Case studies

Challenge: Fill the skills gaps that are critical to the success of 60 lawyers. Incorporate: Teamwork, building resilience, remote management. How to cope with work demands and stress and continue to coach, delegate and team effectively in a digital environment. Points to emphasize: demarcation between life and work, meeting the needs of those who need more social contact.

Solution: A series of interactive workshops with follow-up, aimed at equipping senior associates with practical tools to help them build trust and manage difficult conversations more effectively. This program was included in the two-year management training academy. The program was designed around the following objectives: Help participants transform awareness into new actions, new ways of thinking and new ways of being. Develop confidence skills to have a positive impact on people management and the constructive development of customer relationships.

Impact: For 60 participants, we achieved a satisfaction rate of 86%.

Testimonial: "The workshop was excellent. The practical tips provided by the presenters are very useful and I can really feel a difference after implementing them. I feel I am better prepared and organized for meetings after using the techniques suggested by the presenters. So this workshop has really been an enriching experience for me".

Challenge: I worked with this successful FinTech company on several occasions, offering DiSC workshops. Each team wanted to improve communication within and between teams. For one team in particular, Talent Acquisition, it was extremely important to improve communication and learn how to give effective feedback to managers, so that they could find the best candidates to recruit.

Solution: A DiSC workshop enabled rapid and dynamic adaptation to different working styles. Participants left the workshop with an individual report, comparative reports on how to work with opposing styles, and a map of the team's working styles.

Impact: After the workshop, the manager told me that the map hung on the wall of their workspace and that they often referred to it when developing communication strategies.

Testimonial: "Convivial format, in small groups with personalized materials, fun and very participative! Better understanding of each participant's profile and the team's strengths (and areas for improvement!)."

Challenge: The customer's core mission and desired actions were affected by a breakdown in communication within a key customer service team. As the app became increasingly popular, everyone found themselves under pressure to keep up. Most communication within the team was on Slack, and the time pressure meant that more misinterpretations were occurring, and these misinterpretations were beginning to manifest themselves in behaviors that were leading some members to feel excluded.

Solution: I provided the mediation framework so that the team could openly share their views without judgment. This eased many tensions, so much so that they were able to move forward and develop a communication charter that they could start using after our session. I also suggested a follow-up session about two months later, so that we could measure progress and work on any obstacles.

Testimonial: "Kay was very open, a good listener and organized our team session in a very cozy space which helped during the more intense passages. I'm very grateful to have had the opportunity to work on our communication with her, she was good at managing speaking time and framing where needed to make the process flow."

Challenge: Group of 16 managers wishing to work on the diversity and inclusion policy and engage their teams in actions.

Solution: I co-hosted a Diversity Fresco. Participants had the opportunity to take this important first step in understanding the mechanisms of discrimination. They were able to develop a common vocabulary and use this new awareness to develop concrete policies adapted to their company.

Challenge:Lakeland wanted to help 20 of its retail managers have daily performance conversations with their teams. The company wanted to provide managers with the tools they needed to take the fear out of these sometimes delicate conversations.

Solution : I co-facilitated a customized one-day group coaching session, using well-known coaching tools such as the Competence/Willpower matrix and GROW. Managers had the opportunity to share experiences, learn and practice new tools, which they could then implement directly with their teams.

Testimonial: "Kay's workshops are very effective. She explains concepts clearly and establishes rapport quickly. She guided participants through the practice with ease and they leave feeling ready to use their new skills."

Challenge: In partnership with Coachhub, I worked with a manager from the African Development Bank group. He wanted to focus on staying calm in the face of conflict.

Solution : J’ai partagé divers outils de résolution des conflits, y compris le DESC, et j’ai accompagné mon client pendant qu’il réfléchissait à une stratégie en vue d’une prochaine réunion du CODIR au cours de laquelle des conversations difficiles étaient attendues. Lors des séances de coaching de suivi, il a eu l’occasion de faire des ajustements et d’approfondir sa pratique et sa prise de conscience, de lui-même et des autres.

Testimonial: "Thank you for your support, Kay. This coaching has been a success for me. I can't wait to put these new tools into practice.

