Archive for the ‘Team Building’ category

In today’s competitive markets, business executive are put under an increasing amount of pressure. With so many key responsibilities and areas to manage, it leaves them with very little time and energy to devote to developing themselves as leaders and creating best management practices.

Something that is becoming increasingly more popular as a way of allowing individuals to take the step towards bettering themselves and their companies is executive coaching. Here we will provide an explanation of executive coaching and what it can do for you as a leader.

» Read more: What Executive Coaching can do for you

Do you regularly plan, organise or lead meetings either with your team or clients? Do you want a way of leading meetings effectively?

If so, below you will find some top tips for leading meetings effectively to ensure that you are getting the maximum value from everyone that is present. After all, meetings are an expensive use of everyone’s time, so make them effective, make them work for you and your team.

» Read more: Leading Meetings Effectively

Stephen Covey wrote The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,  arguably one of the most influential business and self-help books in 1989. Since then the Seven Habit model of management and leadership has become a must read book for all who aspire to be better at what they do, be it managing a team or leading a business or simply running their life more effectively. Covey argues that any effective self-help programme must begin with an “inside-out” approach, rather than looking at our problems “being out there”. We must start by examining our own character, our own thinking, behaviour and motives.

» Read more: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

I saw the photo and story below shared by a friend on Facebook a couple of months ago and thought that it was such a brilliant way of getting the message across about the damage that we can cause our fellow human-beings when we bully someone. It is so simple and effective that I want to share it with you here.

» Read more: Bullying – A lesson for us all?

The ABCD of Trust

Trust is something that I hold in very high regard, indeed I would say it is crucial to me and the relationships that I have. I need to feel that I’m trusted and I need to feel that I can trust, be that an individual, a team or an organisation.
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I’m sure like me that you’ve walked away from many deals, purchases, sales because of a lack of trust in the person that you’re talking too. Sometimes you are quite clear as to your reasons why, at other times there is just ‘something’ that you can’t quite identify.

‘ » Read more: TRUST The foundation for effective relationships

In a previous blog entry (Performance Management – Managers need to be role models) I discussed the significance and importance of Performance Management in a team or organisation and, in particular, looking at the role of the leader or manager in doing so. But what are the consequences of not addressing performance issues that arise, how might this lack of action impact on the other team members or individuals around them? How might it begin to impact on the team, the company and your customers for example? Here are some ideas to consider;

   » Read more: Performance Management – The impact of not addressing issues

In times of organisational re-structuring attention is quite rightly given to those that are being impacted and who are leaving the business due to redundancy. But beware of forgetting to spend time and effort thinking about the people that will remain in the ‘new organisation’ as well, otherwise it could cost you in the long run.

» Read more: Organisational Change; Looking after those left behind…

I caught up with my friend the other day, the one who told me of the new team leader who had got off to a shaky start with her team (See my previous blogs post: A New Manager). Well, it transpires that this new team leader is also not that understanding when it comes to Performance Management either. It seems that she still has some way to go in her development as a manager!

“Be the change you want to see….”

» Read more: Performance Management – Managers need to be role models

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine yesterday who was telling me about a new Manager within their organisation. Following a re-structure this person has been appointed to the newly created role of Area Manager and is responsible for 2 or 3 teams spread across a geographical area.

The story continued in that the new Area Manager has now been in position for approximately 5 weeks and to date there has been no contact with their new team(s) either individually or collectively. It appears that the only way to get to meet with the new manager is to phone them direct and ask for an appointment in their diary.

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» Read more: A New Manager ……….

Following on from my previous posting about Successful Teams, I got to thinking about teams that are not so successful. Luckily for me I have not worked in any that I would call truly ineffective teams but I have worked in one or two that could be described as dysfunctional on occasion!

Anyway it got me thinking about what particular Characteristics you would be likely to see in an Ineffective Team. I came up with the following;

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» Read more: Characteristics of Ineffective Teams