Karen Sisson
Higher Ed and Government Financial Executive
“Sara worked with a group of eight finance executives who are served by a shared service organization but also represented the interests of their individual institutions.
Historically the group had worked well together; however, turnover had resulted in new members. Communication had broken down and the group had started to form "alliances" away from group meetings to advance individual institutional objectives. Some members were left out of the discussions and meetings became contentious. This led to a dysfunctional group that had difficulty making decisions or dealing with larger issues that required consensus.
Sara brought an upbeat positive attitude to her first meeting with us. She used the DISC tool to help each of us understand the other's style of communication and, more importantly, how one communication style receives communication from another. This was enlightening and resulted in honest conversations that broke down logjams. She was always open to helping each of us understand each other's style, modeling conversations and coaching us through ways of reaching consensus while making sure all viewpoints were heard. We felt supported and grateful for her work.
In subsequent meetings we would refer to our retreats with Sara, sometimes remembering a specific comment or term with humor, which often helped the group lighten up. More specifically, we used the tools Sara taught us to assure decisions were made openly and that we were talking to one another. This was particularly helpful as we took on the challenge of implementing a new ERP module that required cultural shifts at each of our institutions for a successful implementation.
The tools Sara introduced to us also assisted in moving us forward on better defining our expectations for the shared services organization - qualitative as well as quantitative measures -instead of punitive measures. Even more importantly the sessions helped us integrate the new members of the group and move forward on a much more collegial basis.”
