Mar 4, 2020
The Situation
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) invited Global Learning Partners, (GLP) Inc. to support and fortify meetings among leadership and front-line staff for many years.
The Journey
Over a hundred staff across the organization participated in GLP’s old SURE-Fire Meetings courses. Each time we facilitated the course, we tailored it to their reality by working closely with one senior staff person and inviting input from all participants. GLP also designed and led a short series of web-based meetings for ASPCA staff to reinforce what was learned in the course.
The Executive Leadership Team, including the CEO, participated in a series of day-long retreats, with thoughtful reflection and sub-team work in between. We dug into on a range of timely issues and tackled many difficult ones. We experimented with innovative and visionary thinking. We clarified the boundaries of the group’s purpose and the respective roles of members. We fortified the group’s ability to speak candidly and listen effectively. We examined the role of leaders in effective decision-making.
The Community Outreach (CO) Department, with nearly 100 staff working across the country, embraced a true dialogue-based approach in their annual meetings. GLP worked with closely with a team of CO leaders to design strategic planning meetings and ensure that the voice of staff were included at those meetings in a variety of ways. GLP provided pure, external process facilitation of strategic meetings so that leaders could fully participate and trust that we would accomplish what we set out to accomplish.
The Impact
The synergy of the work has undoubtedly contributed to this powerful organization’s strength in internal communication, group leadership, strategic thinking, and decision-making.
“The ASPCA works extensively with GLP for both training and facilitation. We are delighted with their expertise and professional approach. We are particularly pleased with their quick understanding of the complexities and their recommendations, training and facilitation to match our purposes.”
– Julie Morris ASPCA, SVP Community Outreach