Freedom from Hunger uses Organizational Health and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team to re-build their executive team
Background
Established in 1946, Freedom from Hunger is recognized for fighting hunger with innovative self-help programs. Over time, the organization evolved into the first microcredit/health and nutrition education provider. Their microfinance programs offer small loans and saving opportunities to those living in poverty (primarily women with children) allowing them to start a business and become self-sufficient. Several years ago, the organization reached out to one of our principal consultants after reading The Five Dysfunctions of a Team in hopes of helping the organization function more effectively, grow their business and ultimately save more lives. Additionally, the President (CEO), Chris Dunford, was looking towards retirement and wanted to leave the organization in the hands of a strong team.
Approach: Consulting, Products and Books
In 2007, the Table Group principal consultant conducted a two-day offsite on teamwork and organizational health. The company initially integrated the models to their advantage until the adverse economy took them off-track. Like many non-profits, Freedom from Hunger found itself fighting for its institutional life. As the consultant checked-in with team members to monitor their progression, he found that the senior team had experienced numerous personnel changes. After reviewing the current challenges and opportunities with our consultant, Chris stated his intention to re-group with a reduced and reconstituted executive team and engage the consultant to help him re-build the team using organizational health and the Five Dysfunctions as their anchors.
The newly formed team conducted a postmortem on why the organization had let aspects of the initial teamwork fade. New team members also needed to be educated and brought into the methodology. The new team committed to the models and realized they had to grow individually through the personnel changes and be consistent with the new team to gain credibility The team recognized that their meetings were not providing the forum necessary to keep organizational health a priority. Their solution was to delegate the running of meetings to a team member, Kathleen Stack, Vice President Africa and Asia, who was by personality and preference better suited to running meetings than the CEO, which allowed Chris to become a more active participant. Chris and Kathleen established the ground rules and were able to assume their new roles respectfully and successfully. This new arrangement and some gentle prodding by the consultant helped the team to engage in healthy ideological conflict—a concept that is often difficult for non-profits. This newfound structure provided a great arena for ideas to be aired, debated, considered and executed, and the group made many tough decisions that ultimately led to the organization's turnaround.
Prior to their work around the organizational health, Chris described their culture "as a polite culture, a considerate culture; I demand that of my people." However, that very politeness was inhibiting them from having the conflict they needed. One of the pathways to getting better at conflict was using the Myers-Briggs and really understanding each other's personality styles.
Results: Freedom from Hunger made organizational health their foundation and has leveraged this advantage to battle and survive during a difficult climate for non-profits
Using the framework outlined by the consultant, Freedom from Hunger found a construct they could all understand and act upon. "Working with the consultant and Pat's material gave us a language to talk about our issues and gave us permission to keep moving forward," stated Chris. The team now acts as one unit supporting each other and helping each other in areas beyond their direct responsibility. Their newfound ability to hash out critical topics prompted them to make some difficult, but necessary, decisions for their survival. They are still working through the model and finding success along the way. With Chris ready to leave Freedom from Hunger, he feels "our team and organization is poised for success and will continue do important work around the globe."