Challenge: Rennes airport prides itself on its human approach to customer service. After overcoming the pandemic and its impact on air transport, the airport is looking ahead to the next five years and wishes to develop its customer service in line with the expansion and diversification of its customer base. The training involves 9 supervisors who welcome customers and also support their teams in welcoming customers.

Solution: Tailor-made coaching to align customer service with the airport's vision and values. Objectives included the development of "people skills", such as active listening, questioning and emotional intelligence, to quickly create empathy with customers and ease tension and stress. Gain awareness of the impact of culture on customer service expectations. Learn to adapt to national and international customer expectations. Apply the new understanding of interculturality to all aspects of customer service at the airport, transfer the learning to teams to ensure that customer service delivery on site is aligned with the airport's vision and values, and link the development of interculturality and people skills to the notion of inclusion...

Testimonial: "We had a really good day. I think we achieved our objectives, and even exceeded them. The exchanges I had with the supervisors in the days that followed were very positive. So I wanted to thank you for managing to pinpoint our expectations, for creating personalized content, and for your energy and good humor."

Challenge: DIT wanted to offer its members, associates and collaborators a conference on how to improve virtual relations with French business partners during the pandemic.

Solution: I've prepared a customized conference entitled "How's the connection....? (How's the connection?) Improving virtual relationships with French partners." This conference focused on how to maintain productive relationships now that communications have moved online. The conference offered advice on how to manage cultural differences, optimize the use of technology and open up new channels of communication.

Testimonial: "Thank you, Kay, for agreeing to be the keynote speaker at DIT to present the challenges of multicultural business relationships in this new wave of online communication".

Défi : Cadres expatriés de France et d’autres pays, travaillant en Inde. Certains d’entre eux ont constaté des difficultés à s’adapter aux différences culturelles en matière de prise de décision, de retour d’information et de gestion des délais et aimeraient apprendre des conseils et astuces qui peuvent les aider à gérer plus efficacement leur équipe multiculturelle.

Solution: An interactive workshop to decipher cultural codes, adjust your managerial posture and establish a climate of trust. Emphasis is placed on certain key cultural dimensions, the need to adapt and be agile with one's own cultural preferences, and the importance of empathy in building solid virtual relationships.

Testimonial: "I really enjoyed managing a multicultural team in India. However, there were some difficult moments and now, thanks to this workshop, I understand why. I've gained a better understanding of some of the cultural differences that can lead to misunderstandings, and I'm looking forward to putting into practice some of the advice I've been given."

Challenge: To create, manage and host an integration event for 750 Masters students. The event had to be structured but fun, avoiding new technologies and paper. The emphasis must be on an active learning experience. It's a challenge to break down communication barriers between local and international students. The event must therefore emphasize working together, building relationships between programs (synergies), team spirit, inclusive leadership, getting out of the comfort zone - encouraging the creation of social opportunities/mixing, self-awareness, awareness of others, managing multicultural teams.

Solution: Organize a team of 16 people to run 10 simultaneous one-day workshops during the Masters integration week, "Step into your international future". The workshop theme was as follows: on arrival, participants were asked to imagine that they had arrived on the first day of their new job in a multicultural team. What followed were a number of fun, interactive activities that could be used in real multicultural teams to improve relationships and productivity. I also produced a guide containing all the key tips and tricks that students can keep.

Impact: The event was a great success and I was invited back the following year to create a longer, multi-site integration event.

Video testimonial :

Challenge: To help staff reap the benefits of internationalization and overcome its challenges. Once their skills have been reinforced, they are better able to welcome foreign students, build stronger relationships with international partners and promote international mobility.

Solution : Je travaille avec le personnel de l’UPEC depuis 4 ans et propose des ateliers en ligne et en face à face sur l’internationalisation et l’inclusion. Il s’agit de moments amusants et interactifs où le personnel se réunit pour partager ses expériences et apprendre les uns des autres.
Ils remettent en question leurs propres façons de penser en s’engageant réellement dans des activités interculturelles. Jusqu’à présent, plus de 70 membres du personnel ont été formés.

Testimonial: "During our four-year collaboration, Kay Watson has been a true ally in helping our staff and students develop their intercultural and international skills. Her facilitation skills, pedagogy, expertise and dynamic personality have consistently generated extremely positive feedback from participants. Her interventions are an indisputable asset in our 'at home' internationalization strategy at UPEC, profoundly enriching our university environment."