Selected Work Examples

The Delphi Group has experience working in a variety of organizational settings including, Corporate, Government, Non-Profit, Higher-Education and Community Service.

Corporate

• Alcatel-Lucent Technologies:  Designed a multi-staged management/leadership development curriculum that includes:  Leading Strategic Change, Leadership and the Power of Self-Knowledge, Collaborating Across Boundaries.  Involves multiple locations in the US, Europe, South America, Asia and Australia.

• SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbanking Financial Telecommunications):  Designed and implemented a process for building management and leadership skills to facilitate strategic change within this large, globally diverse, financial software company. Designed and taught a 3 module course entitled ‘Leading Change’ for “high potentials” as well as current leaders. The 7-day program, which focuses on building strategic leadership skills  includes real application projects defined by participants.  Over a 5 year period, over 200 managers participated at multiple locations, both in the US and Europe.  Also assisted in design of other workshops and facilitation of special task groups.

• Conde Nast – Fairchild Publications:  Extensive executive coaching with the senior management team of this publishing company in New York City. Provided Executive Coaching to 15+ top and mid-level executives, designed and implemented a 360º process, facilitated strategic change work with teams of editors and publishers to improve organizational effectiveness.

• Reader’s Digest Global:  Designed and conducted a 360º feedback process for the entire top executive team, including the CEO.

• Ottaway Newspapers (Dow Jones):
  Corporate Information Services Dept: This engagement provided team development and alignment of mission, vision and practices with business objectives for the Information Services Department, which serves over 20 newspapers in this Dow Jones owned subsidiary.  Coaching was also provided for the Vice President of Information Services.Pocono Record Newspaper: Executive Coaching Consulting to the Publisher and Senior Management Team; Identifying opportunities to increase efficiency and quality, reduce errors through aligning goals and practices throughout the newspaper staff. Facilitated collaborative workflow process between Ad Sales and Ad Design depts.Santa Cruz Sentinel Newspaper: Facilitated strategic planning process with Publisher and Senior Management Team.

• FUJICOLOR Photo Service:  Leadership of a major change effort at a stand-alone facility within the Fuji corporation.  Included the development of a new Vision and Strategy by top management, design and delivery of training for all middle management to implement the new direction and culture, e.g. communications, conflict resolution, performance management and team leadership, and facilitation of collaborative problem-solving to build working agreements across functional departments.

• Guy Gannett Communications: Work involved 9 newspaper and television locations.  Led a corporate-wide culture change effort.  Included strategizing with top management, developing location-specific change plans, team building with each location management team, and specific training of functional work teams at each location.  Team training included interactive skills (communications-giving/receiving feedback), alignment of Mission-Goals-Roles-Practices, collaborative problem-solving and decision-making with partnered business segments.

• Xerox – Great Britain:  Functioned as part of a consulting team which, over a 4 year period, re-organized separate Sales, Customer Service and Field Engineering groups throughout Great Britain into integrated, full-service teams.  Work included training all teams on high-performance team development, leadership, communications, problem-solving and decision-making, as well as creating a common alignment of strategy, goals, roles and practices to enhance customer service.

• Konica Photofinishing USA: Consulted to the top management team, as well as 6 separate locations.  Work involved re-creation of a corporate Mission focused on continuous improvement and the development of high-performance teams, strategic change planning and implementation at each location and the training of all managers and team leaders.  Training included team building, communications, alignment of goals-practices, and building relationships across organizational boundaries

• American Management Systems: Conducted a study to determine what steps need to be taken by this IT Consulting firm to effectively win and execute Electronic Commerce projects.  The study led to AMS’ initiating an aggressive program to develop the needed competencies through training and acquisition.

• Wilcoxen Research: Conducted an extensive training needs assessment, reviewed organization design relative to strategic plan and corporate culture, administered executive assessments, conducted feedback and team building sessions, executive retreat and executive coaching.

• Eastman Technologies (Eastman Kodak Subsidiary): Provided consulting services to new start-up companies supported by Kodak’s New Opportunity Development (NOD) program, including Organization design, Job/task analysis, Human Resources Policies resulting in successful launches.

Government

• Federal Executive Institute:  Designed and facilitated a class entitled The Power of Difference to high level (GS-13 and above) federal executives. The highly interactive and skills oriented 4-day course, based on our book of the same name, walked executives through the theory and practice of constructive conflict resolution in organizations, allowing them the opportunity to apply the framework to their own real organizational issues.  The course has continued to be a part of the ongoing curriculum

• Internal Revenue Service:  Coaching individual managers as well as working with management teams to improve their effectiveness.  This work has occurred at multiple locations across the US.

• City of Longmont, CO.:  Trained 150+ managers, supervisors and team leaders on facilitative leadership skills, building high-performing teams, and working collaboratively across organizational boundaries.

