Creating a Whole Team Destiny Using Virtual Appreciative Inquiry
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the US economy in March 2020, the Center for Trauma-Resilient Communities was faced with a dilemma - how to quickly translate highly immersive, multi-day training into virtual spaces. CTRC works with organizations across the United States to build trauma-informed practices. In addition to the new pandemic conditions, CTRC saw a significant increase in business opportunities when the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor made news and spurred nationwide protests. CTRC was already working with the city of Louisville, Kentucky, home of Breonna Taylor, to build a trauma-resilient community model with local government and nonprofit organizations.
This is where I come into the story. CTRC contacted me to help with building a plan and process to hire and sustain new employees. The Center for Trauma-Resilient Communities (CTRC) is a nationwide group of dynamic consultants that train and advise organizations and communities on building trauma-informed practices. The CTRC team was feeling the pressure of change and heaviness of their clients in navigating the exacerbated traumas of the pandemic and racial awakening. Working with CTRC presented two unique opportunities for me as an AI practitioner. First, CTRC uses a shared leadership model which includes an Executive Director and a team of Co-Founders. I was interested in exploring AI within a shared leadership space as a way to expand their thinking and leadership styles with AI principles.
Second, the business was founded in 2018 as an outgrowth of The Sanctuary Model of Care and growing research about trauma resilience in youth. The Sanctuary Model is an organizational culture that promotes safety and recovery from life situations by using a series of practices that create and support a trauma-informed community. As a result, CTRC uses specific practices around communication and engagement. I was curious to overlay AI into this model as a potential enhancement to the culture. For these two reasons, AI seemed like a perfect fit for this group.
The timing of this work was also critical in the wellbeing of the business. The COVID-19 pandemic upended the group’s typical and regular work in person. Additionally, CTRC was being asked to also address racial trauma in their training, as a response to the police brutality protests and racial awakening happening in the United States. The team was feeling the pressure of change and heaviness of their clients in navigating the exacerbated traumas of the pandemic and racial awakening. This was the perfect opportunity to use Appreciative Inquiry.
Read the full article here. View the interviews here.
Ready to engage in Appreciative Inquiry at your organization? Click here for more information.