Abstract | Company Profile and Challenges
This project provided an eight-month systematic team coaching engagement for the leadership team of an international fast-food chain in China. Covering the full process from team diagnosis to outcome measurement, the project aimed to address cross-functional collaboration challenges, communication barriers, and cultural integration issues exposed during a period of rapid expansion, ultimately supporting the company’s successful IPO and enabling breakthroughs in both business performance and organizational development.
This company is a restaurant enterprise that has been deeply rooted in the Chinese market for more than twenty years. Growth had been slow in the past, but following the appointment of a new management team, the company entered an unprecedented phase of rapid development through strategic restructuring, digital transformation, and process optimization:
• The pace of store expansion increased significantly
• The digital team provided comprehensive support for strategic execution
• Delivery processes were optimized to a very high level
However, behind this rapid growth, the management team faced a series of challenges:
• Cross-functional conflict — Frequent tensions between Supply Chain and Operations, and between IT and Marketing, affected overall efficiency
• IPO pressure — Before going public, the company needed to demonstrate a united and high-performing leadership team in order to strengthen investor confidence
• Team rebuilding — The new leadership structure had been put in place, but the team lacked trust, alignment, and collaboration
• Cultural lag — While the business expanded at high speed, the organizational culture and communication mechanisms failed to evolve at the same pace.
Our Approach | Systemic Coaching Intervention
The team coaching project lasted nearly nine months and adopted a systemic team coaching model, progressing step by step from diagnosis to facilitation, from reflection to transformation.
1. Team Diagnosis
At the beginning of the project, in-depth interviews and the TDA Team Effectiveness Assessment revealed the team’s core issues:
• Departmental silos had led to fragmented goals
• Conflicts often remained at the surface level, without effective resolution mechanisms
• Meetings were inefficient and often devolved into blame-shifting
These findings provided direction for the subsequent coaching interventions.
2. Kick-off Workshop
During a two-day workshop, the team focused on building trust and co-creating shared goals:
• Through structured activities, team members opened up to one another for the first time and gained a genuine understanding of each other’s pressures and concerns
• They redefined the team’s common goals, shifting focus from departmental KPIs to enterprise-level strategic objectives
• They established foundational principles and shared language for cross-functional collaboration.
3. Follow-up Workshops
In the subsequent series of workshops, the team coach supported the leadership team in deepening progress on an ongoing basis:
• Constructive interaction – Through role reversal and scenario simulation, team members learned to view issues from one another’s perspectives
• Authentic dialogue – In the communication workshop, each member received feedback from the team in turn and shared personal reflections candidly. In that moment, nearly everyone was deeply moved, and for the first time the team experienced a heartfelt and transformative exchange
• Institutionalization of mechanisms – Cross-functional issue review processes and efficient meeting frameworks were established, enabling collaboration to evolve from a “one-time experience” into an “organizational habit.”
As an executive remarked:
That evening, I could not calm down for a long time afterward. It was not merely a workshop, but more like a rebirth of the team.
Outcome Measurement
1. Business Results:
• The company successfully completed its IPO and maintained rapid growth within the industry, with its share price rising steadily
• Supply Chain and Operations achieved stronger alignment, making store-opening processes smoother and delivery commitments more consistently fulfilled
• IT and Marketing began operating in close sync, significantly improving the efficiency of campaign launches
• Cross-functional issue resolution became institutionalized, reducing the habitual pattern of mutual blame
2. Team Development
Following the systemic team coaching engagement, the leadership team underwent significant transformation:
From departmental silos to trust-based collaboration
A team that had once blamed one another learned to conduct joint reviews and develop integrated action plans. Cross-functional collaboration moved from confrontation to partnership, with trust gradually replacing division.
From inefficient communication to effective collaboration
The nature of meetings changed fundamentally—from “criticism sessions for assigning blame” to “working sessions for solving problems together.” The team began using common tools and processes proactively, making decision-making faster and more focused.
From localized goals to an enterprise-wide perspective
Team members gradually developed a stronger sense of ownership. Rather than focusing solely on their own departmental KPIs, they began paying active attention to broader organizational objectives, such as new store opening success rates and customer satisfaction—indicators that cut across functions.
This growth not only changed the way the team worked, but also reshaped the way its members thought, making collaboration a core organizational capability.
Our Perspective | The Underlying Logic of Enterprise Transformation
The key to this project’s success lay in the deep integration of human transformation with business growth, revealing the core logic of transformation during periods of rapid development:
Trust is the foundation of collaboration
Without genuine dialogue, there can be no real collaboration. The safe space created through team coaching enabled the team to surface problems openly and, in doing so, truly solve them.
Systemic team coaching is superior to one-off training
Team coaching is not a one-time event, but a systematic process that runs through diagnosis, intervention, follow-up, and measurement, ensuring that behavioral change is sustainable.
Leadership participation and role modeling are critical
The CEO’s full participation and public reflection significantly accelerated the team’s psychological openness and behavioral change.
Cultural upgrading is a foundational capability for large-scale organizations
As companies expand, they must proactively cultivate a culture of agility, collaboration, and accountability; otherwise, scale itself may become a burden.
Closing Words
Team coaching is not a luxury, but a necessity for enterprises at critical stages of development. It helps teams see one another, see the system, and see the future, thereby enabling a true shift from “hard restructuring” to “soft integration” and building a genuinely high-performing organization.
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