About Baxter Thompson Associates
Our Mission Statement
We help technologists work with collaborators to deliver their shared vision, sustainably.
Formed in 2009, Baxter Thompson Associates is a specialist senior advisory service based in the UK with a European client base. Led by Jon Baxter, the company has provided many public workshops, forums, custom corporate interventions and individual mentoring on strategic partnerships.
We're really keen to see a step change in how we work collectively and we reckon we're onto something big, We want to share it to you and grow the community of Product Managers, Customer Success Managers, Architects, Developers, Analysts, Service Delivery Teams, Project Managers and IT Business Partners who share the same vision:
"To provide more sustainable competitive advantage through better fulfilment of customer needs"
Consider the big picture and not a point-fix solution.
Strategic Partnerships are not enabled through a job title or one person recruited into the role. It is enabled through collective endevour across the organisation. That means organisational change. The six drivers listed in the Organisation Partner Maturity chart demonstrate the areas that need to be looked at holistically if the organisation as a whole is going to improve.
You are what your strengths are - not your job title.
Agility and responsiveness requires multi-disciplinary workgroups that can form and disband quickly. So we suggest identifying the strengths, the capacity and demand for that work and allocating on the basis of who is willing and able. Does that mean you'll be doing more than one role? Yes, but there is only one lead or coach to help build up the team's strengths in a particular competency, spot opportunities and mitigate the weaknesses across the team.
Learning and change management suited to your needs
In order to become Stratagic Partners, organisations have different challenges and people have different styles of learning, rates of progress and information needs. We deliver the SDBP® framework in a variety of formats, such as:
- Blended learning for those who want to advance their career
- Custom client workshops for those who want to develop their team
- Coaching to provide insight further into the organisational challenges, attitudes and behaviours
- Interim Management to make a step change in performance quickly.
Succession planning and constant learning
Your team need dedicated time as part of the weekly / yearly schedule to learn and practice management approaches, new technologies and their application. Long term planning on what the skills are needed in the future and how people can reach their true potential is given by exposure to different areas of the business, different ways of thinking and increased responsibility.
Little and Often
You don't suddenly become a Strategic Partner because of a certificate. We believe it's by consistent, small incremental changes in the way that you work over a period of time. We therefore structure the interventions to be spread out over a period ranging from 6 months to 18 months.
Continuous Improvement
Just like constant learning, taking this idea beyond lip service means dedicating time to this activity. Whatever the job, a personal commitment to improvement within a supportive environment can only deliver effective change.
Our Values
Defining who we are and what our business stands for
PARTNERSHIP
We are dedicated to building exceptional and collaborative, long-term partnerships. We are friendly and approachable.
HONESTY
We are honest and humble in our approach. We believe in respectful clear communication.
SIMPLICITY
In a world of huge complexity, we believe the solution that is simpler to understand and break down into simple steps will be more effective in driving results.
ACHIEVEMENT
We deliver results through a practical and hands-on approach. We are committed to getting the job done, delivering on time and within budget. We believe in accountability.
INSIGHT
We are an industry innovator based on the insight we garner through research, application and experience.
SUSTAINABILITY
We build for the long-term. We always aim to help you, the customer, become self-sufficient, in a way that doesn't harm the environment.
