by Ngọc Hường | May 22, 2025
from co-managed meetings to a co-managed company
Client: Ampersand Management
Duration: 2 day training
Ampersand is a company that manages a chain of mid-range and high-end restaurants in Saigon and Hanoi. They employ an inverted pyramid management model and are moving towards a future where every employee becomes a shareholder of the company. After experiencing a co-managed meeting, a leader at Ampersand invited Đom Đóm Lab to introduce this method to the company.
Over the course of two days, the DDL team and 40 staff members from various departments, divisions, and positions covered foundational knowledge on how to invite and facilitate a co-management meeting. Theoretical sessions were always paired with hands-on practice and reflection. During the training, the team had multiple opportunities to apply these new practices to real challenges in their work.
Right after the training, Ampersand’s leadership team applied the co-managed meeting approach and achieved positive results. DDL will continue to check in with the company to provide coaching sessions and address any questions during the implementation process.
How to ask questions is super important. After the training, I see that asking the right question is really cool, and I’ll apply this more in my work.
The Running Bean Hồ Tùng Mậu manager
When you experience the Co-managed meeting training with DDL, you’ll wish you’d knew about this sooner. To make your meeting life much easier 🙂
Julie Ngo – HRM Ampersand Management
by Ngọc Hường | Jan 2, 2025
Mainetti is a global leader in retail solution, the no.1 producer of hangers in the world. In Vietnam, Mainetti has recently opened a new business unit focusing on care labels; this new unit is essentially a startup compared to other well-established units.
The new unit faces complex challenges, from lacking product expertise to meeting client’s expectations. They quickly realized the normal management hierarchy, copied from other business units, is too unwieldy and cannot learn fast enough. So they seek to transform their organization structure to a more teal-inspired way of working.
This project is divided into several phases. In Phase 1, Đom Đóm Lab together with our partner, PeopleRise, helped the client to see their system clearly. Activities like 3D Mapping and Fishbowl discussion brings out diverse points of views within Mainetti and builds cross-department connection.
At the end of Phase 1, different sub teams were built, everyone had a better understanding of their system and the role of each team. The basic knowledge of the Teal model was shared and the journey of transformation began.
For Phase 2 onward, we will support the client to carry out prototypes of shared-leadership. We will also organize training to build capacity for the team to collaborate in complexity.
by Ngọc Hường | Jan 2, 2025
The team has been working together for a few years. The founders of the company want to invite more active participation from their staff and create a more collaborative working environment. We suggest starting with meetings, where the team can implement the practice of shared leadership, shared responsibility, and co-creation.
We introduce the concept of co-managed meetings, where anyone and everyone can proactively contribute to the agenda – what needs to be addressed/ discussed, and the outcomes – what needs to be achieved at the end of the meeting. Throughout 6 weeks, we run 1 session that covers the basics (the principles, roles, practices that support effective meetings), 4 practice sessions where the team took turns to practice running the co-managed meetings, and 1 reflection session to share our learnings, insights, and actions forward.
After 6 weeks of prototyping, the team finally adopted a new way of conducting meetings. They are now co-creating the agenda before every meeting, and share roles of hosting and taking notes during the meetings. The meeting culture has changed their working culture as well. The staff feel more comfortable and confident to initiate and take action. The founders extend this way of meeting beyond their weekly meetings, to community meetings, when they coach, and even in their training.
by Ngọc Hường | Jan 2, 2025
To continue our efforts in fostering a positive, efficient, and cohesive work environment, VietinBank Ngo Quyen Branch organized a gathering for all staff members on October 6, 2024. This is the first time the branch has had the opportunity to interact and share on a branch-wide scale, and it marks the initial step in building and strengthening relationships not only among individuals but also between teams and departments.
The Đom Đóm Lab team, in collaboration with the VietinBank Human Resources Department, designed and implemented a bonding program for nearly 100 employees at the Ngo Quyen branch. The program was built on the following principles:
- Maximizing the participation and input of all attendees.
- Providing a diverse range of experiences for participants.
- Combining activities with reflection to facilitate learning.
- Learning through play and playing to learn. Through games, individual activities, small group activities, and departmental activities, we encouraged participation and fostered an open atmosphere where both staff and leaders were willing to listen.
For the first time, nearly 100 staff members of VietinBank Ngo Quyen had the opportunity to meet and practice active listening to better understand each other both personally and professionally. The departments also had a chance to interact, express gratitude, and provide positive feedback to one another.
by Ngọc Hường | Dec 16, 2024
unfpa – improving the workplace environment
The United Nations Population Fund focuses on improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. For their 2024 retreat, the office is focusing on their work culture, with some topics like work-life balance and emotional intelligence as the highlights. The purpose is for the colleagues to reflect and learn from each other, as well as building connections for the sake of a better work environment.
Đom Đóm Lab designed an agenda to surface the good practice that is already present in the team, harvest the group’s ideas and feedback, and maximize the participation of the members.
We also invited the group to meaningful games that helped them approach difficult topics like mental health and triggers at the workplace.
The group was able to connect at a deeper level. They also distilled some best practices that would be shared with their global colleagues.
