Last week we had a great session with a large tech client who was convening a new global sales force for the first time. Our goal was to take the individual insights gained by salespeople with 6-12 months of field experience with this new product and boil up best practices. The challenge was that the sales team didn’t view their individual approaches as “special” enough to be considered best practices, so we needed to get people sharing without the pressure of needing to have the right answer. Our approach: change the medium of communication (no PowerPoint, no roundtable discussions) in order to shift perspective and break people loose of their barriers to sharing. Here’s the story of one of the tools we used during the session that worked like magic.
The Approach
We used a build-a-box exercise to get the group aligned around what sales resources would be needed for the team to succeed in meeting their targets. Teams were asked to physically build a box that represents all the tools, resources, information, and support needed to be the best sales force ever. It was a fun time, as well as a powerful moment of clarity for the organization. Here’s how it worked:
Why it works
The build-a-box exercise is a particularly powerful tool because it
- Makes the intangible tangible
- Uses modular components to allow for trading, sorting and prioritizing
- Is a democratic, bottom-up approach that acknowledges the expertise of participants
- Creates visual/physical reference points for the future
- Is just plain fun for participants, which creates a safe environment for dealing with tough issues
Changing the medium allowed for a breakthrough moment with this team – we were able to identify clear best practices and needed resources in a way that couldn’t be achieved by shared spreadsheets and conference calls. In this case we used boxes, blocks and pipe cleaners, but any shift in medium can be powerful: challenge your team to draw instead of listing bullet points, try Prezi if you usually use PowerPoint, switch to videos from newsletters, etc. By establishing a new creative flow, old obstacles disappear. It’s amazing what a simple shift in medium can do to unlock fresh thinking.
