GE Work-Out
WThe Wunderlin Company's approach to cultural change is rooted in our collective experiences with GE's Work-Out process.

Here's a look at the basic approach.

Work-Out places the work to be done (or the problem to be solved) in the middle of an organization and surrounds it with the people who know it best. This unlocks new resources for problem solving. While the process is directed from the top of the organization, it is implemented with broad participation from employees throughout the organization. In the process, it develops broad coalitions across the organization. Employees start to care deeply about success because they are connected to the business and can make change happen.

The Work-Out process also provides a vehicle for organizations to optimize speed, cost and quality-without compromising any of these measures, and results in new levels of profitability. Here's how it works.

• Management identifies a critical business issue or problem.
• A small group of people from several functional areas come together for uninterrupted work time with the pressure of a deadline as a catalyst and the assistance of skilled facilitation to support their work.
• The group works to develop and present recommendations they can implement.
• Management hears their recommendations and gives a "Yes," "No," (and here's why) or "Further Study" and then empowers teams to implement approved recommendations.
• The teams implement accepted recommendations.
• The teams come back together at a predetermined time (usually 90-120 days later) to report their progress.

Promoting cultural change is really what Work-Out is all about. In the short term, you can increase profitability, improve work processes, eliminate nonessential work, involve your people in the process and increase communication.

Long term, it empowers your people; sustains productivity improvements, and, perhaps most importantly, creates true partnerships.

Here are some articles from a previous issue of our newsletter that can help you learn more about the Work-Out process:

Changing the Way We Change
ACT: An Effective Approach to Problem Solving
Using Team Problem Solving to Improve Performance and Profitability
The ACT Process: Benefits Are Abundant
Countdown to Change: The ACT Process in Action

Here are some recommended books.

Large Group Interventions: Engaging the Whole System for Rapid Change by Barbara Benedict Bunker and Billie T. Alban
Productive Workplaces: Organizing and Managing for Dignity, Meaning, and Community by Marvin R. Weisbord
The GE Way Fieldbook: Jack Welch's Battle Plan for Corporate Revolution by Robert Slater