• Environmental Protection Agency Region III, Chesapeake Bay Program: Designed and facilitated collaborative process to develop language for the Chesapeake Bay Agreement 2000 among representatives of signatories from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia and the National Environmental Protection Agency.

• U.S. Department Of Energy: Facilitated meetings attended by representatives of the commercial building industry, architects, developers, manufacturers and DOE, to develop strategies for creating integrated whole buildings;  facilitated meetings to assist DOE and Department of the Interior to select energy efficient technologies to be showcased in the National Parks; Planned and facilitated meetings in which appliance manufacturers, state energy officials, energy efficiency activists and DOE addressed issues related to efficiency standards, resulting in successfully negotiated regulatory procedures.

• Anne Arundel County Department of Planning and Code Enforcement,  Annapolis, MD: Consulting and Training related to the conduct and facilitation of  Small Area Plan Committees,  citizen staffed groups working to resolve land use issues for sixteen areas in Anne Arundel county.  Training helps county staff and citizen chairs to successfully manage and resolve contentious land planning issues.

• Childcare Administration, Department of Human Resources, State of Maryland: Administered assessments, including Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI).  Designed and conducted a series of programs on diversity, conflict resolution, and team building to improve level of service.

• Public Service Commissions of NY, PA, CT, Washington DC, with Liberty Consulting Group: Lead consultant conducting audits of public utilities in areas including Training & Development, Quality Improvement, Corporate Culture, Management Development, Succession Planning, Change Management, and EEOC; assisting in Customer Service and Labor Relations.  Audit results, after being presented to PSC staff and Utility executives, led to action plans for improving the utilities’ ability to serve their rate payers effectively and at reasonable cost.

• Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (with Plangraphics): Assisted with the development of an agreement among five agencies and two counties for a shared Geographic Information System (GIS) to automate mapping and planning functions.

• Maryland Department of Agriculture: Consulted to the Department on their agricultural mediation program, Farm Sense, and designed and taught mediator training for state employees and other mediators interested in agricultural mediation.

Non-Profit

• Appalachian Trail Conservancy & National Park Service:  Worked collaboratively with both organizations to embark upon a strategic planning and strategic change process that has, ultimately, reorganized the manner in which this large volunteer organization functions.  With a selected Design Team, representing 33 volunteer Trail clubs along the 2100 mile trail corridor, designed a planning Summit that included 150 participants.  Outcomes included strategies and action projects focused on a joint ATC/NPS Mission and significantly revised roles and alliances throughout the entire maintaining organization.
• HCS Community Healthcare Services:  Design and facilitation of a strategic planning process, including Board involvement, organization structure re-design, use of large-scale facilitation process for gathering external stakeholder input, alignment of organizational goals and action projects with strategic initiatives.
• LEAD– Maryland Board of Directors: Designed and facilitated a Board retreat for this non-profit organization resulting in a new vision and action plan.  After interviewing the majority of Board members, we worked with the Executive Director to develop an agenda and a process to unify the Board of Directors regarding mission, vision, strategy, goals and actions.

• National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO): Planned and facilitated a conference in which participants, including state energy officials, manufacturers associations and energy efficiency advocates, worked to develop consensus on issues related to federal energy policy.  Training of facilitators preceded the conference.

• Appalachian Mountain Club: Conducted re-evaluation of Mission and Vision of the organization with Executive Director and entire senior management team.  Developed 5-year strategy.

• Maine Community Services: Worked with Executive Director and Board to develop multi-year strategy.

• Shoreline Mental Health: Worked with Executive Director and senior management team to improve team effectiveness and to develop strategy for IT integration.

• Maine Association of Non-Profits: Worked with Executive Director, Staff and Board to develop multi-year strategy for growth and outreach.

Higher-Education

• University of Southern Maine: Worked with President and senior staff to develop a strategic plan for multiple campuses.  Team development with Director of Student Affairs.

• University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agriculture/Agricultural Experiment Station: Assisted the Dean of the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources to develop a strategic plan for the Experiment Station, in keeping with the USDA requirement to engage in collaborative research that results in stakeholder relevant research findings.  Convened eighteen faculty researchers to develop the plan and define areas of opportunity for conducting multi-disciplinary research.

• Central Maine Technical College: Worked with President and senior staff to facilitate an understanding of Total Quality processes and identification of opportunities for implementation at CMTC.

Community Service

• Facilitated multi-community future search conference which included 6 neighboring regions in western Maine.  Results included identification of collaborative initiatives for community development, organization of grant funding options and development of leadership task forces for follow-through.
• Designed and facilitated regional Economic Summit which included a collaborative process for engaging businesses, non-profits, educators and legislators in creating a Vision for the economic future of the region as well as specific initiatives to carry forward.
• Mahoosuc Land Trust:  Facilitated a process to coalesce the original group who formed the Land Trust.  On 2 occasions facilitated a Future Visioning and Strategic Planning process.