Day 1 started with an Icebreaker called “Three Points in Common,” which is a fun way to get people to meet new folk, start learning about each other, and very quickly get active in speaking, listening, and presenting. In the remainder of the Share Phase on Day 1, we introduced concepts of “the Rider, the Elephant, and the Path” from Switch, a book by Dan and Chip Heath, with the intent to create a non-work language set around change management. We used gamification techniques to teach Lean and waste removal fundamentals so that prior to working on actual legal process definition and waste elimination, participants had a good practical understanding without being bogged down with theory. Moving from conceptual to reality, we jumped back to individual perspectives to draw out touch points, pain points, quick wins, and bright spots identified within the group. Day 1 concluded with a module of “stakeholder groups” where teams were asked to assume the point of view of another group and present a how things worked between the groups before and then how they they would work after successful implementation of the workshop results. This module enabled participants to openly discuss and surface issues, and present a future state model of how things could work. We closed the day asking small teams to watch one designated TED Talk each and discuss key take-aways at the social hour that followed.

Day 2 We reviewed key input material that the group needed to understand before diving into the common Workflows and Processes that are in place between teams. Prior to ending this phase, we did two switches which entailed moving some people from each group to another group to foster mutual understanding and collaboration. This cross-pollination helped build shared perspective on the workflows, and bring different viewpoints about what was really happening as current state. At the end of this module, the teams presented their work – this became the basis of the work on the last day. Day 2 concluded with a group pivot conversation to draw out any last thoughts from participants of what must be addressed in the last workshop day.

Day 3 began with a review of the key categories surfaced in Day 2, and a “Self Sign-up” module was utilized to get participants assigned to the most important topics to them. A first-round of topics were worked through, and then another round of voting done to address and prioritize the remaining topics. The final output was a 12-month roadmap comprised of tactical actions, key milestones, and resource assignments. This was assembled into a cohesive implementation plan by Starfish Taylor as a part of the overall deliverables to the client.

Achievements

The workshop ultimately achieved the sponsor’s objective of creating an actionable roadmap to embed concepts of Lean as a method of creating a common process architecture and lexicon across the Legal function – specifically bridging any previous gaps between M&A and the various legal support services. The roadmap enabled the Legal function to collectively agree on its current state and design a new, more efficient way of working – eliminating redundant / inefficient work activities.

Other Outcomes

Via a series of follow-up sessions with the client, we learned that one of the satisfying outcomes of the workshop was that people knew each other and felt comfortable to pick up the phone and call each other. Overcoming this communication barrier and eradicating this organizational silo because of the networking opportunity afforded via this Starfish Taylor designed workshop pointed to real success in multi-group team building and to this initiative’s future success.

Deliverables

Final deliverable included

• Illustration of current-state and to-be-state
• Roadmap and key Milestones
• Tactical action plans for key topics
• Media Package of all material generated during the project, with photos and videos