Management Incubator Brings New Leaders Together to Improve VOAGBR Offices
The Success Labs Management Incubator is designed to bring high-potential employees and new leaders together to participate in leadership development exercises and coaching. In the latest session, two groups were challenged to find innovative and effective solutions for Volunteers of America Greater Baton Rouge’s Partnerships in Child Care program.The program provides support for child care providers through training and on-site technical assistance and serves as a referral source for parents looking for local child care services, says Amanda Gustavson, marketing and fund development director at VOAGBR. “Since this is the first impression that visitors have when entering, we want these areas have a professional appearance that also makes it easy and comfortable for visitors to access the resources they need.”Participants were divided into two teams and given the task of improving the Partnerships in Child Care office. Teams were given a starting budget of $250. Each team raised about $600 total, and put together projects that the organization could use to improve the space.
Team A: Attitude is Key
This team of five had the challenge of improving the resource center area. “I didn’t know what to expect,” says team member Carl Watts, who was recently promoted to co-leader of district line supervisors at DEMCO.But once he saw the resource center they were tasked with improving, he went right to work. “It was scattered -- boxes everywhere,” he says. The team’s proposal focused on maximizing the space and adding furniture to making the area more welcoming and useful. His group divided the project up by tasks, and Watts oversaw the budget process.Watts says the things he learned about being a leader on this project will stay with him. One of the most important traits to have is a good attitude, he says, because it makes working together easier for everyone. In addition, getting everyone’s perspective is key. “You sit back and listen to other people, whether they’ve been around six months or 20 years. You listen to all the ideas.”
Team B: Form Meets Function
This team of five looked for ways to make the meeting area inviting, informative and inspiring in a “form meets function” way, says team member Rod Gaines. He recently moved from working at a consulting actuarial firm to managing the financial planning and analysis department at the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation. As a result, he’s now serving both senior management and direct reports instead of clients.The team looked for ways to better brand the area and make it more useful for clients. It ended up adding new light fixtures, a large sign and a media center that shares success stories from the organization.Gaines says team members organized themselves around their strengths, with some in the group focusing on details and others on the big picture. Gaines says he called on his background in consulting, relying on intuition and perception and omitting details until necessary, while others, such as engineers on his team, focused on specifics before moving forward. He says the project helped him learn effective communication skills and ways to incorporate other participants’ perspectives.
The Results
Both teams went above and beyond, Gustavson says. Team A took special initiative in conducting additional site visits and interviewing staff and visiting providers about their needs for the space. Those findings influenced the entire design for the resource room library. Gustavson appreciated Team B’s foresight in making the Volunteers of America sign removable instead of permanently mounted to the wall, so staff members can take it to conferences.The Management Incubator program pushed these two teams hard -- they weren’t given a lot of time between visiting the site and presenting a final project. They had to get to know their team members quickly and find ways to work together, just as if they were put on a special project at their own organizations.They had an opportunity to leverage their strengths and at the same time practice making adjustments for the good of the project team – some participants held back to allow others to step up and shine; some participants had to overcome fears or discomfort with presentations; some participants stepped out and exhibited more extroverted behaviors for the good of the team. They accomplished a lot in a short period of time.The next Management Incubator will be held Sept. 15 to Oct. 13. For more information, contact Shannon D’Gerolamo.Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.