Bernd Meyer, Group Head of Supply Chain
British American Tobacco, Head Office – Globe House, London, UK
“During 2012 we had to merge our Planning, Logistics and Service business divisions at the top leadership level, to achieve greater business synergy.  This required a lot of changes, a new strategy and new priorities.  We proceeded to plan our yearly SLA session (November 2012) to align our team objectives with our business deliverables.  Our purpose for 2012 was to create a common view and alignment across the team on performance during the year. This included successes as well as opportunities for improvement and to clarify the team’s priorities and expectations for 2013. A key challenge was to create the understanding between team members that it was no longer three departments working together but one common team pulling in the same direction.   I asked Annemarie Lombard of Sensory Intelligence Consulting, to be involved in this yearly event.  I observed a disparity in the leadership team; there were uncertainty and associated anxiety associated with the change process, a lack of honest debate and poor engagement.  Team cohesion and performance had been impacted as a result and I particularly wanted Annemarie’s input in conjunction with our strategy session as I remembered her influence and value in a previous BAT leadership team in South Africa.  Her approach is quite profound and practical.  Through a non-threatening platform people learned about themselves and the team managed to connect and engage honestly and openly.  The focus on diversity and individual strengths allowed the team to appreciate their unique roles and how to align that with the business objectives.  It resulted in our best SLA session ever; the team was more connected; their lines of communication honest and effective and they emerged as a collaborative and cohesive team.  This resulted in a directive, to the point, successful strategy.  Opinions were shared easily and honestly and a newfound understanding and willingness to share and support was observed.  The team found the level of sharing and insights very positive.  Annemarie facilitated a relaxed and collaborative environment. The sensory intelligence part laid the foundation for a professional, and focused discussion about priorities based on trust and cooperation and opinion sharing.  Back in the office this continued and other teams working with us commented on the positive change and sense of purpose and performance. In summary, spending the time, effort and money on how our team worked with one another, from a behavioural aspect, resulted in a clear return on investment.  I can recommend Annemarie’s approach with absolute confidence.  Apart from being a specialist in her field, she is a keen observer and facilitated her knowledge and passion in a practical and powerful way.  She is able to provide pragmatic examples and makes people understand themselves and their behaviour in a non-confrontational and “safe” environment. On top of that she is a good observer and provides helpful insights on the team and individuals. Our teamwork, performance and business deliverables have improved as a result."

Annemarie Lombard facilitated a workshop for the top team of British American Tobacco South Africa. She did an excellent job on a rather new topic, namely Sensory Intelligence. She has a profound knowledge on the subject and has the ability to bring it across in an understandable way that makes business sense, more so each one of the participants could directly link the content to their day to day way of working. Key outcomes from the workshop were:
- An awareness and understanding amongst self and team members for the way in which each team member operates and his/her specific role in the team
- Integration and alignment of workshop content to team member's development plans which includes an individual sensory intelligence profile
- Implementation of very practical steps to enhance the quality of work/life integration/balance of team members
- Investigation of way to roll-out the sensory intelligence content and knowledge further to other teams in the organization – this was requested by the Top Team as a result of the workshop.
In summary, Annemarie is a world class expert on her subject and she has the ability to convey it in the most understandable and practical way. What she offers is extremely powerful to enhance the performance of individuals and teams.

 

 

Annemarie Lombard has worked quite extensively with Nedbank Property Finance.   In 2009, our business, had gone through a restructuring  process as well as re-arrangement of seating etc.

Annemarie was asked to work with our business to create an understanding of synergies within our teams using Sensory Intelligence.

Each team within our business (total of 100 staff), completed a sensory profile questionnaire and then attended the Sensory workshop.  This has proven to be hugely successful and the feedback from our staff has been extremely positive.  The learning from these workshops and de-briefs have allowed us to create a safe, respectful, caring environment where we all feel  understood, seen and heard!!!

Thanks Annemarie!!!

Thank you very much for your help and for all your work in this field, I think people REALLY need work like yours to be as visible as possible. Sensory Intelligence makes the most 'sense' by far and it's effects are so very far reaching...

 

Annemarie has the natural ability to conceptualise theory and put it into practise. In not being a professional Coach only, but also an Expert on Sensory Intelligence, she has the advantage to practically understand the differences within working groups and the individuals within such groups. Various differences amongst individuals / teams within a particular work environment we as Leaders or Managers need to deal with on a daily basis, but not always understand, in order to cultivate the required results. Annemarie quietly listens, easily interprets and implements in order to meet our needs. A great experience not just for her, but everybody she engage with.

 

The workshop which we held with Annemarie on team sensory profiling was a real eye opener to a world which we are so much a part of and yet so unaware of. Her deft use of the data gleaned from our individual sensory profiles allowed us to understand exactly where we were as a team and how we could accentuate our team performance is ways which would be compatible with our profile. The spin-offs of improved relationships and a deeper understanding of each other, has benefited my team immensely and I would recommend team sensory profiling to any leader or manager interested in improving team effectiveness. We continue to work with Annemarie, as our team dynamics and members are constantly changing, as we believe that her work adds considerable value to the continued effectiveness of our team.

 

It was such an enlightening experience to understand more fully the effect that one's "own senses" have on your personal productivity and sense of well being in different environments.  I could see the value of this in understanding some of the problems encountered in learning groups.

 

Sensory Intelligence is a powerful process that taps into the often unseen and unexplored sensory skills that we have and turns them into powerful sources of better understanding and interpreting the world around us.

 

Working with Annemarie has been a truly rewarding experience. After 20 years in the industry I have attended countless workshops on personal development. Annemarie’s approach made such sense to me and her knowledge in her field is evident, she is a rare blend of talent plus humility and boundless energy and passion. The sensory profiling she conducted for me was hugely helpful and has already made  a big difference to how I engage with the world and my understanding of what I need to minimize my daily stress.I believe that everyone could benefit from Annemarie’s profiling whether as a leader, parent, an employee or a member of a team.

I attended one of Annemarie’s workshops and was blown away by the simplicity of it all, and yet realised how unaware we are of the impact our senses have on the way we understand and interpret our environment. By gaining an understanding of this, we are able to identify how and why we react, behave or perform the way we do. We can then make adjustments where necessary, in order to perform at our best, whether it be at home or at work. Annemarie is extremely knowledgeable about the subject, has a wonderful way of imparting her knowledge and makes the information practical and personal. This is a subject that I believe everyone will benefit from as it impacts not only ourselves, but everyone we come into contact with. A truly worthwhile investment of time and money!