Cross-functional teams often manage to complete projects, but they don’t always do so in sync. When there’s a disconnect in goals, roles, and assumptions, it leads to confusion, delays, and duplicated efforts.
Customized corporate training solutions give teams the chance to step back, combine their thinking, and develop more collaborative ways to work together. That’s why Concordia Continuing Education (CCE) works with clients to craft its customized corporate workshops, which are led by seasoned instructors like Benoît Lamontagne.
As the founder of consulting firm Services-conseils BL, Lamontagne brings his experience in engineering, project management, training, and organizational development to the CCE classroom. In his role as facilitator of the Integrated Project Management workshop, Lamontagne helps teams understand how their roles intersect across departments and how to strengthen their collaboration.
What makes CCE’s corporate workshops distinct is that they begin by identifying the organization’s needs. Before delivering a session, Lamontagne meets with the person who requested the corporate training to understand internal dynamics, the systems already in place and what prompted the request.
Benoît Lamontagne, founder of consulting firm Services-conseils BL
“‘Why this training, and why now?’ That’s what I ask,” says Lamontagne. “Because it’s never random. There’s always something underneath, whether that’s an opportunity, a shift, or even just a sense that things aren’t working quite right.”
The goal is to understand how teams operate and help them identify ways to improve.
Rather than be told how to do their work, participants are given the space to reflect on what is and isn’t working and what adjustments could lead to better results.
Lamontagne structures his workshops with a balance of theoretical training and hands-on exercises. He also prefers to use neutral training scenarios instead of real team projects so that everyone can learn from the same starting point.
“If the project is unfamiliar to everyone, no one’s the subject matter expert,” he says. “That way, a pure learning experience is possible.”
Lamontagne might ask a team to create a project plan under a tight deadline. The exercise is deliberately imperfect. Its purpose is not to produce a polished deliverable, but to shed light on moments of hesitation, overplanning, or lack of clarity that may be hindering real workplace performance. Once these patterns are visible, they can be addressed as a group.
“I let them make mistakes, and then we talk about it,” Lamontagne says. “What didn’t work? What assumptions led you there? The workshop experience becomes a conversation about process and behaviour.”
No matter the subject, one of the biggest challenges in collaborative work is the absence of a shared reference point. Without clear foundations, even teams within the same organization may approach goals and workflows with fundamentally different assumptions.
“Project management, as an example, isn’t one person’s job,” Lamontagne notes. “It’s a common language, a collective way of thinking that only works when everyone hears the same message at the same time.”
Workshops are especially effective in providing that shared reference point. When cross-functional teams experience the same material together, it reduces fragmentation and clarifies expectations. This is particularly valuable in cases where responsibilities overlap and success depends on collaboration.
To ensure that impact lasts beyond the session, Lamontagne closes each workshop by helping the group define an action plan. What comes next? Who is responsible? What can change now, and what should be revisited later?
“At the end, I ask, ‘What’s your next step?’” he says. “Not just ‘What did you learn,’ but What are you going to do? Who owns it? That turns a workshop into a launch point.”
The collaborative format of workshops helps teams work together more effectively and build clearer paths forward. Lamontagne also encourages the use of documentation such as project charters, wrap-up reports or internal guidelines, so that insights are preserved and transferable to new hires or future teams.
“Once a project ends, people want to move on,” he says. “But the real applied learning is in the after-action. That’s what makes your organization, and not just your people, resilient.”
© Concordia University
