Tennessee Valley Authority Builds Alignment and Unity With A Next Generation Teaming Approach
Tennessee Valley Authority Builds Alignment and Unity With A Next Generation Teaming Approach
Industry: Utilities Government Agency
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Tactic: Unlocking the Advantage: A Next Generation Teaming Approach
Results:
Build alignment and unity across the team while growing in understanding of key concepts
Defined team norms & vision for working together in the future
Utilize a next generation teaming approach that enhances collaboration, efficiency, & effectiveness
About Tennessee Valley Authority:
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has served Tennessee and parts of six surrounding states since 1933, providing electricity for 153 local power companies. TVA services 10 million people in Tennessee, 58 large industrial customers, and federal installations. In addition, they provide flood control, navigation, and land management for the Tennessee River system and assist local power companies and regional governments with their economic development efforts.
The Challenge:
The leaders of the TVA Marketing and Communications team wanted to capitalize on the collective talents of the new team, building a vision and a teaming model to enhance communication, collaboration, and innovation. Ultimately, to take the marketing and communications team to the next level, they had to grow as a cohesive unit and build toward the next generation of their team — together.
So, they came to Bridge Innovate for help.
The Solution:
Bridge Innovate suggested a one-day in-person session, “Unlocking the Advantage: A Next Generation Teaming Approach,” to provide the team space to mature their teaming approach using results from Everything DiSC, content from The Five Behaviors, and additional team-building exercises.
>> Download: See a Five Behaviors Sample Report for yourself
Getting to Know One Another
Because few of the teammates had met in person before this session, Bridge started the day getting to know one another.
Having already done the Everything DiSC assessment, team members used their DiSC personality types as a jumping-off point to deepen relationships. Following an overview of DiSC, team members explored features in the Everything DiSC Catalyst portal. And, by the end of the morning, the team had learned much more about one another, mapping their findings on a Team Map where they could see each other’s interests, strengths, and values.
Team Map Results
Together, the team shared personal details to learn more about each other and discover one another’s DiSC results
Pressing into Conflict for Productive Outcomes
Next, the team used the afternoon to dig into the specifics of their teaming vision. Bridge started the afternoon by sharing The Five Behaviors model by Patrick Lencioni. The model focuses on five key behaviors — Trust, Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, and Results. It challenges teams to consider what behaviors are most valued on their team and how they manifest.
For example, using this model, Bridge asked the TVA Communications team to consider how conflict presents on their team. Then, with their DiSC results and the team map, they learned how each person responds to conflict in healthy and unhealthy ways, discussing how they might press into conflict more productively.
Then, they evaluated each of the five behaviors, discussing how they see that behavior serving their team norms for the next year. This Five Behaviors material enabled the team to identify their strengths and confront the conflict and pain points they’ve been experiencing, laying the essential groundwork for them to cast a vision next.
Casting a Vision
The final part of the session centered on the team's specific needs, helping them use their learnings to cast a vision. Bridge divided the team into three smaller teams and asked them to create a vision story — what will be said about the marketing and communications team five years from now?
The teams shaped a vision together, identifying what has changed on the team in those five years, what impact they’ve made, and what is distinctive about their teaming approach. They also discussed implications for how they work together in the future — envisioning their work management, decision-making, collaboration, and growth.
After presenting the broader vision stories, they got more granular. Each team was assigned one of the implication areas and was asked to define how they would achieve growth. What tech would be needed? What does knowledge management look like for each key area? How will communication flow? In the end, the Communications and Marketing team had a fully-fledged teaming design for the next generation, prepared to move forward as an aligned team to achieve their goals.
The Result
When the session was over, the TVA team had achieved all of their goals. They built greater alignment and unity across the team, defined a vision and norms for their future, and established a teaming model to become a more high-performing team. Ultimately, the session helped them find common ground on the issues they were experiencing, allowing them to share a vision of what they wanted the Communications team to be moving forward.
Unlocking the Advantage Learning Results
Overall Satisfaction Score: 9.5 / 10
Average Post-Program Understanding: 8.8 / 10
*self-reported score by participants on 3.14.24
In addition, the team grew in their understanding of key teaming concepts and cherished the time together. They praised the momentum gained from this time, stating that the session created a good framework for their team to grow together. Another participant called the time “empowering,” sharing, “From where we were two years ago, people are more engaged and happier. Hearing some of the ideas and what we’re thinking about is good.”
With the help of Bridge Innovate, the TVA team pressed into the challenges they were facing and sought to improve their team. In doing so, they set the path for empowering change, building habits for better work, and cultivating a new generation of teaming.
Cast a vision for your team and learn how to work more effectively together. Take your team to the next level — create a custom workshop for your team today. Contact us to learn more.