The Story

The Biotechnology Research Foundation is a non-governmental organization specializing in coordinating research projects in biotechnology. Last September, the Senior Management of the company got together and prepared a Business Plan. All 321 employees heard about the widely heralded plan, joked about the management retreat held in resort surroundings and expected to hear from their supervisors some news on future plans for the company.

It’s now March and the silence from Senior Management is deafening. No one has said anything about the results of the planning session and no report or document has ever seen the light of day. Middle Management waited two months to get new directions, then, gave up and went back to doing whatever it was they doing. It’s business as usual, though there is considerable restlessness among the troops.

The Intervention

This is a case of FTI: Failure to Implement. There is absolutely no point whatever in doing any kind of work session, especially involving business planning if there is no follow-up. The Foundation’s Senior Management needs to:

• Confirm the contents of the plan, gel it as “the best possible for now”, publish it inside the organization and conduct information sessions for all staff;
• Call for mid-management work plans to respond to the new Business Strategy and integrate these work plans to the overall operational plan for the Foundation;
• Communicate the expectation that the Foundation will be moving forward on the basis of the developed plans and manage individual and collective performance accordingly.