Case study
A development course for consensus management
CUSTOMER GOALS
#Effectively manage regulatory round tables
#Restructure the internal organisation
#Put the right people in the right place
#Redefine roles and responsibilities
PROFILE
| Customer | UNI Italian Standards Body |
| Headquarters | Milan |
| No. employees | 50 |
| Period | September 2019 - July 2020 |
| Target | UNI Technical Officers |
Context
UNI Ente Italiano di Normazione is the Italian national standards body. It is a private, non-profit association that – for almost 100 years – has been studying, drafting, approving, publishing and disseminating voluntary documents that define “how to do things well”, ensuring certain performance, safety, quality, sustainability (environmental, economic and social) of products, services, processes, organisations and people.
The change underway at UNI began with the change of governance at the end of 2017 and a project to renew the organisation, starting with the adoption of ISO 26000 with a social responsibility model that is reflected in the behaviour and decision-making mechanisms of the entire organisation.
Challenge
In 2019, after ten years of experience at UNI on the Standardization Tables where we "hands-on" the change taking place, we proposed to the Director of Sustainability and Enhancement, Gianna Zappi, to support UNI in the change management process.
We involved the ‘core’ functions of the organisation, namely the Technical Officers who manage the Standardisation Tables, i.e. the place where standards are drafted, discussed and published.
Managing consensus within the Standardisation Tables where large private and public interests are at stake, and the dynamics to be managed are complex, is one of the most important values linked to the role of the Technical Officer.. Its goal is to guide the group of experts, present at the tables, to produce standards that are functional to "a well-made world", which is precisely the slogan of UNI.
Solution
After mapping of the skills needed to manage consensus, including the ability to navigate conflicts and to manage complexity, the “Group Coaching” activity with the UNI Technical Officers Team was focused on train them to improve their consensus management skills.
SKILLS TRAINED
- Communication (styles and levels)
- ‘Enabling’ questions
- Active listening
- Goal definition
- Reading of contexts and trends
- Management of constructive behaviour in conflict
- ‘Grounding’ theory in a simple way
- Creation and maintenance of a Classroom Agreement
The course, which involved group coaching and individual sessions, focused on training soft skills and defining group management rules, even in remotely way.
The project concluded with virtual on-the-job coaching of a number of Technical Officers at their work tables, with a Live observation method, development mapping, immediate feedback and an action plan.
Results
The Technical Officers demonstrated a good ability to manage complex group dynamics.
The Officers adopted a Classroom Agreement to manage meetings, especially remotely, facilitating coordination and consensus management.
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