Clearing the path for growth
How Common Thread helped a growing organization through a period of change before it could result in stalled momentum or an adverse impact on culture.
Client Details
~150-person, US-based professional services organization operating in global health.
Challenge
After several years of rapid change and continued funding unpredictability, the organization was heading into another ambitious growth year. Recent leadership transitions and evolving workplace policies resulted in a period of sustained change for employees, and leaders needed a clear, evidence-based view of where operational risk could potentially build, before it could affect the team's ability to execute.
Approach
Common Thread deployed its Transformation Friction Map to pinpoint where execution risk was concentrated across four dimensions: decision clarity, authority and governance, capacity and change load, and trust. We grounded the analysis in the organization's own strategic, governance and survey data, then tested and sharpened the findings through interviews with leaders and frontline staff. From there, we facilitated a leadership workshop to share the results and worked side-by-side with leadership to co-create an action plan with measurable outcomes.
Impact
- Leadership used the findings to adjust return-to-office and short-term leave policies, a fast, visible signal that leadership was listening and acting on what mattered most to staff.
- The organization walked away with a shared, evidence-based view of its highest-priority risks and a concrete, measurable plan to protect momentum heading into its next growth phase.