Associate Blog

July

There is a lot to learn about Stroud and the business we do! I spent a week training in the office with three other new hires; most of the material was technical in nature. I spent the remaining weeks of this month on-site with my "coach," a Senior Consultant who is helping me get acclimated. I'm setting daily plans for myself and a few of the client team members. When I am not on site, I'm having fun getting to know my new neighborhood. Living in Boston is great!

Key learning point this month:
There is no shortage of feedback at Stroud, and the people develop way faster because of that.

At Stroud:
I attended my first office-wide meeting this month. The dynamic is lively and fun, while staying focused on great results.

September

I've had some great success in my work. Almost overnight we've cut waste by 75% on the biggest three products that this facility produces, the improvement is worth $150,000 to the client. I've spent a few days on site without my "coach," which is both exciting and daunting. I've built great relationship with the production manager and the team members, and I get great exposure to the plant manager as well. The day-to-day things are easy now: expense reporting, making travel arrangements, packing, connecting to my email from anywhere.

Key learning point this month:
Great change programs start with results. Seeing those results has a snowball effect, and it takes work on all sides to keep progress moving!

At Stroud:
Company-wide office meetings are getting more comfortable for me, and are still extremely dynamic. I ran into a few others from Stroud at the ski exposition downtown last weekend; we're pumped up for the coming winter!

December

Our client team gave a great presentation to their divisional leaders. The results were very positive, and the stories that explained how we got there were very well told! I've been running the team for a few weeks now, with input and feedback from my "coach," who is liaising with the plant leadership and driving the waste-reduction system. I'm glad to have ample time off to see family, travel, and get some skiing in.

Key learning point this month:
Clients appreciate the great interpersonal skills and characteristics that Stroud exhibits: professionalism, honest conversations and listening, charisma, and facilitation. We aren't experts in any one field except for improvement.

At Stroud:
We celebrated a great year as a company with spouses and partners at our annual holiday party. It was a very elegant and a nice way to wrap up the year, and I had a great time with faces new and old. We started with a formal dinner and ended up on the dance floor.

June

My "coach" and I started in a new facility this month. The buy-in and leadership support is great. I'm working on site without my "coach" most of the time. I interact daily with the client production manager, and the plant manager is trying to recruit me to work directly for him! I couldn't be happier with the results so far: production is up an average of 9% across the plant, with no additional investment! As always, I'm learning a lot from the clients who are excited about driving the improvements for themselves. The results have been so good that we've expanded our efforts in production and are starting to tackle some opportunities in other departments.

I'll be having my second six-month review this week, and I'm looking forward to it. I've progressed very quickly in the past year with Stroud, and I'm proud of the great things that clients have achieved with my help.

Key learning point this month:
Stroud is a great place to help clients, grow, and learn. The approach that we take, for leaders is to abandon the assumptions that stand in the way of progress, is applicable to any business process and literally any situation in life. It just makes sense.

At Stroud:
I'm getting ready to welcome in some new hires next month. I'll be taking them through some of the IT preparations and day-to-day functions that we all use. I'm thinking back fondly to my first days at Stroud, and looking forward to what's yet to come.