Situation

Although they were leading a successful entity within the heavily regulated environmental industry, senior executives recognized that lack of team cohesiveness and ineffective leadership behaviors needed to be addressed. A growing perception had seeped into the culture that high-quality decisions weren’t being made, that certain people were too controlling, and that less assertive people wouldn’t share their ideas. The executive team tended to take cues from the parent company rather than collaboratively developing a strategic plan and executing it with determination. The team sought out Teamalytics to develop a systemic process to align the team and address individual behavioral constraints.

Solution

Starting with an off-site meeting for the senior executives, Teamalytics developed and facilitated a training and coaching process for more than 125 people over a four-year period, including the following:

• Social Contract: a document that defines the behaviors expected of leaders and how those behaviors align with company values.
• Traction Plan: professional growth plans built by each individual, pinpointing their unique strengths and constraints and identifying specific action steps to mitigate those constraints.
• Traction Plan Checkup: a truth-teller behavioral survey administered quarterly. This web-based accountability system allows teams to collect and distribute constructive feedback among team members using a “Metric Tracking Wall.”
• Team Sessions: a series of off-site events, including assessments and exercises to break down walls and create an atmosphere of trust among team members. Ultimately, this created an atmosphere where commitment and peer-to-peer accountability were reached within a quick time frame.

Results

A cultural paradigm shift resulted, leading to higher team engagement, better communication, and bottom-line results. Team meetings have become more decision-oriented because the entire team is engaging in discussions rather than deferring to a few high-control personalities. A substantial financial impact followed, with record levels of revenue, industry awards, and the highest level of EBITDA in the parent company’s environmental group.