Formium Development

Category: management

  • Even the little words count – what your communications say about you

    Even the little words count – what your communications say about you

    When lockdown occurred in the UK back in March, businesses and shop keepers posted messages in their windows informing customers of their closure. A simple act, you’d think, without much meaning. But I’d argue that some of the examples I saw on walks around my local streets show that even the smallest communication gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your values, showing that you care for your customers and are acting professionally.

    We’re playing our part: many notices made it clear that they were deciding to take action to protect themselves, their customers and their community – whereas others highlighted they were following government rules to close. The former businesses appeared to be proactive, taking responsibility, and choosing to act for the greater good. The others might have meant that they didn’t want to close, but it didn’t come out like that in their sign.

    If we think about theories of control and power, the businesses who stated it was their choice to close implied they were responding to an intrinsic motivation for action, that they had control over their activities.

    We care about you as customers: obviously this is easier for some businesses – many (but significantly, not all) hair and beauty businesses were able to demonstrate their real reciprocal relationships with their customers, with light-hearted comments about fixing their hair whatever state it would be in post-lockdown, references to the staff team by their first names, etc.

    This was in stark contrast to two national chains (one pub, one coffee shop) who displayed standard printed notices declaring the venue was shut and little else (apart from a warning that no stock was left on the premises). This language and style came over as cold and uncaring.

     

    Keep in touch: a handful of companies emphasised that customers could keep in touch via social media. Again, this is more relevant and effective for certain business sectors, but it really made a difference, helping create a sense of a community, of customers being seen as more than just a source of revenue.

    Reflection

    I appreciate that before lockdown businesses were acting under great pressure and confusion and may have rushed to get this communication done, but the difference in tone and approach between businesses is noteworthy – even when both are in the same industry and same size.

    So my suggestion to you is that you think about all your communications, whether to staff or customers:

    • Use them as an opportunity to display your values, and think about the message written between the lines.
    • Many companies – both office-based and retail – have reported a benefit from communicating more often and trying different communication methods – could you do likewise?
  • People with Purpose

    People with Purpose

    Prior to lockdown I enjoyed a couple of days in Lyme Regis, the English seaside town renowned for its fossils – and the setting for the newly-opened film Ammonite, which tells the fascinating story of Mary Anning, the original 1800s fossil hunter.

    What is amazing about Lyme Regis are not just the fossils embedded in the cliffs but the huge boulders and stones, just lying on the beach, full of ammonites – the traces of sea life from millions of years ago.

    These relics from the past sparked a conversation about what we leave behind, what is frequently referred to as “legacy” – or “the work you are meant to do.” When this concept first started becoming popular in management and leadership studies it seemed to me a little, well, self-important – why should ‘little ole me’ be thinking about my professional and personal legacy in this way?

    But the positive psychology research backs up the value of this thought process – people who act with a purpose are more fulfilled in their activity, get more done and are happier overall. When we reframe what we are doing as part of something bigger, an overall aim or goal, we perform better.

    This is reinforced by the science of strengths – that we are at our best when we are using those skills and aptitudes that we are good at, and that make us feel energised and enthused.

    We’ve seen so many examples of the power of a purpose in recent months as individuals, communities and societies have pulled together for the greater good.

    While the legacy we leave after us, in our jobs, our communities or friendships, may not be visible or held in memory for long – and definitely not in comparison with an ammonite – I recommend you spend some time thinking about your purpose:

    Ask yourself:

    • What is it that you are great at? How can you do more of this?
    • What drives you? Think about what underlies your decisions, how you choose to spend your time. What are the things you really care about?
    • What energises you? What are those activities that you can totally lose yourself in?
    • In your roles – professional, personal and community – is there an underlying theme in what you do, how you do it and what you are interested in?
    • Looking back in 20 years’ time, what will you want to have achieved? What will it look and feel like?
    • Or look back – what have been the things you think you were particularly praised for?

    If you want to look deeper, one of the best things I can recommend is working with a coach to help you identify your purpose, and work out how to engage it throughout all aspects of your life. Contact us for more details or click here for more information about coaching.

