A few of the many VGI client successes:

Results: President’s Award

Whirlpool Sales & Distribution won the 1997 President’s Award as a result of high scores brought in by Trade Partner Support (TPS). It was the first time a service/support organization had ever won the internal award which was the equivalent of an internal Baldrige Award. The employee commitment score of the 200 person unit was up sharply from the previous year and among the highest in the corporation.

Results: $2 Million Savings in the first year

The Technical Engineering Center at Whirlpool won the 1998 Quality Achievement Team Award and estimated that the first year’s savings from the development programs was approximately $1,960,000. The teaming portion of the program has been so successful that it will be pushed down the engineering organization to all new project and cross-functional teams.

Results: Positive Feedback from Participants

The Reuters’ Transactions Development Division recently launched a 10 team True Teams Lab effort across the entire East Coast transactions unit. Although it is too early for tangible business results to be in, initial survey results show very positive impacts; e.g.,

• 68 percent of participants stated that they had altered the way they worked together as a result of the program

Yes. I am now more aware of the other teams, and now I try to make a conscious effort to work with them as opposed to isolating myself to my team. I also understand the working process of other groups better and can change my approach.

I found I’m more in sync with the development group than I thought, and we share a lot of common sense views. I also realize their expectations are not all that unrealistic.

• 81 percent believed that positive change would result from the process

I think people need to understand that the value of the course is far more than what is captured in the actions and write up.

The working relationships that are built, the better understanding of how other groups operate, what their views is the true benefit. The activities of the groups attending change in many ways they are not even aware of. Interaction between groups is more civil, people are given more leeway, the benefit of the doubt increases. The new "assumption" is that the other group must have a good reason for their views, or there is a misunderstanding.

• 76 percent stated that there was decisive follow up on action items identified in the program

At True Teams our team talked about the process by which requests for analysis enter our work stream. Basically, before the course there was no set process. At the meeting we created a process diagram and are following it. This has been a tremendous helping that now we are able to "funnel" the workload and capture metrics on the number/duration of the work as well as prioritizing the work that enters the group.

Perhaps the most global summary statement was:

I believe that Reuters is a good company that understands the importance of high functioning teams to delivering quality products on time and within budget. Consequently, the organization will continue to take whatever steps it perceives will result in high functioning teams (e.g., teams capable of releasing a new major product every x amount of months.) The important issue isn’t of whether the organization will follow up with actions but whether these actions will be effective. There are no magic bullets. No techniques are guaranteed to create high functioning teams. This is, however, a straightforward approach that improves the probability of creating high functioning teams. The result, however, will be a flatter technologist-driven organization where managers become primarily facilitators and keepers of the business goals.