Facilitation Services Workshops and Webinars Organizational Communications

Case Studies

Clients who have worked with Chrysalis International have been able to:

Read more about our client successes, then contact us to see how we may be able to accomplish similar goals for you.

Getting troubled project back on track

Problem/Situation: A large manufacturing company in the northeast U.S. was in the midst of rolling out a critical new application affecting 30,000+ employees around the world. Partway through the implementation, the company’s parent decided to outsource all IT operations to a third party, leaving the project in chaos. All work ground to a halt for nearly five months, costing the company more than $1M in unplanned expenses as contracted consulting resources lay idle and parallel systems had to be maintained at great cost.

Solution: We interviewed several project team members and business leaders to determine the source of the most significant bottlenecks. We then designed and led a two-day Project Jumpstart workshop designed to engage people in much-needed and highly-contentious discussions that proved vital in getting the project back on track. Our client also asked us to facilitate a stakeholder analysis workshop and conduct a communications audit to determine what knowledge and training was most needed, by whom, to restart the project, and to identify and address the greatest areas of resistance.

The result: Despite the protracted delay, a rejuvenated project team comprising members from three different companies collaborated successfully to get the project back on track, making up for nearly all of the lost time. The result: The company was able to eliminate duplicate systems and related costs far faster, while internal customer satisfaction with the application exceeded expectations.

Speeding product development time by removing cultural roadblocks

Problem/Situation: Engineering teams co-located in New England and Germany were experiencing frustration, conflicts and delays bringing a critical new telecommunications product to market. At this time in the company’s troubled history, there was no margin for error: If the chief competitor could sneak in and get a similar product to market first, our client would have to cease all development efforts and make significant cuts. Managers in the U.S. and Germany suspected that a mutual lack of awareness as to how cultural differences may be affecting teamwork accounted for many of the team’s problems.

Solution: After interviewing managers in the U.S. and Germany to learn which differences seemed to present the greatest challenges and cause the most frustration, we designed and facilitated a day-long cross-cultural action planning workshop, providing team members with knowledge and tools to help them work through their differences and develop viable solutions for real-life issues.

The result: The two teams were able to openly discuss how and why their differences were causing problems, and they worked together to create operating norms that everyone would live by. As a result of a closer working relationship, the teams completed their final product design on time and learned how to diagnose and address problems related to cross-cultural collaboration more successfully for future projects.

Retaining key customers through more effective client meetings

Problem/Situation: A fast-growing boutique management consulting firm was having trouble expanding revenue and soliciting referrals from current clients. One reason: Clients complained that the firm’s meetings were run poorly, and objectives—if ever met—too far too much time to achieve. When a key client threatened to terminate the engagement unless project team members learned how to plan and run more effective meetings, this company turned to us for a quick assist.

Solution: We interviewed individual project team members to better understand what knowledge and competencies they believed were most important and which were most notably absent. We compared their responses against other feedback, including the client’s. As a result, we designed and ran a one-day workshop to provide basic meeting planning and facilitation skills, tools, techniques, and role-play exercises, all designed specifically to help them prepare for their upcoming client meeting.  

The result: The client reported far greater satisfaction as a result of the next meeting, and re-established this consulting firm as a preferred vendor. Team members picked up many new tools, templates and techniques they were able to replicate with other clients, dramatically improving the retention rate of other clients.

Strategic planning simplified, accelerated through series of virtual workshops

Problem/Situation: A global high-tech services provider needed to bring an innovative  new services portfolio to market quickly to establish an early leadership position. More than 20 participants were planning to fly in from around the world to attend a three-day strategic planning session when a companywide travel ban was suddenly imposed. Our client asked us to design a series of virtual workshops where participants could accomplish the same objectives as the face-to-face session, as quickly as possible.

Solution: By clarifying the objectives and determining the roles and expected contributions of all participants, we designed a series of virtual workshops that spanned a two-week period, using audio and web conferencing. People were involved only in those conversations where their contributions were vital, freeing them up for other work, while allowing more in-depth conversations for smaller groups of participants. We created brief pre-workshop and homework assignments for each, shared by all in advance, to make the most of meeting time.

The result: By involving more people in the strategic planning on a just-in-time basis using multiple communication channels, the client created a winning solution with a compelling sales and marketing strategy in less time and at far less expense than would have been possible any other way. This client has now made our virtual workshops the default approach for most strategic planning initiatives.

Gaining faster ROI from technology investments with well-targeted communications, training programs

Problem/Solution: A F50 pharmaceutical firm had invested more than $60M to roll out a new mail and messaging application that would have a significant impact on all of its 50,000+ employees around the world. The IT organization knew that a targeted communications and training plan would be critical to speedy adoption, but did not have the resources or skills to create such a plan with the needed sense of urgency.

Solution: We interviewed IT project team members, the field IT community, business unit leaders and employees to determine what information and training would most speed adoption without overly taxing an already-stretched IT support staff. At the same time, we assessed which communications and training vehicles would work best, based on communication preferences, efficiency and effectiveness, resource requirements and other factors. Working with the IT project team and members of the company’s communications and training organization, we created an internationally transportable promotional strategy for local field IT offices to customize and implement easily.

The result: Training and communications plans were well-synchronized with the roll-out in each major location. Field IT managers had what they needed to prepare employees for a smooth transition. By the time the new mail accounts were activated, employees were ready, willing and able to use the mail system, with little or no support from the project team or help desk staff. Adoption came more quickly than anticipated, and costly business downtime was minimized.

designed and facilitated cross-cultural action planning workshop

“When team members have an opportunity to understand key differences, validate assumptions and develop shared project operating principles at the outset, the chances for successful collaboration increase exponentially.”

Lead project manager for major client project for F50 hardware, software and services company

“Nancy is adept at facilitating diverse groups, often with divergent and sometimes conflicting perspectives. She took the time to understand our objectives, and helped us design an agenda, process and set of questions that helped both us and our customers benefit in a short time. For sessions that had the potential to be contentious, Nancy unearthed any hidden landmines and defused issues before they got out of hand.”

Product manager for fast-growing software company

“Thank you for doing such a wonderful job today, making sure that we people on the phone were able to participate as effectively as we did.  You were very clear in explaining what was happening and it really didn’t feel as though I was sitting thousands of miles away from the action.”

Sales Operations Manager for F50 high-tech company

“Nancy did a wonderful job of drawing out members of the audience and focusing and ruthlessly controlling me and my colleagues. Quite a few useful ideas were put forward and I am finally hopeful that some progress can be made in the next few months.”

Attorney for
Medicare group