  • Change under pressure – 10 lessons from the NHS response to Covid-19

    Change under pressure – 10 lessons from the NHS response to Covid-19

    We’ve all heard inspiring tales of resourcefulness and innovation in the face of Covid-19, from people, communities, companies and institutions across the globe. I found this recent report, Providers Deliver, from the UK’s National Health Service to be a fascinating selection of how local hospitals and health teams, working with their staff and partnerships, have managed to successfully change under pressure.

    Here are the 10 key lessons that I’ve identified in the report:

    Have a clear goal – the Countess of Chester hospital introduced a revolutionary whole-hospital rota to maximise use of their resources. Darren Kilroy, executive medical director, stated this was designed to ensure “everyone would be focused around one common goal” of helping meet the needs of Covid-19 patients.

    When faced with so many competing issues, having a single clear goal makes it easier for people across roles, teams and departments to accept the need for change, and fully embrace a new way of working. Darren considered the single aim had a major impact: “people learned new skills, and as it got going the junior staff enjoyed being part of it because they were dealing with something very real and making a difference. It became a really enjoyable roster to be involved in as everyone was really engaged.”

    Have clear parameters – in the press we sadly saw many stories where a company tried to help out but were impacted by the rigorous demands of medical or regulatory requirements. Understanding the constraints is vital to achieving effective change. It is notable that the provision of PPE in Northumbria and the repurposing of the sleep apnoea machine in Leeds were undertaken with close attention to these quality standards.

    Find and work with partners – the only silver lining in the tragedy of the early months of coronavirus was seeing how individuals, communities and companies rallied round, trying to do their bit to help.

    Faced with a shortage of quality PPE, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust developed an eye-catching solution – working with a PPE manufacturing consultant to establish its own network of textile manufacturers. Eventually the partnership has set up a bespoke factory, generating jobs and providing PPE for regional customers.

    London Ambulance Service NHS Trust took an radical approach to partnership working: firstly 170 mechanics from the Automobile Association supported them to keep all their ambulances on the road, reconditioned 50 newly-sourced second-hand vehicles and refitted some non-emergency transport vehicles.

    But it wasn’t just about the vehicles, a creative approach was needed for staffing. Chief executive Garrett Emerson explained: “I then had a conversation with the commissioner of fire services about using firefighters to work alongside our clinicians and increase the numbers of ambulances we could deploy in London. We just agreed to get on with it and make it happen.”

    This is another newly-forged partnership that will have long-term benefits: as Garrett Emerson comments, they hope “to keep a small number of firefighters on a rotational basis continually within the service, keeping their skills up with the ability to stretch to larger numbers in the event of pressures.”

    Value your people – “to influence and drive change, [your staff] have to be well cared for” – Patrick Scott, Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust.
    It’s like that old saying, ‘treat your employees like they can make a difference and they will’. The report highlights that it’s not just about basic welfare in a hazardous and stressful situation, it is also about really listening, communicating proactively and giving employees responsibility and authority to make changes.

    Give people space to innovate – many of the examples show what people can do when tasked with solving a specific problem, within clear operational parameters, and outside of usual protocols/constraints for e.g. funding, staffing or governance. The advice from Julian Hartley, chief executive at Leeds Teaching Hospitals is telling: “You don’t micromanage or try to second guess everything. If you have the necessary cultural ecosystem, the set of relationships feeding off one another, and technology and innovation in one branch of medicine, it can cross-fertilise very quickly into another.”

    Break the silo – so often when I’m working with large institutions, I’m asked about breaking down boundaries, so it is fascinating that most of these examples show how a crisis can spark people working across traditional divides.

    In Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust staff developed a new multi-agency mental health service to reduce pressure on A&E. Saskya Falope, manager of this new mental health urgent care hub stated “It has allowed us to think differently about how we use our resources and has allowed partnerships to really come together, using everybody’s expertise rather than working in silos.” And this working across boundaries has positive results – “Working with colleagues in social care, housing and acute trusts, gets patients the right care that they need rather than the fallback always being A&E in an acute hospital.”

