GE Work-Out

Accelerating Decision-Making and Effective Execution

“Within two years, we conducted over 20 [GE Work-Out] sessions, giving double-digit % savings from every event . . .”
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Have you ever had the urge to simply cut through the “business-as-usual” way of doing things, make a decision and get it done?

If you have, then you understand the spirit of Work-Out.

GE Work-Out:  What It Is

Developed at General Electric during the “Jack Welch era,” Work-Out is a hybrid problem-confrontation/change-acceleration process that calls a “time out” from typical bureaucratic practices and behaviors and substitutes continuous focus, efficient decision-making and accelerated implementation.

The GE Work-Out change acceleration process provides a comprehensive framework within which to overcome barriers of rank, function, geography, bureaucracy and culture to foster what GE originally called “boundaryless behavior.”

By effectively and efficiently aligning people across organizational boundaries, Work-Out not only lowers resistance to change, but also mobilizes commitment and support for high-priority business-improvement activity.  Properly executed, the Work-Out change acceleration process can create the kind of momentum and efficient implementation that improves business results . . . now.

GE Work-Out Implementation:  How It Works

Unlike conventional methods of teaming, whereby problem-solving or “task” teams meet for short periods over several weeks or even months, the heart of General Electric Work-Out is its efficient, focused, multiple-day work sessions.  These are carefully designed and closely facilitated by one or more of our GE Work-Out-experienced Senior Associates.

In these high-performance work sessions, teams composed of internal “experts” who are closest to the challenge – as well as representatives of customers, suppliers or other business partners, where appropriate – thoroughly analyze a critical business issue and develop recommendations for improvement.

Before the Work-Out session can be adjourned, relevant executive decision-makers must enter the forum and render judgment on all team recommendations clearly, publicly and “on the spot.”  This kind of accelerated decision-making, along with unambiguous, public leadership endorsement, serves as a solid foundation for Work-Out teams as they launch into Work-Out’s accelerated implementation phase.

During implementation, teams will reconvene with executive decision-makers to check progress at 30, 60 and, finally, 90 days, by which time most if not all of their work must be completed.  This short-cycle implementation timetable creates focus and a sense of urgency, accelerating the achievement of the teams’ “stretch” targets and improvements.

Conducted individually or as a strategically orchestrated and complementary series of initiatives, Work-Out can be a powerful force for getting results – fast – and for helping any company, regardless of size, act and feel like a smaller, nimbler and more resilient enterprise.

GE Work-Out Implementation:  How It’s Done

Gagnon Associates consultants helped GE launch Work-Out initially during the early 1990’s and are some of the most experienced practitioners available.

We can guide you successfully through the Work-Out Phases pictured below so that your business can achieve the kind of results for which Work-Out is so well-known.

GE Work-Out Training: Building Client Self-Sufficiency

One of our valued clients has said the following about us:

This kind of testimonial is extremely gratifying to us, of course, and nowhere is it truer than of our approach to GE Work-Out. Beginning at General Electric during the Jack Welch era and continuing right up to the present, our GE Work-Out training sessions have ranged from large workshops, accommodating scores of individuals over several years to individual, one-time sessions for as few as eight trainees. In all cases, the objective of our GE Work-Out training sessions is always the same: building our clients’ self-sufficiency in the GE Work-Out methodology.

The following graphic illustrates how we transfer GE Work-Out skills from our experienced Associates to individuals within our client organizations.   Building our clients’ capabilities in this way allows them to continue to generate improved business results on their own long after their engagement with us is over.

Representative GE Work-Out Training Designs

Overviews of representative GE Work-Out training sessions are pictured below.  The first illustrates an approach to GE Work-Out taining for “Lead Consultant/Facilitators,” that is, individuals who seek the skills to enable them to “design” or scope and stage a Work-Out engagement “from scratch.”  The second depicts a representative GE Work-Out training design for “Team Consultant/Facilitators,” that is, individuals who will facilitate the Conduct phase of a single team in a multiple-team Work-Out that has previously been designed by a “Lead Consultant/Facilitator.”

Of course, client situations can vary greatly and some tailoring to individual client needs is always advisable. Consequently, these outlines should be viewed as representative examples only.

For concrete descriptions of actual Work-Out engagmenents as well as personal endorsements from some of our valued clients, please review the testimonials and case studies that follow: