Connecting 60+ Remote Leaders for 3-Days of Collaboration & Learning
Virtual Events
ThyssenKrupp is an international group of companies comprising largely independent industrial and technology businesses and employing around 100,000 people. Across 56 countries it generated sales of €34 billion in fiscal 2020/2021. Its business activities have been bundled in six segments: Materials Services, Industrial Components, Automotive Technology, Steel Europe, Marine Systems, and Multi Tracks.
Problem/Starting Point:
Although some of us can manage it better than others, we are all hard-wired to resist change. This was an issue that the executive leadership team of ThyssenKrupp's Steering Division was facing when the decision was made to transition the group's organizational structure to a matrix organization. The team from WDHB and I felt up to the task of creating an event to inspire the group to change, but the fact that this would all be taking place during the peak of Covid-19, when nobody from our group of nearly 70 people would be in physical contact definitely created additional challenges...
Process & Solutions:
On a mission to bring the group from a hesitant and resistant state to an inspired and excited one, the team from WDHB and I designed, coordinated, and delivered 3 days of activities featuring presentations given by 8 guest speakers, and collaborative workshops facilitated by our team. The fact that everyone was connected virtually in their own homes meant we were going to need to work extra hard at maintaining the attention and interest the group. As such, in terms of content, each of the sessions featuring guest speakers varied in format, ranging from simple keynote presentations to roundtables to panel discussions. In terms of technology, in addition to the flawless transitions between sessions as well as music and custom branded imagery created by our team, we also built a virtual whiteboard using Miro for each participant of the program to follow along with the activity of the group and contribute their ideas in thought-provoking and engaging yet simple ways. In the end, everything went on without a hitch - no hiccups whatsoever using Miro thanks to a tutorial video built by our team as well as a briefing and guided warm-up - and most importantly, a genuine consensus was reached by the end of it all (and the boss was happy 😉)
