Nine months of frustration led management to conclude that a systematic training initiative was needed to educate the organization and support the development of new teamwork competencies. the past phase of training focused on changing old thought patterns and helping people understand the link between BP Norge's business strategy and the need for self-managed teams. Because employees had been through many change efforts in the past, they had become skeptical and resistant.
to convince them that more change was needed, a team of American and Norwegian facilitators conducted two-day workshops, which were attended by a mix of people from all levels and functional specialties. Oil rig workers and senior managers sat side-by-side, as did Norwegians and Americans-even if they couldn't speak each other's language. Prior to the workshop, everyone completed a rework assignment. First, they watched a video that explained self-managed teams and showed how other organization had used them successfully. They also interviewed a few colleagues to find out what they thought about self-managed teams.