New Leaders Improve Counselors’ Office Space in Latest Management Incubator
A fresh, friendly workspace is designed to help counselors at the Volunteers of America Greater Baton Rouge HIV/AIDS Services work with adults living with HIV/AIDS. As part of our Spring Management Incubator, teams of new and soon-to-be managers worked with VOAGBR, a strong Success Labs community partner.VOAGBR’s HIV/AIDS Services program helps about 400 people living with HIV/AIDS with case-management services, and helps more than 30 others and their families through housing programs. The two teams in the Management Incubator program were responsible for “adopting” the offices of counselors Lindsay Allen and Renarda Ford, to make them more welcoming and easy to use, enhancing their ability to help vulnerable people in the community.
The Project
Each team was tasked with improving one office; their shared challenge was a small budget and a short time to raise additional funds. Participants needed to be flexible and work well together.Both teams collaborated on fundraisers at Starmount Life Insurance and AlwaysCare Benefits, says Susan Shoptaugh, digital marketing specialist at AlwaysCare. For one, employees paid $5 to wear jeans on a Monday; the other was a “Star Wars”-themed “change war” that pitted teams against each other. Shoptaugh said they had considered an online fundraiser like GoFundMe, but there just wasn’t time to turn it around.The teams’ efforts resulted in hundreds of dollars to spend on the offices. Each team purchased furniture and supplies for the offices and rearranged them to create the best use of space. During the project, they also worked on their communication, feedback and presentation skills.
The Results
Allen says everyone who passes her office now takes a second look and comes in to compliment the change. “The presentation was great, but seeing the floor plan come to life is beyond what I imagined,” she says. “I love the personal touches of the butterflies, purple and my initials throughout the office.”Ford says she’s grateful for the opportunity of an office makeover. “My entire office looks amazing and is more than I imagined. I’ve already had my first client in the office, and she was amazed at the changes,” she says.Meanwhile, participants gained confidence in their ability to lead during ambiguous circumstances and tight deadlines. They were actively engaged in the project, and this led to a very positive experience for all involved and little to no conflict or tension between team members.“One of the things this class does really well is open communication,” Shoptaugh says. “They give you terms and ways to communicate what you’re experiencing and trying to achieve, so there are no team issues with communication.”Shoptaugh says team members learned early on to understand how others absorb and process information and tasks to work better together. “I learned that I’m not very list-oriented — I’m more goal-oriented. One of the main takeaways was outlining my thoughts in a way everyone can appreciate and know they’re in the loop,” she says.Korie Gotreaux, manager of account management at AlwaysCare Benefits, says she learned a lot about how to deal with different personality types. “Peer feedback was a great exercise for valuable feedback for both people involved,” she says. “I became a little more comfortable presenting in front of groups. I found out more about my strengths and weaknesses. I really liked the open-ended questions — it’s a good tool to use when counseling employees and will help me especially when I have to give negative feedback to one of them.”Our next Management Incubator will be held September 20-October 18. For more information or to register, please 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.