Data Support Room Services
"How Understanding the Colored Brain Theory improves Outcomes"
by Lily Lau (DC Practitioner)

Overview

I had been training in the Directive Communication methodology and as the following story will show, "using techniques learned in training" can greatly improve otherwise negative situations.

There was an assignment that I did earlier this year, called the "Data Support Room Services" where my team represented the seller in an M & A. An M & A is where a buyer wants to buy into a company, and it is his or her duty and responsibility to review the tax structure, accounting practices and carry out legal due diligence on that particular company.

Our agreed list of services with this client was to provide a "Data Support Room" where the buyer's consultant are put into a confined environment to undertake the review. It was also agreed that the job had to be completed within three days.

A team was formed and I was called in to be part of the team for my expertise in "Bridging Gaps and Facilitation". A Manager was appointed with a staff member under him. The three of us were basically "the operational team", however, the Manager and I reported to different Directors.

Before the job started, there were meetings with the client and I was called to attend two of these. The purpose was, essentially, to assist in communication. There were other meetings with regards to arrangement of the room environment and other regulations. The manager attended these meetings and I did not.

On the first day of the job, the situation was tense. The buyer's team came in a group of 12-15 people, consisting of auditors, tax consultants and lawyers. The team was briefed and the rules spelled out. The job progressed very slowly and the buyer's team grew frustrated. They asked for many documents and photocopying them consumed valuable time.

The photocopy process proved to be too slow. Only as documents were requested, were they photocopied. The Manager required a request form to be filled in by the buyers' team for each document and this photocopy request was then forwarded to the photocopy room for action. This was a very inefficient method that was very time consuming.

At the end of Day 1, very little was achieved. The situation between the parties had grown more tense. I could understand their frustration and sensed the source of the problem. Partially it was due to the way our Manager had directed the process. He was basically a "Red Brain" person and managed things according to the scope of work within the rules of "Data Room Support".

In order to improve the situation, I felt required to intervene and explain the situation to the Manager. I told him that he needed to be more flexible in order to cater for the needs of both parties. Indirectly I explained that we were creating barriers to the flow of the process (although indirectly I meant he was creating barriers in the process). Finally he saw my point and agreed to be more flexible regarding the photocopying.

We (the Manager and I ) had a discussion with the client later in the evening and set up new procedures in order to improve the situation. Things improved on Day 2 and the progress was better. As we went along, the manager agreed to further changes and became more flexible in his process management.

At the end of Day 3, the whole job was successfully completed. There were a few other items that needed follow up and both parties agreed to the follow up. All requests for items to be provided were documented so that there were no further disagreements.

What went wrong?

What could have been done better?

By: Lily Lau
( DC practitioner )

15th April 2006

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