Company culture blazes trail to innovation

With its value chain strongly affected by the pandemic, BMC Group recognised its dependence on others needed to change to future proof its idea-to-market process. Though it had established a functioning and trusted roadmap to get products on the market, it often felt too rigid and the lack of flexibility at various collaboration stages posed a challenge in accomplishing their goal of serving riders’ needs.

BMC Group’s senior management knew that to future-proof its strategy for innovation, product development, manufacturing and quality it would need an external perspective. Creaholic provided that support, but in this case there was a slight plot twist: rather than diving into innovation strategy, the Creaholic Dream Team began with reshaping company culture to lay the groundwork for improved collaboration. Whether our team helps a client future-proof its strategy or redesign its culture, we always take it on a case-by-case basis and assess the client’s unique needs before moving toward a solution. For BMC Group, it was important to adjust the company culture so that innovation strategy could take root.

The second workshop took the group to another rustic location in Gislifluh, Switzerland. This weekend was focused on bringing clarity to the entire product development process – and who was responsible for the milestones at each stage. To enhance collaboration, Katja made use of the “appreciation shower”, where participants each received compliments and feedback about what their peers valued about them. Speaking positively about each other and accepting the positivity went a long way in fostering a culture of trust. This is a feeling that participants brought back to the office and grew by sharing with team members.

Improving the collaboration between departments and cultivating shared understanding of responsibilities and milestones has been vital to BMC Group’s successful idea-to-market process. Creaholic’s culture design support took department heads out of everyday routines, frustrations and unmet expectations, and brought them to a shared space where trust could flourish. Now, trust and accountability pave the way for innovation and strategy. Three major changes that are now lived at BMC Group today are:

• Using an agile mindset and implementing new ways of working, including the PDCA (Plan, Do, Change, Act) cycle

• Incorporating time to reflect in order to advance the process and to build learning into the culture

• Working with a “Ground Zero” template to kick off every project. The template includes crucial milestones throughout the process and defines stakeholders – this makes a positive impact on time, cost, performance and quality and also creates more flexibility for the organisation and teams to react better to unforeseen scenarios.

While the journey took the BMC Group off a familiar trail, the outlook and the teamwork to get there are full of potential on every level.