    Reflecting on the Countess of Chester hospital’s new whole-hospital rota, Darren Kilroy stated: “there’s been a much more cohesive sense of shared understanding across traditionally quite disparate groups of staff, and there’s a much clearer understanding of how a hospital has to work together to get the job done”.

    Use your existing resources better – focusing on what you have rather than what you haven’t is a great way of thinking differently about a problem. This was exemplified by the staff at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust who took their stock of an obsolete sleep apnoea machine and worked with the mechanical engineering department of University of Leeds to repurpose it to make up for a shortfall in ventilators.

    This is not just a local success story though – by continuing their research, the University has designed a device that is sufficiently cheap and quick to manufacture that it could help lower-income countries across the world.

    Ask your end-users – for a change to be really effective, engaging the people who use the service can reap rewards. When setting up the mental health support hub in Leicestershire, the manager Saskya Falope said they “started collecting patient feedback and ideas from very early on…we asked patients what do you like or not like about A&E? How can we do it differently?” Asking such open questions can generate unexpected insights, such as changing the bright lighting usually found in A&E to something more soothing.

    Bring your people with you – The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust innovated by installing temperature scanners at access points, aiming to reassure the public that the hospital was still safe for patients with non-covid health issues. To ensure it would be successful it was piloted in an administrative area, and thought was given how to get the staff on board – as Tracy Bullock, chief executive commented: “Making sure you’ve got the right engagement with the staff and making sure you’ve got their buy in and they understand the standard operating procedure that runs alongside it is essential… it’s getting your comms right.”

    Staff at the Countess of Chester hospital knew a change to a radically new way of working rota could be problematic, so prepared the ground carefully, as Darren Kilroy explains: “quite a few weeks of engagement, sharing with the juniors what the roster would look like, undertaking the comms that would inform how this would work, and making sure it was attractive to those members of staff who were going to work on this roster who weren’t used to dealing with patients of this kind”.

    Don’t be afraid to change – a highly-regulated sector such as healthcare can discourage the risk-taking that is inherent in change, but the teams in this report were able to harness the compelling purpose and unprecedented situation. Tracy Bullock at University Hospitals North Midlands sums this up: “We were definitely a bit nervous at first, because we knew no one else in the NHS had done this before. But there was something about just biting the bullet. It’s intuitive, if it goes right and you think it’s going to help, you have to just go with it. That was the key bit of learning for me.”

    Reflection

    What I really value in this report is the range of changes: from smaller-scale and temporary solutions to those with long-term and even global benefits. The report reinforces that the ability to change under pressure is underpinned by the organisational culture and individual skills, abilities, relationships and experience.

    I know for many people and businesses this is a desperate time without any upside, and my heart goes out to you – I don’t want to minimise your situation. But I am fascinated by how some organisations have been able to change under pressure, so my question is: how have you changed the way you work, and how is it having benefits for you, your customers and community?

     

    Picture credit: Edgar Soto on Unsplash

  • It’s good to talk…

    It’s good to talk…

    “Meetings are the bane of everyone’s life. No-one likes meetings. Nothing ever gets done”

    This appears to be the mantra of many a corporate warrior, and it is always interesting to see how different companies and industries try to break this view. So I particularly enjoyed an article in The Guardian newspaper about team meetings and the weird and wonderful ideas that are being used to keep them relevant and on-track.

    While some of these ideas look like they could only really exist in Silicon Valley, there is a consistent message – how do you make your meetings productive, relevant, engaging and on-time? And while this question has been kicking around forever – probably since the first cave-people sat down to work out how they were going to kill a woolly mammoth – it is even more relevant in today’s world of remote teams, flexible work patterns, video and phone conferences.

    I do a lot of work helping teams with their performance, and in my career have sat through my fair share of meetings. I will share with you my simple formula for successful meetings – plan,clarify, facilitate, support.

    1. Plan

    Whether you’re leading the meeting or not, time spent planning pays dividends. What are you going to get out of the meeting? Are you going to share information, for ideas, for decisions, to build team spirit, or to observe your team’s performance? What do you need to make it run smoothly? Who needs to be there and what role will each participant play?

