Working with HOLA to improve alignment

Working with HOLA to improve alignment and ways of working as part of our Pledge 1%

ADAPTOVATE continue to support PLEDGE 1% in giving back to the community in all our regions.

Context

ADAPTOVATE had the pleasure of working with Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) as part of its Pledge 1% program to uplift communities with our time and expertise. HOLA is a local non-profit organization that aims to “give underserved kids an equal chance to succeed through a comprehensive array of programs,” and currently serves 100+ Los Angeles high school students &190 alumni attending postsecondary educational opportunities. Their College & Career Success (C&CS) Team, a team of seven members, was looking to achieve the following goals to provide greater impact for it's community of students, mentors, partnerships, and stakeholders:

Improve alignment on priorities, transparency of work, and clarity of roles

Ensure clear expectations, efficient communication, and collective team norms

Establish a regular cadence for effective planning, reflection, and prioritization

Our Approach

Over three months, ADAPTOVATE team members engaged in a variety of discovery activities and workshops, including:

Conducted surveys, 1:1 meetings, and full-team working sessions to understand the C&CS team’s current state, individual roles & responsibilities, and identify challenges

Facilitated a North Star workshop to realign the C&CS team on their aspirational vision, prioritize their desired outcomes, and document their top priorities in the form of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

Delivered training on a new tool (Trello) to visually track & assign work to improve transparency amongst team members

Coached the team through a Team Norms workshop to clarify roles & responsibilities and establish cadences & team behaviors to uplift team dynamics and ways of working

Post Engagement Outcomes & Thinking Forward

As a result of the engagement, the C&CS team reported the following benefits:

+50%

increase in alignment to vision and priorities

+46%

increase in alignment to team norms

+37%

increase in identifying as a high-performing team

"The excitement about our team’s potential truly restored energy and motivation back into our team as we were beginning to experience burnout. Aligning our goals truly helped us to identify how to perform in an efficient and high performing way. This experience helped to build confidence back into our team and was the fresh air we needed."

Director of HOLA College & Career Success

To learn more about Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) and the transformative work they do in the city of Los Angeles, visit their website here. To donate to the organization, visit their donations page here.

To learn more about the global Pledge 1% initiative and how to get your organization involved, click here.

Catch up on previous Pledge 1% initiatives from ADAPTOVATE: