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Yoplait Colombo
Client
Background
As part of General Mills, a company with sales exceeding $13 billion
and a number of well-known food products, the Yoplait Colombo division
includes one of the leading brands in the U.S. yogurt market, Yoplait.
It also boasts one of the oldest yogurt brands in the country, Colombo
Yogurt, which began selling yogurt in New England in 1940. In addition,
other buyer favorites Trix, Yumsters, Yoplait Exprèsse, and
new Go-Gurt (spoonless yogurt-in-a-tube) are all under the umbrella
of the Yoplait Colombo brand. Not surprisingly, the Yoplait division
is considered to be one of the most creative and innovative within
General Mills and the entire food industry. Just recently, the group
created, marketed, and distributed one of the most successful products
ever, Go-Gurt.
The
Challenge
The Yoplait
division had just launched a product that was innovative in every
way, from ingredients to packaging to marketing. Without a doubt,
Go-Gurt was a home run for everyone involved and the challenge facing
the division was an enviable one - what could the division do to keep
creativity at its current level? With the success it had achieved,
the group was also growing and new team members were less experienced
than the existing leadership. It was becoming increasingly important
to embrace this new diversity and keep the entire team moving forward,
with continued innovation and creativity. Not surprisingly, the natural
sense of status and belonging to the team had to be addressed and
expectations set accordingly. In fact, one new member was quoted as
saying that he felt "like he had just been chosen to join the
New York Yankees a day after they had won the World Series."
Again, an enviable position but not entirely an easy one.
The
Brave New Workshop's Role
The Yoplait
leadership, taking a cue from other General Mills departments, selected
the Brave New Workshop's corporate training to assist the group in
becoming a more unified team in order to continue the success the
Company had come to expect from the Yoplait division. First, Brave
New Workshop trainers researched the dynamics of the culture that
was in place at the time of the Go-Gurt idea generation and implementation
with the goal to understand what worked initially and how it could
be maintained and broadened. Secondly, the Brave New Workshop staff
interviewed several team members with varying levels of experience
in a day-long retreat in the beautiful Minnesota Northwoods. After
reaching an understanding of the goals, history, and culture of the
Yoplait division, the Brave New Workshop team led the group through
a series of improvisational exercises that reinforced the elements
needed to create a successful innovative, idea-centered team environment.
The interactive nature of the improvisational workshop was a perfect
way to get individuals with different levels of experience and varying
styles of creativity to work together. In doing so, participants who
had not worked together were able to share their own personal styles
and talents in a non-threatening and safe environment. As the training
progressed, the existing team was reminded of the level of acceptance
it took to embrace Go-Gurt in its initial stages of creation and,
together, the entire group learned that perhaps the most important
aspect of their creative culture was the ability to accept new ideas
that at first may have seemed odd. In the end, many in the group,
regardless of tenure, status, or role, understood that creativity
and innovation are skills that need to be nurtured, both as an individual
and as a cohesive team. Training concluded with the belief that the
expanded, diverse Yoplait team is definitely ready to produce the
next home run for General Mills, and, quite possibly, win the World
Series. |