    2. Clarify

    Make sure you and everyone in the meeting knows the purpose:

    • Why are we here? What is the purpose of the meeting as a whole, and each of the items on the agenda? Make sure everyone knows what is going on – having clear goals gives you structure, keeps everyone on track, and stops people going off on cross-purposes.
    • Why am I here? So often people switch off because they don’t think what is being discussed is relevant to them, or they don’t see the bigger picture. Take time to ensure each item is presented so that everyone feels involved and buys into the conversation.

    3. Facilitate, don’t dictate

    It is a team meeting, not your meeting. If you take more of a back seat you can encourage:

    • Ownership and personal development by having your team members take ‘meeting management’ roles such as chairing the meeting, time keeping or taking minutes.
    • Accountability by having the focus of the meeting on team members reporting back on their performance, on the agenda items, on their issues.
    • Group accountability by encouraging all members to ask questions of each other. A team meeting is not a series of conversations between you and your team members.

    4. Support each other

    You might need first to do some team building or thinking about how to structure the meeting for this to work, especially if you have a really competitive team! Think about how you can build the meeting around getting support from:

    • You as the team leader
    • Each other
    • The organisation (e.g. training or feeding upwards on changes to policy / practice)

    Focusing on support in this way helps you keep the meeting focused on positive solutions, not complaints and negativity.

    The missing factors

    There’s also another really important point that I think some of the ideas and attitudes in the article are missing. They focus so much on ensuring the meeting is not wasting time, there is a risk that this is overplayed to the detriment of social interaction. Especially with dispersed teams or infrequent meetings, don’t neglect the social side.

    What could you do to help your team members get to know and trust each other?

    • Always be in the room 5 minutes early to have a quick chat
    • Occasionally add in a team building exercise: quick quiz, craft challenge, presentation from each member on a non-work topic.

    And it’s not just a loss of social interaction. If project team meetings adopt the extreme position of ‘leave if it is not relevant to you’ you miss out the chance for innovative thinking or learning from each other. Or your meeting could come up with a great idea which falls apart immediately another department looks at it.

    Help is at hand

    If you want to know more about developing teams, I’m leading a session hosted by the Chartered Management Institute in London, on 19th November. I’ll share the techniques, models and ideas that I’ve used to help managers build high-performing teams. You don’t have to be a CMI member to attend, just follow the link: Developing Successful Teams

    For an engaging and practical guide on team effectiveness and collaboration, I’d recommend starting with Patrick Lencioni’s Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team [Amazon UK affiliate link]

    If you want bespoke help on effective team meetings and building strong teams, then click here to see how you can work with me and the coaches and facilitators at Formium Development.

    FREE STUFF !

    Our Positive Team Meeting checklist has really helpful guidance that is easy-to-use and practical.

    If you’re interested in team building, then check out our 10 Actions to build a strong team – top tips for helping you use a strengths approach to build better teams.

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  • Avoiding the stuffed anteater: striving for authenticity

    Avoiding the stuffed anteater: striving for authenticity

    In recent times we’ve grown used to the idea of ‘fake news’ and doctored photos, and even been warned about technological advances enabling ‘fake video’ – but the story a while ago of a photographer accused of using a stuffed anteater in a competition entry was sadly amusing. It was followed up by a couple of articles about the cheats regularly used in wildlife photography… like the bizarre practice of putting ants in the freezer. And all this is in contrast to – and possibly the reason for – the demand for authenticity that is current in brands, politics and a host of leadership and management books (and a fair few blog posts, too).

    And this poses a dilemma for many people. We’re pretty good at looking at other people and weighing up how authentic they are. But how do you ensure that you’re being authentic, and not inadvertently being, to paraphrase Holden Caulfield, a phony? How do we remain authentic whilst operating within the parameters of corporate polices, or when the responsibilities of our role means we have to step away from our usual habits? I’m thinking about those disciplinary meetings, difficult conversations, and other situations where as a manager you might have to act in a certain way that doesn’t come naturally – ‘feeling the fear and doing it anyway’ as Susan Jeffers said.

