Enhanced decision making through WorkOut

A leading European air transport authority was faced with a rapidly changing business environment and growing commercial pressures. The management and workforce, largely accustomed to a public sector culture, found difficulty in developing a realistic approach to strategic decision making in which declared actions were implemented with more individual accountability.

The chief executive recognised that he had to change the whole approach to decision making and invited Zurich to help engage the senior management in developing and implementing practical solutions to the many challenges faced by the authority.

A senior management conference was organised in which Zurich consultants applied an approach known as "WorkOut" which has been used successfully within the Zurich organisation over several years. WorkOut is a technique first developed by GE under Jack Welch aimed at eliminating unnecessary steps in business processes, and speeding up both decisions and actions.

The aim of the conference was to inject a sense of urgency and challenge into the management team. An approach was required which would lead to the development of some specific thoughts and actions. The consultants set about developing an event aimed at defining measurable targets and plans related to the strategy of the authority.

Key stages in the process:

• At the core of the approach was a set of challenges designed around the strategy but focussed on achieving measurable targets within a specified time frame.
• A champion to support each challenge was selected as the most appropriate member of the senior executive with responsibility in the area of the business under consideration.
• Facilitators from the authority were trained in WorkOut techniques and, together with Zurich consultants, led six teams through a structured process.
• Each team was presented with a specific challenge, containing a measurable target and time scale. Teams were asked to apply their thoughts to develop recommended actions to produce rapid achievement of the measurable targets.

Each team presented their recommendations to the Chief Executive and Champions at the conclusion of the event. At this point responsibility and buy-in was secured for each action as participants were asked to acknowledge their part in moving forward.

A series of positive plans was successfully developed, with associated timeframes and accountabilities. These were subsequently presented to the Board. This not only provided a demonstration of the need to move the business forward. It also showed that management had grasped the challenge of developing a set of firm, deliverable actions to achieve the strategic aims. The Board accepted all of the recommendations.