Case Studies

Case Study 1 - A Solent based Three day Programme. Group size - 45. Client: Luxury Hotel Brand.

This sea and land based programme operated out of Chichester Harbour. Three Ocean Racing Yachts and some powerful RIBs were used to take teams out to compete in a “Strategy Challenge” across the Solent. With the support of our experienced skippers and facilitators the teams quickly settled into this new environment and were soon controlling the yachts and formulating their tactics to accumulate maximum team points. This Programme provided a powerful metaphor to illustrate the need to identify and build on team strengths and also of working across “silos” to achieve shared business goals.

“ ...we learnt a huge amount about the effects of leadership style, and its impact on stress levels and team performance”

“ This was not about any single team’s success,.... we all had to keep the bigger picture in mind to achieve our joint goal”

Key learning outcomes were:

The importance of team goal setting; building trust and communication; leadership style and effectiveness; and the superiority of teamwork over individual performance.

Strategic vs Tactical – keeping the big picture in mind.

Case Study 2 - Head of Purchasing Team – Lifestyle Retail Brand

Each senior manager in this group headed up their own buying team; they had little opportunity to do this together as a management team although co-ordination and information flow between them was vital for business success. Pelorus was tasked with delivering a Team Development programme which would bring this group together and high light the importance of intra and inter-team communication. We succeeded by designing a series of engaging team tasks which were both demanding and rewarding, and which empathized with the client’s strong environmental, health and outdoors credentials.

“ .....we really enjoyed the mix of physical and mental challenge .... it brought us together in a fun way”

“.......loved the sheep herding, but the fire fighting was the best – quite scary; you really needed to trust the people with you”.

Learning Outcomes: Overcoming obstacles; ways of working better when under pressure; setting and achieving stretching goals; the importance of a challenge and support within the senior team; maintaining a sense of humour –vital!!

Case Study 3 - A two day Residential Programme for a Top 250 - IT Architect’s Team. Group size: 7

This international team operates in a multi-site, high paced environment across many time zones and cultures. Constant technical and time demands require them to be innovative and creative while at the same time disciplined and responsive to customer needs. The team’s Director recognised the need for them to spend some quality time together away from the relentless pressures of the ‘coal face’. They wanted to do something which everyone could participate in and enjoy. Due to geographical constraints some of the team had not worked closely with others; this programme brought them together to quickly build trust and understanding across various disciplines and languages. As part of the programme a professional artist helped team members to grasp the basics of watercolour painting and then move out of their comfort zone so as to see things in a new perspective. The team were delighted by what they achieved using this medium. The important messages for the team were clear, and the results were also impressive. The team left with a very clear action plan plus a date in their dairy for a review with a Pelorus facilitator.

“... It was good to be together for this time; we got to see a different side to each other and that was very useful....”

“Really enjoyed the exercises.... the MBTI and Belbins info was a real eye opener .... explains a lot....”

Development outcomes for this team were:-

Effective team work and appropriate leadership; planning and execution of tasks; developing innovation and creativity; limiting beliefs and their effects; the importance of recognising and celebrating team talents and potential.

Case Study 4 - Organisational change and development programme - International Luxury Experience Brand. Group size from 6 to 60

Working closely with the client’s People & Development Director and her OD team over the last three years we have designed a series of interlinking leadership, management and personal development programmes. These have been delivered by a range of Pelorus colleagues on and off site.

Specific modules have been designed for all levels of employee from Board down to new joiners. An in-house coach development programme were developed to provide suitably trained coaches to support the various OD/change initiatives.

Pelorus has also recently developed a new Induction Programme for this Client. Changing from a static info’ centred format, to a highly participative, learner centred - push/pull approach – initial feedback has been very positive.

Other projects have included working with the client on aligning their values and behaviours within a performance management system, and developing various in-house talent development programmes.

“... It was good to be together for this time; we got to see a different side to each other and that was very useful....”

“Pelorus has created an organisational development programme that has successfully involved all levels of management. We are all very grateful for their input, and there is a tangible difference to the energy level of the organisation that can be linked with the programme.” P&D Director

To close, here are some photos of a selection of our Clients on various programmes we have delivered over the last 12 months.