Floricane

Although the old Tredegar iron works site has hosted museums before, the American Civil War Center opened its doors to the public in 2006. It was the first museum in the nation to focus on the three key perspectives on the major American conflict – Union, Confederate, and African American.

That unique approach – and a mission to “tell the whole story of the conflict that still shapes our nation” – made a recent, two-day staff retreat a compelling challenge.

Because the 13 person team was almost evenly divided between four-year veterans, recent hires and in-betweeners, we started our work together with some discussion on how each group saw the institution and its purpose. The different perspectives were both real and important, and they gave shape to subsequent discussions on the center’s emerging role as a central starting point on the road to understanding the American Civil War for Richmond residents, tourists, history buffs and academics.

Over the course of our two days together, the staff reworked its strategic focus and increased its sense of alignment. In the coming weeks, the staff will work with the center’s national board of directors to fine tune their strategic work and position the center as a critical hub in the 150th year commemoration of the first shots fired in the American Civil War.

A revised Mission? Check. A new Vision? Yes. Strategic outcomes? Affirmative. A draft strategic planning document? Done.

At their July meeting, the board of directors of Children, Incorporated gave a green light to the draft planning document created by a small team of employees with support from Floricane. It was a big – but not the last – milestone in our work together.

From the get-go, we’d made a commitment to make the strategic planning process as open, inclusive and collaborative as possible. Keeping the 25 employees of the international child sponsorship agency energized by a nine-month process hasn’t been a cakewalk – the organization is ready and waiting for tangible outcomes.

We think putting some meat on the bones outlined in their draft plan will satisfy that need.

Over the next few weeks, Floricane will work with small teams of employees to map out specific tactics and timelines that get Children, Incorporated closer to each of their strategic outcomes. And closer to their mission of being “a non-profit organization that provides resources for children in need in the United States and abroad, because we passionately believe that children everywhere deserve education, hope and opportunity.”

We hope to deliver a final strategic plan to the organization in September.

The motto of Richmond’s Podium Foundation is, “Where Kids Take A Stand”. Last month, the board of the nonprofit – which works with students in Richmond Public Schools to explore the profession of writing and their own writing talent – took a step.

This step -- toward better organization, alignment and engagement -- is one more organizations could benefit from taking sooner.

Podium was founded by Richmond author David Robbins, whose passion and strong vision have been instrumental in the organization’s initial successes. New board members and new opportunities are creating space for Podium to be more intentional and structured – without losing its nimbleness and energy.

Cara and I spent a recent evening with seven of Podium’s board members exploring new ways for the nonprofit to organize its board more effectively. 

As sometimes happens, the first hour seemed a bit like feeling our way through a dark room. Without much time to meet individually with board members in advance, we had to quickly get a sense of what the group hoped to accomplish – and make sure our time together provided outcomes that mattered to them.

Three hours later, we walked out the door with an organizational game plan and a clear agenda for Podium’s board retreat slated for later that week.

If you’re not familiar with Podium, check out their website. Better yet, stop by a local Kroger and pick up Podium's second published collection of writing by Richmond school kids – you’ll find it on the free publication rack.

By Cara McDaniel, Floricane Project Coordinator

Cool Blue. Earth Green. Sunshine Yellow. Fiery Red. How do these colors relate to better team dynamics and organizational success? Through the Insights Discovery learning system, of course.

Want to do it right? You are channeling your objective Cool Blue energy. Just wishing everyone could get along? You must be Earth Green. Want everyone to chip in and do it together? You are embracing your spirited Sunshine Yellow side. And for all of you thinking “just do it NOW” – obviously, you are Fiery Red.

If you can think about colors assuming these personalities or “energies”, then you can begin to understand the Insights Discovery learning system.

On a recent employee retreat with The James House, Floricane, in partnership with Debra Saneda of Kerr HR, used the Insights Discovery system to examine the team’s structure, work preferences and communication styles. The James House team is a group of caring, intense, grounded individuals who provide support, advocacy and education for people in the Tri-Cities affected by sexual and domestic violence.

As is the case in any organization – no matter their shared sense of purpose and vision – each person has a different way to achieve this goal.

From a set of 25 statements completed prior to the retreat, individual Insights Discovery profiles were generated. Each profile contained detailed statements about each person’s key strengths and weaknesses, effective communication strategies, value to the team, possible blind spots and management strategies.

Overall, the group felt as though the profiles were extremely accurate in pinpointing individual personalities and revealing points that required further thought and analysis. During the retreat, the James House staff committed to sharing profiles with each other and planned to identify specific items going forward that would add to team engagement.

According to Insights, each person uses color energies in varying degrees to shape personal style. Based on the personality model of Carl Jung, this preference-based system uses color as a common language for self-understanding and effective interaction. While everyone exhibits traits from all of the color energies, it is a preference for one color energy that indicates a preferred style for thinking, working and communicating with others.

The staff at the James House is committed to finding the best way to address the unique demands of their community support work. Engaging in the Insights Discovery process allowed the group to better identify team dynamics, appreciate personalities, preferences and behaviors of coworkers, and provided a take-away framework for each person to reflect and take action upon. The retreat was successful on many fronts, not the least of which was establishing a new common language that allows the group to show their true colors.