While EY wavespace exists as a global network of physical locations and virtual hubs, Bayer’s experience was unique. We transformed an external event location in Düsseldorf into a hive of simultaneous in-person and virtual collaboration — an experience that posed a high-stakes challenge for the EY engagement team and EY wavespace resources. The five-hour hybrid EY wavespace strategy experience included 18 participants across four continents, including global leadership physically in the room and shared services location managers connecting from their home bases.
The exercises provided Bayer participants the confidence to ask the right questions and break through a complex organizational structure and emotional or political sensitivities. The most impactful exercise was called Round Robin, in which the leaders individually looked at what role their centers might play in the future and collectively played devil’s advocate about any roadblocks in the transformation. After hearing from everyone, we would return to the first speaker to build on how challenges could be rectified, which revealed specific actions to take. All comments and action items were captured in MURAL, a digital canvas.
Open exchange among the participants, with specific time allotted to those who tended to take a back seat in group conversations, proved invaluable — a breakthrough that had been elusive until then. The immersive approach overall was very effective in building a high level of engagement between remote and on-site leaders.
“The braveness of being able to criticize others’ work in this safe environment helped participants redefine their own goals,” said Julia Philip, EY wavespace Experience Designer & Facilitator.
Bayer recognized how quickly they can achieve results collaboratively with EY wavespace, and leaders asked for a second workshop at their headquarters in Leverkusen to continue the dialogue. We sprang into action to transform a sparse conference room into an EY wavespace, enabling in-person collaboration — for the first time in two years — with the flexibility to incorporate another participant who joined virtually, because he had COVID-19.
In line with the EY wavespace ethos, dialogue directly leads to action. The discussions helped define how the shared services centers differentiate from each other, showing how to bridge the gaps between them and create a better understanding of the expectations. Together, the workshops surfaced key foundational pillars for a new governance model and defined the next steps for effective collaboration to operate as “one Bayer,” with greater support across key functions.
