) level with the “Leadership Board”. In collaborative workshops, we worked simultaneously on team development and on specific organizational challenges. Gradually, cooperation within the Board became clearer: in terms of the direction of the organization, cooperation and the necessary reorganization, which involved more than “just” new responsibilities.

Leadership Development Journey

We developed a customized Leadership Development Journey to qualify the managers below the Board. These combined asynchronous learning content such as videos, texts, quizzes, reflection and practice transfer tasks that participants could complete at their own pace. Depending on the module, the leads completed the Journey in teams of two or four. In live sessions, pitstops and with regular nudges, we supported the participants to ensure the transfer to everyday life.

Reorganization project

A comprehensive reorganization project was launched at the same time. It quickly became clear that it was about more than just new responsibilities. The entire logic of thinking, parts of the business model and the end-to-end processes have been addressed and increasingly focused on the customer. To achieve this, it was critical that the employees supported the change – ideally with enthusiasm. The process was set up in such a way that all employees could be involved right from the start. It was designed to be interactive without interfering with ongoing business.

Iterative approach

For such complex change processes, we always work iteratively in sprints. Clients like to plan waterfall projects in order to have supposedly better control. However, our experience shows that iterative approaches are more effective – and also more efficient – for complex projects. This means we don’t waste resources on planning and monitoring project progress and times when the framework conditions have already changed again.

We supported the core team in developing the target image and the case for change.

We then structured the project and staffed the workstreams. At this point, the core team also began communicating with all employees to avoid rumors.

The workstreams work independently and in close coordination with each other. We successfully resisted the pressure from some key stakeholders to set binding deadlines. Instead, we rely on trust and clear responsibilities. This was a milestone in the cultural change at this scale-up company.

Topics

Team development, leadership development, reorganization, communication

Industry

Electric mobility

Mode of operation

Facilitation of virtual & face-to-face workshops, team coaching, shadow coaching, interactive virtual learning formats for leaders, production of content (video, text, quizzes), collection of methods, support for the set-up and implementation of a comprehensive change process, storytelling

Period of time

Since summer 2023