International arm of a Fortune 500 news and media group, senior leadership team
The international arm of a Fortune 500 news and media group was busy but adrift. Its market was getting harder, leadership changes had left it without a clear direction, and its leaders were pulling different ways. A new leader asked me to help them set goals. First, over a two-day offsite, they agreed one strategy, starting from what their audience valued. Then they turned it into a small set of goals they owned. A year later, through big changes in the wider group, those goals were still keeping them focused.
Workshops
What I did
Interviewed each member of the leadership team
Designed and ran a two-day offsite: strategy on day one, objectives and key results on day two
Supported the team as the goals rolled out
Ran a masterclass for the wider leadership team to review and sharpen its key results
Results
Goals set and adopted within about four weeks
Still in use a year later
More collaboration across teams, with more junior people taking the lead
Credited by the managing director with keeping the team focused through big changes in the wider group
The situation
The international arm of a Fortune 500 news and media group was in a tough spot. Its market was getting harder every year, a run of leadership changes had left the team without a clear direction, and the leadership team was busy: full diaries, plenty of activity, and everyone pulling in a slightly different direction.
A new leader arrived with a brief to modernise the business, and asked me to help the leadership team set goals. That was the request. Underneath it was a bigger need: you can’t set goals that mean anything until the team agrees what it’s trying to win, and how it can win with the resources it has.
The offsite
I started by interviewing each member of the leadership team, to understand the business, what each of them was trying to achieve, and where they saw things differently. Then we met for two days.
On day one we worked on strategy. I explained how strategy works, where to play and how to win, using companies built around their customers as examples. Then the team worked out its own answer, starting from what its audience valued most and where it could win against bigger competitors. The answer came from them, which is why they believed in it.
On day two they turned the strategy into a small set of objectives and key results. I pushed them to think across teams instead of inside their own, and held one test for every goal: does this move the business forward? The new leader anchored the room, and the team left with goals it owned.
Making it stick
I supported the team as the goals rolled out, and within about four weeks the leadership team had its first set in place. A few months later I ran a masterclass for the wider leadership team, where they reviewed their key results in small groups and made them sharper.
What happened
The goals stuck. A year later the team was still using them, and the strategy agreed at the offsite was still the strategy. Teams were working together more, and more junior people were taking the lead.
When the wider group went through big changes, the managing director said the goals were what kept the team focused, instead of getting lost in busy work.
What people said
I think the OKRs have really helped us this year as a forcing function not to get lost in lots of like busy work…
Managing director
I think the offsite went really well.
Managing director