From Disconnected Branch to Cohesive Team: TSA's Career Management Branch Transformation

The Challenge

The Transportation Security Administration's Career Management Branch (CMB) faced a unique situation: formed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, team members had never actually met in person. Despite working together virtually for nearly two years, they functioned more as individual contributors than as a cohesive unit.

Discovery interviews revealed several critical needs:

• Lack of clarity about the branch's mission, boundaries, and collective goals

• Limited understanding of each other's strengths and working styles

• Minimal awareness of how individual projects fit together

• Over-reliance on the Branch Chief for direction, inhibiting initiative

The Approach

Joyedele Consulting designed a three-day, in-person retreat focused on three interrelated objectives:

1. Building authentic camaraderie between team members

2. Developing awareness of diverse working styles to improve collaboration

3. Creating shared understanding of individual roles and their connection to the larger mission

Rather than treating these as separate goals, we designed an integrated experience where relationship-building, self-awareness, and mission clarity reinforced each other throughout the retreat.

Key Design Elements:

DiSC Assessment Integration

The DiSC assessment provided a foundation for understanding communication preferences and work styles, with insights applied throughout various activities.

Mission Mapping

We facilitated the development of a branch-specific logic model that visually represented how individual projects connected to broader organizational outcomes.

Experiential Learning

Activities emphasized active participation rather than lecture-style presentations, allowing team members to practice collaboration in real time.

Implementation

The retreat unfolded over three days:

Day 1: Foundation Building

Team members explored their individual DiSC styles and developed appreciation for different approaches to work.

Day 2: Mission Alignment

The team collaboratively mapped the branch's mission, clarifying boundaries and developing a shared understanding of their 2023 goals.

Day 3: Application and Action Planning

The final day focused on translating insights into concrete changes through simulated scenarios and specific commitments.

Results

The retreat catalyzed significant changes in how the Career Management Branch functions:

• Enhanced Self-Direction: Team members began taking more initiative rather than waiting for explicit direction

• Improved Communication: With clearer understanding of working styles, communication became more effective

• System Perspective: Team members gained visibility into how their work interconnected with others

• Shift in Leadership Dynamic: The Branch Chief was able to focus on strategic priorities as team members took greater ownership

As the Branch Chief noted several months after the retreat:

"My team has put a lot more effort into taking ownership of their work which has relieved me of trying to hover over them and being able to focus on other projects. I wouldn't have thought that it would happen quickly or effectively and some team members are further along than others but it is great progress. I think they have more tools to work with and so do I."

Key Insights

1. Virtual Formation Requires Intentional Integration

2. Teams formed during remote work need structured experiences to develop cohesion.

3. Self-Awareness Drives Team Effectiveness

4. Understanding personal working styles creates the foundation for improved collaboration.

5. Mission Clarity Enables Autonomy

6. When team members see how their work contributes to larger outcomes, they make better independent decisions.

7. Experiential Learning Accelerates Change

8. Active participation creates more lasting change than theoretical discussions alone.

9. Leadership Transformation Must Accompany Team Development

10. As team members take greater ownership, leaders must adjust from directive to supportive approaches.

This case study demonstrates Joyedele Consulting's approach to team development—creating experiences that simultaneously build relationships, deepen self-awareness, and clarify organizational purpose.