Team Building and Training

A private university encountered generation-related challenges in its IT and its admissions departments. Both departments employed recent college graduates who were moving the culture toward a distinctly anti-corporate and excessively fun-oriented setting. The enthusiasm and energy of the employees was appreciated but getting work done in what appeared to be a reality show culture was a challenge for the immediate management as well as departments that they worked with. Management wanted to handle the situation sensitively which meant not firing the ringleaders or getting too heavy handed. Some admissions people were wonderful salespersons and the IT experts were hard to replace. Our consultants interviewed the employees and looked for ways to introduce the virtues of a stable and career-conserving culture. Then they held several team building events based around a much modified version of the popular game Cranium. Recommendations to management were made by the consultants, based on input from the employees of these two departments. The issue was resolved successfully.

Charter school 1 grew quickly and had required restructuring and hiring of new managers at a rapid clip. The organization was heavily oriented to a home schooling model in its early days and as a consequence its managers were travelling all the time since the students were spread across three southern California counties. The consultants provided several team building sessions for the managers so that they had the chance to observe the different management styles and interests and educational philosophy of the school. These sessions also gave everyone a chance to discuss the policies and practices that were evolving to fit the needs of the expanding educational system that they were all managing.