Roberts & Kay, Inc. -- Cumberland Gap Tunnel Authority

Cumberland Gap Tunnel Authority

September, 1996 – April, 1997

The Cumberland Gap Tunnel exists at the juncture of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Upon the completion of the tunnel, Steve assisted in developing the team skills and practices of the people who had been hired by the Tunnel Authority to manage and maintain it.

The contractor in charge of the management and maintenance of the tunnel – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – was interested in working on team concepts. They had conscientiously hired people with a range of experiences, including people who had worked on ambulances and other emergency vehicles, people who had been in fire departments or volunteer fire departments, and people who had worked on the construction of the tunnel. The contractor set up five teams, each with the ability to respond to everything from routine maintenance to emergency situations. Most of these new employees had never worked as a part of a team that contained members with such a range of skills.

Management was particularly interested in two aspects of team development:

The ability of each of the teams to function well during its time of responsibility for operating the tunnel
The ability of each of the teams to see themselves as part of one overall team responsible for operating the tunnel

Steve worked with team members on basic team concepts, on communications when operating as a team, and on diversity issues, such as those related to gender and the kinds of differences in background and skills that each team member brought to the job.

Steve also worked separately with the team managers and with the engineering support staff, who had responsibility for overall functioning of the tunnel as well as for responding to and working with each of the teams.

Learn more about RKI's work group development services.