Walter Lilly

The challenge

Walter Lilly is a medium sized regional building contractor from the South East of England with over 150 staff and £70 million annual turnover. They wanted to enhance Boardroom communication in order to work as a unified team, better equipped to drive business development. They recognised that communication could be improved and at times poor assumptions regarding mutual understanding between the long standing members of the Board existed.

As Managing Director, Ron Bates explains:

“I considered we needed someone to facilitate our discussions together to give us guidance in what we would find hard to tell each other after so many years of successful business achievement.”

Our approach

TWI provided a flexible framework that could be rolled out rapidly throughout the Board. One-on-one discussions with all the parties were held to bring the key areas of concern out into the open. The results were then communicated both sensitively and sympathetically, to manage the apparent conflict from one perspective or another.

This allowed people to take ownership for their work-based actions and relationships.

The results

Make your business a pleasure to work for

With the help of TWI’s Boardroom Facilitation, the Directors at Walter Lilly are now achieving their unified goal.

In the words of Managing Director Ron Bates, that goal was:

“The creation of a successful business that is a pleasure to come to work for each day.”

The Board of Directors at Walter Lilly have seen a number of key breakthrough developments:

• The ability to openly discuss sensitive issues that are all too often swept under the carpet
• Operating as a unified front through effective communication between board members
• Carrying the business forward to successfully achieve corporate goals despite a challenging economic climate

A dialogue has now been created within the Board that has enabled open communication and enhanced productivity. Key issues are addressed without finger pointing and are now recognised and discussed openly.

Such dramatic changes are down to the innovative approach by TWI, who have a proven track record of being able to deliver training that translates into workplace success.

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