Developing a One-Team Mindset
“The lasting change is 100% there. The organisation now works as a single team supporting each other’s work” Natalie Moran, CEO
The Simon on the Streets Story
Simon on the Streets is an independent charity doing critically important work supporting the homeless community across Leeds and Bradford. With recent and future government funding cuts, it’s up to organisations like Simon on the Streets to catch those who inevitably fall
through the gaps.
Working in an outreach capacity, directly with people on the streets they are able to support those who invisible. While finding accommodation might be some people’s goal, Simon on the Streets knows it’s about much more than shelter.
Their CEO, Natalie Moran explains, “That’s not always the person on the street’s immediate goal. So meeting some of their immediate needs, like taking them to a GP, trying to get them linked with the family, and trying to get their mental health assessed, that can often be more
important before we do anything else.”
But despite their good work, the organisation faced some internal hurdles that affected their efficiency and effectiveness. Natalie told us:
“The biggest challenge I saw when I started was that the team was divided, with outreach workers and fundraising admin staff working in silos and lacking communication, leading to role misunderstandings. As a charity partner of Simon on the Streets, Dale Carnegie was aware of the internal struggles and offered a potential solution—The Dale Carnegie Course. Initially two key leaders from the fundraising and outreach team attended the open programme, with fantastic results.
After attending the final talks of the course, Natalie said, “I actually cried listening to them. I was utterly blown away. Straight away, you could see how they’d really thrown themselves into it and what they’d got from it. They now work brilliantly together and the results impacted the whole team.” This success led to the programme being rolled out internally for the whole Simon on the Streets team, and the results speak for themselves, ‘Inspirational and confidence building.’ Lance, Marketing ‘It has taught me a lot about courage and communication.’ Luke, Outreach Team ‘It’s been life changing. I feel like a different person.’ Sam, Fundraising Team.
The Challenge
Despite their great work, the teams were working in silos causing tension and misunderstandings.
How we did it
The Dale Carnegie Course was used as an open programme initially to test its effectiveness and then rolled out internally to the rest of the Simon on the Streets Team.
The Results
Enhanced teamwork, better collaboration, leadership development, more confidence, courage and strategic thinking.
“It really took me by surprise how quickly I could see from conversations and feedback what they’d really got out of the course.”
Natalie Moran, CEO, Simon on the Streets