Finding Common Ground

In January 2000, two of the pharmaceutical industry's premier organizations, Glaxo Welcome and SmithKlineBeecham, merged to create a new powerhouse in the industry - GlaxoSmithKline.

I was the Organizational Development professional supporting the SmithKlineBeecham Oncology Division at the time. These were two highly competitive organizations often went head-to-head with some of the products that they provided physicians and patients. Since the merger was intended to be a joining of two highly successful companies rich in research and development and not a take-over of one or the other, the integration of these companies with their highly successful cultures and highly effective business processes was not going to be an easy transition. Not only were their differences in the way each organization operated, but it was decided at the time of the merger that the respective headquarters of each company, Philadelphia, PA and Research Triangle Park, NC, would be maintained. This meant that as new functional departments were formed and new operating practices developed, the people who would be working together would often times be physically separated by 500 miles of space.

So, how do you get people who have a history of being fierce competitors, absolutely committed to their way of working because they believe it has proven to be highly effective and successful, have never personally met each other, and who are separated by 500 miles, to work together with an attitude of collaboration, respect, and commitment to the mission of their function and the new organization - GSK?

Answer - Help them Find the Common Ground!

I learned an important lesson in those early days of the merger as I facilitated meeting after meeting bringing people from both campuses and respective companies together to meet each other for the first time and begin the process of defining how they would work together going forward. The lesson was that before any 'real work' would be able to be accomplished, the people had to develop a level of comfort, trust and credibility with each other. I was able to accomplish this easily and effectively by beginning each of these meetings with an activity of 'finding the common ground'. I also learned that just finding 'any common ground' was not enough. The new team members needed to find common ground on a 'personal level' and also on a 'professional level'. You see, when someone connects with someone else on a personal level, i.e. they discover they have some common hobbies, tastes in food, places they've vacationed, family attributes, etc. they form a personal bond, but when they discover that they have some common ground professionally, i.e. they have performed the same functions, have similar educational backgrounds, worked for similar companies during their career, or had similar professional successes they build 'credibility' in each other's eyes. This was and is very important!

The process I have used to help these teams, and others, to find this common ground has always been a simple one, and I am sharing it with you here so that you can apply it to achieve your own successful team start-ups.

Finding Common Ground - Exercise

Approach #1 [Time Needed: 30 minutes]

• Send out ahead of the meeting a simple questionnaire to collect insights about each team member both personally and professionally. (See the prework list of questions below)
• Make up a grid of the information collected and have a handout prepared for each participant
• At the meeting give each team member the grid and have them get together with another people with whom they have 2-3 things in common. Then have them discuss:
  briefly the things they have in common, and one thing in the way they have worked on previous teams that they would like to keep as a way of operating on this team, and one thing from their prior experience that they would caution this team to avoid
• Debrief this exercise by asking the group in general what they learned about each other.

Prework:

Ask team members to provide the following information so that you don't have to take time to collect it during the meeting.

1. What is your birth order? First born, middle child, youngest child, only child.
2. Where did you grow up? An urban setting, a suburban setting, a rural setting, moved around a lot - What state? What town/city?
3. What post-high school educational level have you achieved and where did you attend?
4. What is your favorite cuisine?
5. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
6. What was the most professionally rewarding achievement you have accomplished in the past 2 years?
7. What are some of the types of industries and jobs you have held in your professional career?
8. What has been your most personally rewarding achievement so far in your life?

Approach #2 [Time Needed: 45-60 minutes]

This approach is very similar to the first one except that you collect all the information from the group in a highly interactive and energetic process during the meeting. Here is how the exercise works.

1. Arrange participants into small groups of 4-5 each

• Try to mix the group with people who don't know each other well.

2. Find 'common ground' related to personal experiences

• Ask members of each group to talk about their hobbies, family background (growing up or presently), and leisure time experiences. Try to find at least 2 common experiences/interests between each pair in the group. For each common experience discovered, write it on a Post-it note (what the experience/interest is and the names of the 2 [or more] people in the group who share it.

3. Post the results

• Hang several flip chart pages on the walls before this exercise begins and label them as follows: Hobbies, Travel, Education, Family, Personal Achievements, Work Experience, and Professional Achievements. At the end of each round have participants post their results on these charts.

4. Find 'common ground' related to professional experiences

• Repeat the same process as round 1 with everyone in his/her same groups. Ask participants to discover 'common ground' in their work experiences (the kinds of jobs they've had, companies they've worked for (apart from the current company), achievements, etc.

5. Post the results

6. Summarize insights

• After the results from round 2 are posted, review the information on the wall charts. This should be done very briefly only highlighting interesting and fun facts.

Either of these exercises can be facilitated by someone on the team or an experienced facilitator within your organization. Of course, you can always bring in an experienced external facilitator if you think that will best meet your needs.

Good luck. I know that you will find this process fun and engaging, but more importantly, it will create the glue that will bind your group together into a highly cohesive and committed team.

Hudson Whitenight

whitenight.hudson@gmail.com

http://whitenightproductions.com/