    In short, as managers and leaders we don’t always act naturally, but we should always act authentically. One of the ways in which I help leaders to do this is through using your strength, not just those things you are good at, but which energise and fulfill you. This is the key difference between strengths and skills (your ability to do something well). If you are using your strengths you will be ‘going with the grain’ – by working with what comes naturally to you, you will be authentic.

    You might ask what does this mean in practice? If I have strengths of Perspective, Hope or Prudence, how is that going to get me through a team meeting, or performance review? In his recent interview with me for People and Purpose – the Positive Leadership Journal, Ryan Niemiec of the VIA institute described how you can look at each task you have to complete from the position of your top five signature strengths, and planning out how you could actively use your strengths as you complete your tasks. Here’s a very basic example of using Curiosity and Kindness strengths:

    The great thing about using strengths is for those situations where you are less confident, where you have to step outside of your comfort zone. Sit down and plan ahead – how can I use what I’m good at to help me in this situation. This means that you will be authentic even if you are having to ‘play a role’ of manager.

    The other thing you can do is work with the strengths of your team. If you’re getting them to align what they do with their strengths, then they will experience that sense of fulfillment for themselves. So not just increasing productivity, but reducing the likelihood that you’ll come in one day and find they’ve used a stuffed anteater…

     

    Here’s some further things you can do:

     

    Watch

    See Ryan Niemiec’s interview in People and Purpose – the Positive Leadership Journal for more about how you can harness strengths.

    There’s a video and we’ve also written up a summary to help you.

     

     

     

    Read

    For practical information and guidance about helping your team find and harness their strengths, we’d recommend the Strength-Focused Guide to Leadership by Mike Roarty and Kathy Toogood.

    You can read the summary of the key ideas on our website to see if you’d like it.

     

     

    Investigate

    If you want help in finding your strengths, there are a number of different tools available, which use a series of questions to identify your relative strengths.

    To simplify thing, we’ve summarised five of these tools: Investigate strengths models

     

     

     

     

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  • Levelling the Playing Field

    Levelling the Playing Field

    My eye was caught some time ago by an article in The Atlantic lauding tech company Slack for its diversity. In a sector that is traditionally white and male they have reached unprecedented levels of female and ethnic staff members. This is good news; all research studies show that more diverse workforces have better performance and innovation, and any steps in the right direction should be applauded. But I was surprised to see that many of their ground-breaking solutions were techniques that anyone in the UK public sector for the last 20 years would have recognised. Yes, Slack had discovered the benefits of competencies, levelling the playing field (e.g. anonymous code review), asking candidates the same questions and providing training for their interviewers.

    The article is also interesting because it repositions these known techniques within the new language and thinking on unconscious bias. As a trainer I’ve gone from delivering courses on “Equal Opportunities” to “Diversity”, “Diversity and Inclusion” and now “Unconscious Bias”, reflecting the development of ideas and theories. I remember that the reaction of many participants to courses on “Equal opportunities” was on the lines of ‘I’m not a racist – so everything’s already okay’ or discussion about myths of political correctness such as town councils ‘replacing’ Christmas with Winterval.

    The reactions I get nowadays from course participants on Unconscious Bias is a lot more thoughtful. People are really interested that despite their intention to be non-discriminatory, they have complex and varied assumptions that they may not be aware of. The brain’s use of heuristics and short-cuts has received a lot more attention in recent years, popularised by writers such as Daniel Kahneman. The training I deliver nowadays focuses on learning how to respond, not to react – slowing down so that our rational System 2 thinking can kick in and take over from our System 1 emotional responses. It is about tapping into reality, not your own baggage and preconceptions.

    So ideas such as asking everyone the same interview questions, or using anonymous assessments can now be seen in a new light. Previously it was about levelling the playing field to avoid active discrimination – now it is about using a level playing field to prevent our unconscious biases from coming into effect.

