Overview

All organizations face different challenges. For that reason, The Wheelhouse Group partners with our clients to identify a tailored solution to help them achieve their business goals. Solutions typically consist of a blend of our consulting services:

• Change management
• Coaching
• Meeting facilitation
• Organization design
• Process improvement
• Strategic planning
• Team building
• Workshop design

WHG consultants employ an unobtrusive, collaborative style while working as catalysts alongside talented and committed people in our client organizations. Our consortium of experts, working side-by-side as an integrated, cohesive team reflects a business model that we believe offers our clients the best service for their investment. This business model allows us the flexibility to harness our team of experts as appropriate to ensure the client receives the best talent possible to address their individual requirements. The result: the client works with the right consultant for the task, rather than a team member who happens to be available.

WHG believes there are fundamental OD principles inherent in each consulting assignment and our seasoned professionals are able to leverage their complete skill sets, not just a singular skill area, such as coaching, training, or facilitation.

Organization Design

The organizational analysis and design process is a critical first step for any organization looking to change course. Our consultants work with managers and employees to identify the key measures for the business and collect data around how the current organization design impacts those measures.

We analyze the findings to identify gaps in the current organization design then generate new design criteria. The gaps and design criteria drive our strategic recommendations and conceptualization of the new organizational model. Finally, we develop a comprehensive action plan to guide the implementation of the new, streamlined design.

Team Building

Managers are often completely focused on getting their customer’s needs addressed and don't have the time to address the needs of the team. Our consultants are experienced in helping to focus and guide the team through team-building activities, addressing important topics such as:

• Understanding the vision and goals of the team
• Establishing clear roles and responsibilities
• Defining work processes
• Getting to know one another
• Cultivating professional culture based on trust and respect

The team walks away with a detailed action plan – including assigned responsibilities and due dates – that addresses issues raised by team members.

This up-front work will position the team for success and prevent future headaches.

Change Management

We help organizations make the most of change. We do this by guiding them through the assessment, planning, and implementation stages of change.

More specifically, we work with leaders to:

• Identify and address resistance to change
• Prepare the organization to accept change
• Communicate change

We begin by understanding your vision and framing it from the perspective of the employee, ultimately articulating the big picture in terms the organization will embrace. Many organizations skip this critical first step or believe they can make a case for change through a logical, fact-based argument. They distribute impressive strategy documents, send one-way communication, host off-site meetings or try to force the implementation of unsupported programs.

We do it the hard way, by taking a candid and realistic approach. We ask the incisive questions, uncover the issues, and put them under the bright light. For example, we find the real opinion-leaders, those often overlooked individuals with the credibility and following to inspire people to act. And, we offer strategies to leverage their influence. We know that digging deeper is the only way to find both the latent talent and the hidden obstacles.

We work as a catalyst alongside the talented and committed people in your organization with an unobtrusive, collaborative style. Our approach has been proven to effectively reach people and appeal to their most fundamental motivations. When combined with leadership that consistently “walks the talk”, trust and enthusiasm grow. The result: you tap into the creativity and resolve inherent in your workforce. Together, you knock down boundaries and instill a relentless focus on getting things done.

Tasks involved in this process may include shaping stakeholder expectations and measuring successful adoption of change.

Process Improvement

When a group faces issues such as missed deadlines, miscommunication, or poor quality deliverables, it may be the result of outdated, incomplete, or unclear business processes.

Our consultants can help clients assess and refine their current business processes to more effectively meet critical business objectives. We do this by gaining an understanding about the organization, group, or team. We collaboratively map out the core processes and create a matrix of key process players and key process steps. Next we use group facilitation techniques to collaboratively identify bottlenecks, duplications, frustrating tasks, quality drops, and other signs of inefficiency. Finally we brainstorm solutions (new processes, revamped processes, automations, and work-arounds) and create an action plan for making changes.

We do this by gaining an understanding about the organization, group, or team. We collaboratively map out the core processes and create a matrix of key process players and key process steps. Next we use group facilitation techniques to collaboratively identify bottlenecks, duplications, frustrating tasks, quality drops, and other signs of inefficiency. Finally we brainstorm solutions (new processes, revamped processes, automations, and work-arounds) and create an action plan for making changes.

Coaching

Our coaches assist clients by broadening their capacity to lead and influence. WHG uses coaching as a tool for organization change by enabling leaders, managers, and staff to uncover potential that might otherwise go untapped.

WHG coaches are certified through organizations such as the International Coach Federation (ICF), an ICF accredited program, or the Newfield Institute. WHG coaches also have experience as managers in public and private sector organizations and are skilled in using customized internal leadership models and competency models developed by human capital specialists.

WHG coaches work with leaders to create development plans and evaluate the leader’s progress on implementing the actionable steps. During the coaching project, WHG coaches meet individually with the leader and discuss results of assessments, progress on development plans, and real-time applications of the lessons at hand.

Workshop Design

WHG can design and deliver workshops catered to your business needs.

Our consultants are well versed in adult learning theory, and work with managers and teams to identify learning objectives. We will create the appropriate medium for meeting the learning needs and design/format the applicable content to achieve the learning objectives. Sample workshop subjects include, but are not limited to:

• Goal setting
• Conflict management
• Individual self-awareness and improvement (MBTI®, FIRO-B®, etc.)
• How to motivate yourself and others
• Trust and teams

Department of Defense: Worldwide Human Resources Conference

Comments from Workshop Participants:

• “Best workshop I attended! Relevant!”
• “Absolutely great facilitator!”
• “Presentation should be incorporated into future Leadership courses for the Department of Defense.”
• “Helped me better understand the relationship of other disciplines to Change Management.”
• “Presenter very knowledgeable, engaging, and pleasant.”

Management Concepts: Leading and Managing Change

• “Everything the presenter used was beneficial.”
• “Presenter was great – we could use her at our agency!”

Meeting Facilitation

We are experienced in designing and delivering well-organized conferences and meetings for organizations. We do this with an understanding of large group dynamics, including:

• The Dilemma of Voice – allowing people to have a voice without taking up too much time
• The Dilemma of Structure – allowing people to feel bought into the program without having them listen to continual lectures
• The Contagion of Affect – recognizing that if people are very excited about something or very negative about something, that feeling can inadvertently influence the rest of the group

Through proven workshop design and facilitation techniques, our consultants help make your meetings dynamic and successful.

Strategic Planning

Clear strategic direction for an organization's current and future environment is essential for organizational success.

WHG facilitates the development of a collaborative strategic planning process for senior management. Using data on trends and issues likely to affect the organization during the planning period, the team will develop a mission statement, operating values, a clear strategic direction, a vision for the organization, and strategic goals and objectives.

Upon completion of the desired plan, our consultants will work with an organization to conduct a readiness assessment, or “reality check”, in order to identify:

• Areas that must change to achieve the strategic plan
• Areas that might prevent the strategy from being achieved
• Areas that will be a catalyst for change