Facilitating a workshop to close internal communication gaps, for good.
Client
Cali and Associates is a local Allstate agency in Bellbrook, Ohio. Their team of 11 associates have been assisting customers with all their insurance needs using strong relationships and excellent customer service for the last 14 years.
Challenge
Tony Cali, owner, and Shina Baldwin, Team Leader, used 2018 to rebuild their team and create a foundation for future growth after facing internal communication challenges for the previous 5 years. They wanted to find a way to effectively open and maintain lines of communication within the agency and reached out to ALINITI.
Solution
With a growing Allstate agency, Tony partnered with ALINITI to deliver a Dynamic Communication workshop to support improved communications between his staff, which is vital to solidify a cohesive and high-performing team. Having participated in the same workshop a few months prior, Tony knew ALINITI’s Dynamic Communication exercise would improve communications and overall efficiency for their team in a fun and engaging way.
Results
Though a challenge like Allstate’s can’t be resolved overnight, the workshop has set them on the right path. “There was the initial spike of enthusiasm and conversations about DISC profiles from all employees coming out of the workshop,” said Tony.
With continued guidance from their ALINITI Advisor they are ensuring they put new communication strategies in place to keep the momentum going and ensure the enthusiasm doesn’t go cold.
“We have a better understanding of our individual employees and what they need. It provided a lot of clarity,” said Shina, “We have also found that several team members are coming out of their shell with this new insight of how their minds work.”
Dynamic Communications Workshop
ALINITI’s Dynamic Communications Workshop uses TTI Success Insights DISC assessments to provide a foundation to have meaningful conversations about how to work, manage and communicate with colleagues and team members. Participants receive an extensive personalized DISC assessment to gain a deeper understanding of their individual behaviors and communication styles and a team report which highlights how these behaviors work together to form a solid and productive team.
Closing communication gaps
The team members have displayed a snapshot of their DISC profile outside their office to serve as a quick reference for a coworker before they begin a conversation. Through this practice, each employee will soon become familiar with the best ways to interact with each teammate allowing smooth conversations and ultimately improving office efficiency and team morale. “We are trying to keep from having problems arise. That’s where we are starting,” Shina said.
Moving forward, Shina and Tony plan to have all new employees complete the same assessment their team experienced to ensure continuity and close communication gaps early on.
“If more businesses could use [the DISC model] I think we’d have a lot more companies with employees without headaches and the right people in the right places,” Shina stated, “after this, we had a lot of questions answered.”
