Workshops

Goal-Driven Sessions for Team Alignment and Learning

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Our team alignment workshops engage a company’s top leadership in robust and thoughtful discussions about how to create, initiate and execute a technology-enabled business transformation. The team learns a common language and framework to define and solve problems, and ultimately develop a game plan. Workshops typically last between one and three days and take place at our Arrowhead Ranch, just north of Dallas, or at a client’s office.

During our workshops, the team learns to bridge the gap between business and IT, work cooperatively to create a game plan, and improve communications across the organization. Clients request workshops to help:

Eliminate blind spots within or between organizations
Align a newly formed team on history, current state, and future vision
Conduct a level-setting session when a new leader is hired
Plan a new strategy to meet business, technical, and organizational goals
Solve a particular problem that’s critically important to the team

Our Process

Step 1

FOCUS ON GUIDING PRINCIPLES

First, we engage leaders in a thoughtful discussion with our team about technology-enabled business transformation and creating a context for teamwork. We review guiding principles, establish a common language, and familiarize participants with our transformation framework.

Step 2

UNDERSTAND TRENDS & CHALLENGES

As a second step, we facilitate an in-depth, client-led discussion about the trends and challenges they face within their industry. We work together to articulate strategic objectives, current direction, and existing challenges.

Step 3

BUILD A GAME PLAN

The final step in a workshop is focused on engaging with the client to build a game plan for moving forward. We detail how to create a change or transformation with The Feld Group Institute Framework.

Connect with Russell Villemez

Russell Villemez

Affiliate, The Feld Group Institute

Head of Technology Strategy, Dialexa – a Feld Group Institute partner

Highly regarded CTO and change agent with IT strategy and enterprise architecture expertise.

Russell Villemez is an Affiliate with the Feld Group Institute and the head of Technology Strategy at Dialexa, a Technology Research, Design and Creation firm that works with organizations on initiatives such as Operational Transformation, Business Growth, and New Venture Creation.

During 17 years in operational roles and 15 years in consulting roles, Russell has worked across a variety of industries in both executive leadership positions and as a subject matter expert. Russell thrives on the scale and complexity of leading major change agendas in large corporate environments.

Recent consulting clients include AmerisourceBergen, the American Automobile Association, Brinker International, Cubic, Equifax, and Cox Automotive. A common thread is the client’s need for strong leadership during a period of change—whether motivated by acquisitions, spin-offs, competitive pressures, or other factors. Clients also benefit from Russell’s expertise in enterprise architecture, agile development, application portfolio rationalization, technology and architecture strategy, as well as business strategy and commercial software product development.

Recognized as a versatile IT executive, adept at solving complex problems with innovative solutions, Russell’s capabilities and achievements span a continuum from business-strategy formation to hands-on IT solution development. His extensive career achievements include pioneering the first use of relational databases in high-volume transaction systems in the ‘80s, applying voice recognition DSPs in public intelligent network services for consumer markets in the ‘90s, and leading large-scale adoptions of open systems, object technology, and middleware frameworks in complex business environments, often in advance of commercially available software products.

Prior to joining Dialexa, Russell served at HP as Enterprise Services Chief Technology Officer for the Americas, leading a global capability for embedded Account CTOs in large enterprises. Russell began his career at Accenture, where he first crafted his consultative problem-solving approach, later honed at A.T. Kearny and the Feld Group. Russell’s deep telecom experience is built upon numerous director and enterprise architect positions at AT&T, Bell Atlantic, Telstra, US West, Pacific Bell, and Sprint, and as V.P. and CIO for WebLink Wireless.

Russell has a BS in Business Administration from Louisiana State University and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. In his spare time, Russell participates in amateur auto racing, and is a driving instructor with the Porsche Club of America.