    For more reading and thinking…

    Thinking Fast and Slow [Amazon UK affiliate link]

    If you want to know more about the science behind unconscious bias, then this really is the best place to start. Daniel Kahneman’s 2012 book is a fascinating introduction into System 1 and System 2 thinking, the mental shortcuts we take, and how we are more influenced by unconscious thinking than we would like to admit.

     

    Gold Standard Recruitment & Selection

    For tools and methods to ensure fair recruitment, there is a great article by diversity specialist Fiona McPhail in People and Purpose – the Positive Leadership journal. Fiona takes you through the recruitment process, building in fairness and equality all the way.

     

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  • 5 of the best… Strengths Tools

    5 of the best… Strengths Tools

    If you want to find out your strengths, your best bet is to use one of these five strength assessment tools. They differ greatly in the number/categories of strengths, what you get for your money, and options for follow-up work, such as bespoke development programmes. We think that each assessment has value and can appeal to a different audience, so spend some time on their websites to make sure you choose the right one for your needs.

    Information is accurate at time of press (summer 2018), but the models and the reports offered continue to be refined.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Finding your strengths is the first step to accessing the enhanced performance, motivation, engagement and commitment that comes when you are harnessing your strengths in your work and life. At Formium Development we can help you with all aspects of finding and harnessing your strengths, through training, coaching and assistance. If you’d like our help, please get in touch.

     

     

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  • Appreciative Inquiry: Strength-based organisational influence

    Appreciative Inquiry: Strength-based organisational influence

    We’ve all been there. You are tasked with delivering a significant change to processes, products or ways of working. Before you even start you are told by colleagues or staff that this will never happen, it’s impossible to do and all you feel is push-back.

    Leading change can feel like pushing a boulder up a hill with the risk that it will roll right back down at any moment.

    I’m sure this sounds familiar, as it is derived from two commonplace issues – that people often fear change and resist it, and that most organisations introduce changes by focussing on existing problems and shortcomings, such as John Kotter’s famous ‘melting iceberg’.

    But what comes of this approach? A negative atmosphere as everyone tries to dodge responsibility, and you impose a top-down change that will hopefully fix the problem. And how many times do you fix one problem only to find that you’ve now created another? Or find that people resist adopting your solution at all?

    If you think about how we apply the idea of strengths for a person – that you can deliver better change and growth by harnessing strengths rather than focussing on weaknesses – then you can imagine there is a similar approach for teams and organisations.

    Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is that approach – it focuses on finding out what already works, and how to leverage those successes and strengths. It is a collaborative approach, because unless you have everyone involved, you can’t effectively incorporate the multiplicity of perspectives. By co-creating a vision as well as the approach together, you’ll reduce resistance to change and have a more effective and lasting solution.

    The theory and research underpinning Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is extensive, as is the track record of AI being used effectively in a whole host of settings across industries, countries and sectors.

    The Appreciative Inquiry process starts with a positively stated topic choice or inquiry question, such as: “How can we deliver maximum value for our customers within our existing resources?” or “Creating innovation through collaboration with other departments or organisations” or “Becoming a high performing and fun team.” Its power comes from the combination of focusing on what works and approaching changes with an open, enquiring mind.

    The AI process then uses a simple 4D model to address the topic – Discover – Dream – Design – Deliver

    This may not seem that different from a range of other such models, until you look at what happens in each phase.

    Traditionally managers would use root cause analysis to try and understand problems. In Appreciative Inquiry, this phase is about looking positively at what is already working, helping us identify the key ingredients of success for this team or organisation. It embraces the positive traditions and stories that they have about themselves.

    Looking at existing success helps engagement and creativity and generates confidence for the next stage. You may find those existing examples of collaboration or of innovation that can act as the template for wider improvements.

    Rather than the narrow focus on solving problems with the minimum effort in the minimum time, this visioning phase is about using the positivity so everyone feels safe in challenging the status quo, in thinking about the big picture, and creating a vision that reaches into the future.

    We ask questions like “How does our version of excellence on a budget look, and crucially why does it matter?”

