Global Edge Case Study

Short Forum Theatre based sessions to engage managers in having more honest, everyday performance conversations. (February – April 2015)

About Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press is one of the world’s leading academic and educational publishing organisations. Pioneers in their field, they are committed to supporting innovation in learning and teaching. They publish without boundaries, ensuring their resources are accessible across the globe, in print, online and other digital formats.

Cambridge University Press has over 50 offices around the globe and distribute their products to nearly every country in the world. They publish 50,000 authors based in over 100 different countries.

Business Issue

In March 2015, Cambridge University Press launched a new, electronic performance review process. Whilst this was supported by some in-house training on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the process, the biggest challenge for the organisation was to work with their managers on the more visible, up-front performance drivers and conditions, as well as the ones below the surface, manifested in, for example, climate, openness and trust.

This change is indicative of the ongoing technological and cultural transformation going on throughout the organisation. The unique heritage of Cambridge University Press’s contribution to the world of learning and knowledge needs to be more balanced with the ever-increasing need for greater responsiveness and entrepreneurship. The tension between the former and the latter is palpable and of huge significance in placing honest conversation at the heart it’s cultural change.

Faced with this new system to learn and understand, some managers were already showing signs of resistance and negativity. It was therefore essential that the honest conversation message and approach was seen as real value to the business and viewed positively by its managers. The ‘hook’ was more about emotional connection and personal engagement in the practice of honest conversation, less about a rather interesting theory.

The agreed success criteria was to implement a ‘highly interactive and engaging experience’ for 400 managers across the UK and US which:

1. Centred around practical actions rather than theory.
2. ‘Disturbed’ and pushed managers out of their comfort zone.
3. Helped them to understand people better.
4. Challenged them to face up to the reality of situations and what they are responsible for.
5. Gave them something tangible that they will remember and use in the workplace.
6. Enabled them to appreciate that honest conversations not only cover more visible and up-front topics, views and opinions, but also can uncover real feelings and issues often left below the surface.
7. Provided an opportunity for them to start recognising their own attitudes and behaviours.

The organisation will assess managers on their ability to adapt to the required procedural and behavioural changes. This knowledge will inform decisions regarding the timing and manager groupings for next stage intervention and development of effective performance conversations with Global Edge.

Solution

Historically at Cambridge University Press, there had been a ‘non-ripple’ tendency in other integration work. With this in mind, Global Edge proposed immersing all relevant managers in a compelling forum theatre presentation that delivered the message that ‘honest conversations make sense round here’.

The management population consists of varying degrees of ability, agility and appetite for honest conversation. With this in mind, it was felt that segmenting the population into appropriate groups for further development (i.e., more in-depth work on styles and traits essential for effective performance conversation) would be best left until further knowledge and data regarding the underlying climate become available sometime after launch.

Following initial consultation and some creative brainstorming with the HR team, Global Edge designed a 90 minute session for cohorts of 15-25 managers. This involved identifying specific situations that people would relate to in which honest conversation is a challenge. In addition, prioritising, scripting and rehearsing key scenarios with our actor team.

Each session consisted of 3 parts:

1. Forum theatre scene – A scripted and pre-rehearsed scene involving two actors with intention of providing a memorable and highly engaging experience that is different and has strong impact value. Delegates then interact with the actors, stopping the scene when they think the manager should do something different to improve the honesty in the conversation.
2. Facilitated debate in smaller groups - interaction around 3 big ‘Honesty’ questions, sharing of stories, ideas and debate which Challenge participants whilst generating realistic and practical ideas and actions.
3. Wrap up based on 3 scenarios – part scripted and improvised which capture content, conversation and ideas from the previous debate.Delegates walk away with a tangible and simple concept to remember and use in their everyday life at work.

Outcome/Testimonial

"Our need to connect the benefit of our new electronic appraisal process with the value of everyday honest conversations required a great deal of careful consideration and planning. We commissioned Global Edge at the earliest stage of our thinking, due to their immediate grasp of our requirements and their proven expertise and methodology around performance conversation.

They listened, understood and remained flexible throughout the design stages of the work and were ready to adapt to the changing needs of each group and the iterative nature of this type of intervention.
Global Edge designed a series of interactive sessions for 400 of our managers, which included a dynamic mix of forum theatre, Cambridge University Press-based scripted scenarios and group facilitation.

They set out to provide a compelling and relevant case for honest conversation throughout the organisation, bringing to life real experiences from our managers, with content delivered in a truly entertaining and memorable way.

This was delivered with great sensitivity, care and attention to detail. As a result, in the context of knowing, focusing and valuing their people, and Cambridge University Press as a whole, our managers have taken the relevance of honest conversations to their heads and hearts."

Janet Batson, Cambridge University Press, July 2015