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|| What We Do || Real Work Projects™

  • The Bridge Real Work Project™ (RWP) is an intensive, highly facilitated collaborative problem solving event designed to utilise the experience, knowledge and creativity of 10 to 30 participants to generate innovative solutions to a complex strategic challenge. Each Real Work Project™ is collaboratively designed with the client to solve a particular problem, develop a strategy, or create a plan of action for addressing a strategic issue. Key characteristics of a Bridge RWP™ include:

    • Leverages the collective knowledge and experience of the group to address an issue faced by an individual leader or team
    • Entire programme is co-developed and co-delivered with the client sponsor
    • Supported by in-depth research and advance preparation
    • Customised physical environment and proven processes reinforce total immersion of participants in the issue
    • Actionable Output: A strategic action plan that benefits from a variety of functional perspectives and backgrounds

    A Real Work Illustrative Example:
    Supporting the Dubai Office of a Global Investment Bank

    While this example is fictional to ensure client confidentiality, it has been drawn from a number of representative RWPs™ designed for a range of clients.

    The Issue:

    A global investment banking client has a new office in Dubai that is struggling to attain competitive advantage in the region. The head of the Dubai office has been nominated by the CEO to be the RWP™ sponsor, and has identified the following key issue as his top priority:
    "Differentiation as a new market entry in Dubai"

    Key aspects of the challenge include:

    • 1. Anticipating the impact of upcoming regulatory changes
    • 2. Identifying, recruiting, and training top talent to support the types of products/services that will be desired by clients
    • 3. Effectively sharing information and resources with other offices to enable flexibility and faster response

    RWP™ Objectives

    1. Utilise the collective experience of a diverse participant group to generate a series of recommendations to support the Director of the Dubai office
    2. Build awareness across the global organisation around the issues he/she is facing.

    Preparation:

    Prior to running the RWP™, Bridge works very closely with the sponsor team to further define the problem, set objectives, clarify desired outcomes and identify required research, resources and subject matter experts. All aspects of event design are jointly owned by Bridge and the sponsor team. Additional research, resourcing and logistics are handled by Bridge.

    The Participants:

    Real Work Projects™ can be run with two distinct types of participants:

    • A. Content Experts: In general, participants know very little about the specific issue, but have relevant content knowledge or experience that can be leveraged. In this example, the investment bank might invite members of the internal strategy group, HR, and key individuals from within the organisation that have faced similar challenges in other markets. If required, external market specialists can be involved.
    • B. Learner/Experts: Many Real Work Projects™ are conducted in connection with a learning and development programme, allowing participants to directly apply learning from the programme to the sponsor's issue.

    In both cases, the sponsor team gains a completely fresh perspective from a team that knows the business, but is not mired in the details of the issue.

    The RWP™ Event

    Bridge has designed and delivered over 30 RWPs™ for our clients. While no two events are the same due to the highly customised nature of the design process, all share certain common characteristics:

    • Fast paced
    • Highly challenging
    • Supported by innovative facilitation
    • Immersive environment
    • Rewarding for both sponsors and participants

    Benefits for Participants

    • Participants gain an in-depth understanding of an issue that has great strategic importance to the organisation
    • Lessons for dealing with their own strategic challenges can be drawn out from the experience of colleagues.
    • When conducted in the context of a learning programme, participants are able to cement the learning through immediate application.
    • The RWP™ also benefits participants by serving as a team-building/ networking activity in a 'real work' setting.

    Benefits for the Sponsor Team

    • The process of preparing for an RWP™ helps sponsors gain a higher degree of clarity on the issue.
    • Sponsors gain a completely fresh perspective on a critical challenge from a team that knows the business, but is not mired in the details of the issue.
    • At the end of the RWP™, sponsors are presented with a set of recommended solutions and concrete action plans developed by the team.

    What our clients are saying:

    • "Despite the complexity of the 3 projects, each with its many stakeholders, we now have confidence in our analysis and have developed a clear way forward …"
      Gilles Bertherin, Shell Oil Exploration, GameChanger

    • "It would have taken us weeks to do this on our own … you kept us engaged and at a pace that was exciting"
      Global Energy Client

    • "The concept worked well and the end result was achieved much quicker than if stakeholders had been approached individually."
      Louise Cartwright, Head of Operational Development, Royal Mail

    • "Besides achieving strategic alignment of staff, the Real Work Projects have had measurable impact on business results and direction, far in excess of the costs of the programme."
      Mike Naylor, VP, Exploration Technical, Shell

Bridge Consulting International llp

Registered in England and Wales - Registration Number OC305 020

A list of the names of the members of Bridge Consulting International llp is open to inspection at the registered office: 2 Bloomsbury Street , London , WC1B 3ST.