Lee Kuntz trained and coached a private foundation team to speak up and engage in innovation that recaptures capacity needed for growth.
A private foundation was growing dramatically—more assets, more programs, and more expectations. Yet, leadership did not see employees taking action to improve how work was done, thereby building the capacity for growth. In their annual employee survey, leadership learned that some employees were worn out, working long hours. Some employees also shared that they were not being heard. How was this foundation going to hear and empower employees to engage in improvement to prepare for growth?
Leadership tasked the vice president and general counsel with addressing the survey findings. Based on a testimonial from a foundation colleague that faced the same challenge, this leader engaged IPD’s Lee Kuntz. First, Lee met with the team to hear the foundation’s goals and challenges. Then, the foundation selected the board meeting preparation process as the first team and project to be transformed. Lee took this team through IPD’s process transformation coaching and training package.
Lee provided IPD’s cornerstone four-hour Think Differently Training. Through this training, attendees learned to spot wasted process steps and moved from resisting to driving improvement. One foundation leader noted afterward, “We found the online training sessions both informative and energizing. Employees spoke up.”
Then Lee coached the team in carrying out a virtual deep dive into the organization’s board meeting preparation process. During six, 2.5-hour virtual meetings, IPD helped the team redesign processes, transforming board preparation from 150 laborious steps to 87 better steps. The two outcomes of the deep dive were a more streamlined approach to accomplishing the organization’s work and a detailed plan to put the new processes in place.
The team then completed forty tasks related to system, work step, policy, and role improvements to put their new approach in place. Additionally, the vice president noted, “People are engaging; staff who usually say nothing are speaking up.”
These success stories demonstrate how Innovation Process Design's proven approach cures operational pain and creates measurable improvement for organizations that rely on a smooth delivery of services.
Contact Lee today to discuss your challenge.
