Investing in Ideas with the Virginia Bankers Association

When the Virginia Bankers Association (VBA) wanted to add some energy and dimension to their strategic planning process, their CEO reflected on his experience at an association CEO retreat last fall. Floricane’s John Sarvay facilitated the two-day retreat, and Bruce liked John’s approach.

Fast forward four months and we’re starting on the first phase of a five month strategic planning process with the VBA. We’ll wrap up the process as we engage the staff in an implementation exercise at their annual retreat in May.

Get to Know the Team: Shamoniki!

To kick off 2015, we'll be featuring one member of the Floricane team on our blog each week, using a questionnaire that really asks the tough questions.

This week: Shamoniki (pronounced like Shaw-Monique) Ellison! Having joined the team in April of 2014, Shamoniki has served as our Administrative Coordinator and office manager. Her infectious laugh brightens up our office space, which makes sense because she's a big fan of improv and sketch comedy. Check out a show at Coalition Theatre on the weekends and you just might see her. Now that I've built her up as a jokester, let's see how she answered these questions:

Do you want to rock n’ roll all night or party everyday?
Rock and Roll all night

Which President would you most like to have a drink with, past or present?
Bill Clinton

Pie or Cake or Neither?
Cake. It has layers.

What is your idea of happiness?
Vacation

Who are your favorite writers?
Kurt Vonnegut, Nikki Giovanni, Charles Bukowski

What is your motto?
Can’t stop. Won’t Stop

If we looked at your Facebook page, what might surprise us? 
That I really do Love Improv.

And lastly, what are the things that excite you most about Floricane, its clients and the community in 2015? 
I am most excited to meet clients that I have not met before.  Especially those whose names I come across constantly.  Also Tilted-- I heard it was a lots of fun this past year.

Year Two with VCU

One of our biggest projects this year is a second phase of work with Virginia Commonwealth University’s Development and Alumni Relations team – more than 170 folks representing every school, college and center at VCU. We dive into the work this week with a kick-off session, and then shift gears into leadership, team and individual effectiveness training. This is one of those great projects where we can pull our whole team together to deliver training, coaching and organizational change consulting.

We’re still waiting on the basketball tickets…

Finding Nine Minutes for Your Employees

I was soaking on a recent blog post at a website for deliberate mothers. Obviously, it made me think about the importance of being an intentional manager.

The post in question wisely suggested that micromanaging your children as they get older is no longer necessary. (Managers, review your developmental notes from Situational Leadership.) No, there are nine moments, Amy Makechnie says, that are most impactful on your children:

·      the first three minutes–right after they wake up

·      the three minutes after they come home from school

·      the last three minutes of the day–before they go to bed 

All of us are pressed for time -- moms and managers alike. We do our best, Makechnie says, with the time we are allotted.

I’ve tried paying attention to these nine minutes with my own children. It’s amazing how impactful it is for me to set aside my laptop early in the morning, lift Thea into my lap for a snuggle, and ask her about the day that lies ahead. It’s impactful for me, and it appears to have an impact on her.

 Translate this to the workplace.

 What would it look like for a manager to spend three minutes at the start of an employee’s day; three minutes when they return from an important meeting or engagement; three minutes before the day ends?

Pretty amazing, I bet.

Taking a Global View with ChildFund, International

Our third significant engagement with ChildFund, International, is focused on working with the global nonprofit’s senior leadership. In addition to some serious organizational effectiveness work – strengthening alignment and work flow between key teams – we’re unleashing the leadership coaching power of Debra Saneda! Seriously, this is the sort of work we have a deep passion to deliver – having an opportunity to help an organization deliver on a mission centered around child development is big.

Roll the Credits with the Byrd Theatre Foundation

(source)

We spent an evening last fall dreaming about the future with the Byrd Theatre Foundation. Over the next four months, we’re building a strategic plan to make those dreams a reality.

The exciting thing about our work with the Byrd Theatre Foundation has everything to do with the ubiquitous nature of the iconic building the foundation supports. Engaging in a conversation that dreams big about what the Byrd Theatre can become – that dreams beyond its status as the perfect college date night – is going to be fun.

Getting to Better Managers

I wrote a blog post last fall about the importance of good management in organizations. Three months later, I’m excited that we’re kicking off our new Manager Development Program with almost 30 participants from 12 very different organizations.

In fact, it is happening RIGHT NOW. Here’s evidence:

For the next two months, we’ll collectively examine the best (and the worst) practices and qualities of managers who create stronger teams and better results for their organizations. I anticipate that the Floricane team will actually learn as much, if not more, than the participants along the way.

For me, one of the more exciting aspects of this new program is that it is a collaborative effort involving all six members of the Floricane team. (Seven, actually, as we’ve put our intern Austin Collett to work on it!) I think it’s a much better product as a result.

We’ll wrap things up in March, gather feedback from participants, deconstruct the program, and offer it again in the fall. Stay tuned for updates from the classroom…

Get to Know The Team: Austin the Intern!

To kick off 2015, we'll be featuring one member of the Floricane team on our blog each week, using a questionnaire that really asks the tough questions.

This week: Austin Collett! Our latest intern from Randolph Macon College, Austin is working with Floricane full-time for the month of January, helping us with special projects. A psychology major, he's interested in Organizational Development and the Human Resources field. His first project of the month? Filling out this Q&A! Let's see how he answered:

Which President would you most like to have a drink with, past or present?
Barack, just so I could have the chance to meet Michelle. She's too perfect!

Pie or cake or neither?
Cake, especially of the ice cream variety. 

Do you have a favorite sharpie color?
Seafoam or turquoise. Any blue/green color really!

What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty and their ability to make me laugh. Also if they enjoy food as much as I do, it's a huge plus.

The natural talent you'd like to be gifted with.
Language proficiency! Nothing was scarier than being in the middle of Japan with no wifi and 2 words of Japanese in my brain.

If we looked at your Facebook page, what might surprise us?
My unfortunate middle school/early high school phase. Please don't look me up!

What's next for you?
Graduating in May from Randolph-Macon, and moving back home to Baltimore. Then the infamous post grad job hunt.

And lastly, what are the things that excite you the most about Floricane, its clients, and the community in 2015?
Besides the fact that Floricane welcomed me in the first place, the small close knit of the employees here and their laid back approach to most things!

Thanks, Austin, and good luck with your last semester of college!