Welch Consulting

Case Study

Defense Contractor Program Team Peer Assist

Situation:

A program team, part of the aerospace division of a major defense contractor, had a challenge:

• They were competing for a multi-billion space sensor program as a prime contractor when up to that point, no program team in the division had ever been selected as the prime.
• The team's own assessment of their probability of winning the deal was low enough at that stage to cause concern
• They were looking for ways to boost the probability in anticipation of winning some early contracts to pay for further development (usual practice for very large programs)
• The division management decided that they needed to get help from outside the division so they engaged Welch Consulting to do a Peer Assist.

Approach:

A Peer Assist is a facilitated workshop that brings together peers (as defined by function, domain, title, or area of expertise) from across and outside an organization to solve a defined problem. The team with the issue hosts a workshop that includes 6 to 10 visiting peers where they first gain and understanding of the host team's issues and then share ideas and experiences that lead to new avenues and potential solutions. The Peer Assist is very different from a Peer Review, a Red Team Review or a strategy “validation” meeting in that the home team asks for help.

Welch Consulting handled all aspects of the peer assist including:

• Defining what the right problem was for the Peer Assist
• Worked with the Program Manager and his team to prepare them for the Peer Assist and to ensure that they were open to  sharing and receiving the knowledge they needed.
• Worked with the appropriate team members and administrators on all aspects of logistics to ensure that the Peer Assist was successful
• Guided the creation of the presentations to be used by the home team.
• Facilitated the workshop and participated in the post workshop reviews.
• Created the summary documents from the Peer Assist.

Results:

The Peer Assist helped the team to:

• Get specific ideas and actions about what their Air Force customer really thought about the program and used those to reengage the client in a meaningful and productive dialog.
• Gain visibility and help from the CEO's office on this attempt to be a prime contractor
• Receive specific offers of help with people resource requirements

The visiting peers got value from the Peer Assist:

• They were able to better understand the issues of what it took to be a prime contractor within the context of the company's competencies and culture.
• A number of attendees met other senior level managers and were able to engage in dialogues around issues of mutual; interest including workshare and resource sharing.

Outcome:

The program was awarded a preliminary contract for further development in 7 months after the Peer Assist and were well positioned in their bid to be a prime contractor.

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