How we Developed a Strong Team at Cincy CARE

By Meaghan Colville, Shelter Director, Cincinnati Animal CARE (Best Friends Executive Leadership Certification Graduate, Cohort 2). Meaghan is a founding member of Cincinnati Animal CARE. She has 15 years of experience in animal services in a variety of roles in both Los Angeles and Cincinnati. 

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Animal services is a challenging and complex field that demands a team of people working together to achieve a common goal. Realizing your organization’s potential will take this team to commit to your vision and execute it. In an industry where passion for animals can sometimes outweigh people skills, developing a strong team can be challenging. Even “people people” can struggle with team building, but mastering this skill is critical to organizational success. 

At Cincinnati Animal CARE, I believe one of our top skills is team building. We attract, recruit, and maximize potential from those who join our team. This is a strong skill of our Executive Director, Carolyn Evans. In several different leadership roles across different organizations, she has been able to put together teams that execute at high levels and deliver on their missions. In our work together in Cincinnati, we have worked hard, made tough decisions, had difficult conversations, and taken action to establish the team we currently have. After 4 years, I feel like we have a great team in place and this is how we’ve done it:

Start with a Clear and Compelling Vision

The first step in building a group of supporters is giving them something to support. Articulating a clear vision for your organization and your team’s role in it is critical to achieving buy-in. Your team and supporters must be clear on what you hope to achieve through your organization and the work you have recruited them to do. 

In animal services, it is easy to lose focus. There are so many competing priorities so I believe it is important to have an overarching vision, a north star, for your organization that will connect the various work being done in multiple departments. Each team or department must understand how their daily work contributes to the overarching vision. 

It is worth taking time to define your vision and the roles of the departments and people within your organization. If this isn’t something that comes naturally to you, get help! In Cincinnati, when we were just getting started 4 years ago, it was as simple as “lifesaving!”. That was our vision and our team’s mandate. As we’ve grown and established, we have been able to better articulate a more thoughtful vision that is all-encompassing.

To create a vision, think about what is important to you and what you are hoping to accomplish through your organization. Find keywords that reflect your work and be sure to be succinct in your messaging. 

Recruit Mission-Driven People 

Alignment with the vision and mission is critical to success. In animal services, there are multiple different types of organizations to become involved with. Each organization has their own take on what success looks like, tolerance and resources for behavior and medical needs, and often, competing priorities in a complex ecosystem in individual communities. 

An example is the difference between municipal and private. Having worked in both, I have spent time as a shelter manager at a private cat rescue, as well as, led shelter operations at open-intake organizations with government contracts- and they are very different. Ultimately, I love the in-the-trenches feeling of being in a municipal shelter. I love the challenges that come with maximizing space and outcomes due to an unpredictable influx of animals every day. There is a great need for both municipal sheltering and the role rescues play; neither is better or worse, but being able to acknowledge the differences and help people determine their best fit will help them become successful in this field. This type of self-awareness has allowed me to find the right organization for me. As a side, I will also mention that the right fit may change throughout our careers. This is an evaluation that bears regular assessment. 

Additionally, in such a difficult line of work, a passion for the mission will carry our team members through the toughest days. Without a baseline level of caring about the work being done, animal services is not a long-term sustainable option when there are much easier jobs available to people. 

Be sure to consider what you are looking for in team members and include those characteristics in job descriptions and in interview questions. 

Have Clear Roles

In Cincinnati, we often use the analogy of kids on a soccer field. When everyone’s chasing the ball, no one is in their position. We need to spread out and complete our own individual assignments. 

In the early days of our organization and especially in an industry plagued with the need for people to wear many hats, we have found that too often everyone is involved while at the same time, no one is taking ownership. Even well-meaning people who want to help or pitch in can create confusion when there is no clear leader or task assignment. It’s important that each department, program and project have a clear leader and clear expectations of those involved. 

As a leader, be sure to communicate who is in charge for any given project and who needs to be involved. 

Find the Right Seat on the Bus

I have found that time and time again, getting people into the right roles does wonders for their confidence and productivity and general team morale. No one wants to struggle but that is exactly what happens when people are in the wrong roles. It is likely that you can look at your organization right now and identify people who are a great fit for the overarching vision–you KNOW they have great work to contribute–but they are underachieving or struggling in their current position within the organization. 

In Cincinnati, we call this finding the right seat on the bus. The first step when evaluating an underachiever or someone who is struggling is to determine–are they even on the right bus? If you have team members who are not positively contributing and you do not believe they will, then you need to cut ties and give both parties the chance to find a better fit. Animal services isn’t for everyone and that’s ok. In my experience, having this direct conversation with someone can often be beneficial for both the organization and also the person who is struggling. 

Most often though, you will have team members who are on the right bus (they are aligned with your vision and fit into your culture), they are just not in the right seat. Maybe they are in a manager role but they are a stronger individual contributor. Maybe they have some personality conflicts with their current team but could work very well in another department. Determining what is holding them back and where they can better contribute is time well spent. Sometimes it’s as easy as moving them into another role or department and you’ll see productivity and satisfaction grow. 

Play to Strengths

Closely related to finding the right seat on the bus is playing to the strengths of your team. Everyone on your team has things they are good at and things they are not. These skills, or lack of, are often closely aligned with what people enjoy doing and what they don’t. 

A great exercise is to periodically review the strengths of your team members. If you see an opportunity to plug someone into a new area that aligns with their strengths, you should do it. Sometimes, you’ll see opportunities for small projects or tasks that you can turn over to someone who holds the best skill set for it, even if it’s technically outside the scope of their normal work. The added benefit to this strategy is career building and opportunities for the team member to showcase their skills. 

Be Prepared to Say Goodbye

Parting ways with team members is the most difficult part of leadership but a necessary part of strong team building. I have found this to be something that people understandably struggle with, myself and our organization included, but something I think we do better than most. We are not afraid to part ways with someone who is not the right fit for our culture or is no longer a positive contributor. 

It’s very important to us to make sure we work with people and give them a chance. If someone is underachieving or not a good fit, we are sure to provide feedback and give them an opportunity to improve. However, if improvement is not observed, we are a leadership team that can have direct conversations which sometimes lead to separation. 

I once received advice from a colleague in the field on this topic. She told me that if I’m starting to think about terminating someone, I need to do it. I won’t regret it. I will, though, regret keeping someone on too long. The damage an underachiever or poor culture fit can cause is far-reaching and often, detrimental to your best team members. Be fair but be firm. Set expectations, provide feedback, and know when to part ways for the greater good of the team. 

Team building is more than simply hiring warm bodies. It is intentional and strategic and a constant thought in the minds of great leaders. I often remind myself that it is my job to ensure I am putting the best people in positions to succeed. As a college and high school tennis coach, I was responsible for putting our team in the best position to win. This meant evaluating my team and playing our best players in positions that would maximize the likelihood of success. If I was knowingly keeping someone in a position that was hurting the team, or even preventing us from reaching our potential, I was letting the team down. A team in business should be no different. Evaluate your people and put your very best in the game. Be open to shuffling positions, recruiting new players, or even sitting some people out. Your organization’s success depends on it. 

Start your Career at Cincinnati Animal CARE

Interested in starting your career in animal welfare? Think you would be a good addition to the team? Check out our open positions and apply today!