We helped DBT Digital’s leadership team cut through the confusion of rapid growth, from 120 to 500+ staff, by creating shared language, clarifying roles, and building practical frameworks they still use today. The result? A leadership team that can make decisions together, reorganise without disruption, and keep evolving as they grow.
The Client:
Department for Business and Trade (DBT) Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) function
Leadership team serving 500+ staff across digital, data and technology professions.
“We were fortunate to be able to receive support from Emily Webber and Rebecca Kemp over 2023 and 2024 to help us with [Matrix working] challenges. I cannot do justice to all that we worked on since moving to this way of working. However, some key ‘aha’ moments were when we found much clearer language to explain what we meant. Sounds obvious, but when everyone has such differing responses to similar words, and there are lots of us, it’s vital.
Being clear and using commonly agreed language genuinely unlocked something important for us. As a result, we rearranged our portfolios, changed some of their names and re-cast some teams to be clearer in their purpose.”
Jason Kitcat, DDaT Director, Department for Business and Trade
The Challenge
DBT’s DDaT leadership team had successfully implemented matrix working to support multi-disciplinary collaboration and professional development. But as they grew rapidly from 120 to over 500 people and absorbed teams from other departments, cracks started to show:
Lost in translation
People interpreted key concepts differently, creating confusion and inefficiency.
Blurred boundaries
The distinction between Professional and Portfolio leadership wasn’t clear, leading to disagreements.
Lack of effective supporting structures
No clear space for prioritising and updating supporting operational activities to make matrix working effective at this new size.
No clear growth pathways
People lacked visibility on how to develop their capabilities and progress in their roles.
The Tacit Solution
Working in partnership with Rebecca Industries Ltd, we took a collaborative, research-led approach that prioritised clarity and practical application over theory.
Discovery Through Listening
Started with 1:1 conversations across the leadership team to understand different perspectives, pain points, and what was working. This revealed the core issue: without shared language and mental models, even the best-intentioned leaders were pulling in different directions.
Creating Shared Understanding
Brought the team together for a prioritisation workshop where we played back what we’d heard and facilitated agreement on the most critical areas to address. This gave the team ownership over the direction and ensured we focused on their real priorities.
Developing Practical Frameworks
Through a series of in-person and online workshops, we worked collaboratively to:
- Clarify organisational structure, responsibilities and interplays between leadership roles
- Develop a Team Taxonomy Model to create a shared language
- Created a shared purpose statement for the Senior Leadership team
Embedding the Change
We left the team with models and language they continued to use long after our engagement ended, fundamentally changing how they talked about and structured their work.
The Impact
Unlocked Communication
The leadership team gained shared language that unstuck previously difficult conversations. They could finally talk about the same things in the same way.
Reorganised Without Disruption
Armed with a clearer understanding, the team rearranged portfolios, changed team names, and re-cast some teams to be clearer in their purpose, all without the chaos of a formal “restructure.”
Stronger Leadership
Leaders gained clarity on their roles and responsibilities, particularly on how to better meet each other’s needs and work together to achieve strategic goals.
Lasting Frameworks
The Team Taxonomy model became embedded in how DBT DDaT operates, appearing in their internal communications and shaping ongoing organisational decisions.
Built Capability
The team can now continue refining their approach independently, adapting as they grow and face new challenges.
What Made This Work
This engagement succeeded because we:
- Started with research: 1:1 conversations revealed the real issues beneath surface symptoms
- Created shared ownership: the prioritisation workshop and ongoing co-design ensured leaders drove the agenda.
- Focused on practical application: Creating simplified approaches to meet DBT’s needs, tested against real scenarios and decisions.
- Used collaborative workshops: in-person and online interactive workshops created space for the leadership team to work through their thinking together.
- Built on existing strengths: Enhanced what was working rather than starting from scratch.
- Left lasting capability: Equipped the team to continue evolving their approach independently.
Services Used
- Organisational Consulting
- Leadership Team Coaching
- Workshop Design and Facilitation
- Organisational Design
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