Open dialogue about all the results

A business unit in a company opts for an open discussion of all of the results. Prior to the discussion the employees have reviewed the results with their managers. Although the obstacles were addressed, most of the attention was given to different ways of interpreting the results. As the managers were facilitating the interpretation of the results in their respective departments, the emphasis was on how that should be done.

The following procedure was used at the meetings:

1. The people in each department go through the results for their own department with each other.
2. Everyone writes down for him- or herself whatever strikes him or her about the results.
3. The group collectively formulates a judgment: What do we all consider to be important?
4. The group formulates conclusions: Top 3 areas of concern and Top 3 sources of energy.
5. The group develops proposals for actions and categorizes those. (What is to be done by the department itself, by the project group, and by the business unit team?)
6. The group drafts a summary for the meeting with all the managers.

This way of working gives employees and departments the room to interpret the results for themselves and to draw their own conclusions. Managers will guide the sessions by ensuring that the agreed-upon approach is actually carried out. Each department makes its own plan for improvement. The managers use the summaries of those plans to identify any areas for improvement for the business unit as a whole.