    When you’re grounded in what’s worked, and because you’re involving everyone, you can build a compelling dream that generates commitment to action.

    The Appreciative Inquiry approach is to focus on bridging the gap to your dream, while making sure there is alignment with values, strategy, structures and processes.

    Co-creation means working with all involved, which ensures that you don’t ‘rob Peter to pay Paul,’ and generates crucial buy-in and joint-ownership of change.

    This stage is when you work together to translate the vision into action plans and share roles and responsibilities in making it happen.

    You’ll need to maintain the momentum – keep talking together, challenging each other, reaffirming commitment to change.

    Agree how you will hold each participant accountable for delivering their commitments, but don’t fall back into negativity and top-down power.

    Reflect back on what you’ve learned about the traditions and stories people tell about themselves, and use them to overcome any obstacles. Continue to celebrate successes.

    Appreciative Inquiry is effective

    As an external facilitator who has used an Appreciative Inquiry approach with many teams, I can tell you that it works. So many top-down change programmes fail because of the fear, resistance or lack of ownership. With AI, that initial focus on ‘what works already’ gives people security, helps them understand that their particular perspective is valued. This enables them to be creative, to see the big picture and to consider what they individually need to do for the team to reach their compelling vision.

    While Appreciative Inquiry works exceptionally well on large-scale change or organisational development programmes, it is not just about externally-driven change or solving specific challenges. Some of my best experiences have been using AI approaches in team away-days to help them reflect, define their own vision and agree how they will act differently in the future, all based on what they were already great at.

    Many of my clients use an external facilitator because it helps create a level playing field for all participants, and because we can more easily ask the big questions and identify the ‘we’ve always done it like that’ assumptions. But any manager can learn how to use an AI approach – there’s a wealth of accessible resources to help you – books, websites, videos, webinars.

    Eszter Molnar Mills is a strength-based leadership and organisation development specialist.

    She helps organisations and individuals reach enhanced performance by reflecting on what works, and by developing skills and strategies for improvement.

    Through Formium Development, Eszter supports organisations, teams and individuals through consultancy, executive and team coaching, and facilitation.

    If you’d like help or advice on implementing the Appreciative Inquiry approach, then please get in touch.

     

     

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  • Review: The Strengths-Focused Guide to Leadership

    Review: The Strengths-Focused Guide to Leadership

    If you want a practical manual to understanding how to harness strengths, for you and your team, this book is a great place to start, as it:

    • introduces the key concepts of strengths
      • provides the research base for more inquisitive readers
      • illustrates with narratives
    • prompts you with a range of exercises and action points
    • explains how to weave strengths into your practice as a leader.

     

    What really sets this book apart is the emphasis on practicality. Numerous exercises help you engage with the ideas. There are questions, forms and questionnaires for you to use. The book looks at embedding strengths in all your work, including coaching, team meetings, recruitment and appraisals. So even if you know the value of using strengths, this is still a worthwhile read.

    A further great feature is the use of dialogues, showing the ideas in action (e.g. a coaching session transcript) or as two alternative ‘scripts’ – one using strengths, the other weakness. These stories keep you grounded in reality.

     

    The whys, whats and hows of using strengths

    The authors define strengths as something that:

    They show the advantage of working with strengths: that you are doing more of what you are best at. They set out the alignment between using strengths and increased sense of authenticity and purpose, increasing satisfaction and engagement. This naturally leads into a more productive cycle, with faster and better results.

    For any readers averse to leaving a weakness-focussed approach, the authors provide both the evidence for focussing on strengths, and also how to address weaknesses with a positive mindset.

     

    The MORE model

     

    My strengths: To identify your own strengths, the authors offer five different methods: strength spotting, weakness spotting, a 5 steps strengths map, 360 degree feedback and online strengths assessments. They provide the exercises, questions and examples to help you through whichever of these methods you prefer to use.

    Roarty and Toogood suggest 8 ways to develop your strengths:

     

    They also provide 6 ways to manage your weaknesses. To align your goals and strengths, they suggest usual SMART objectives should rather be SMARTIE – adding Important and Energising.

    Others’ strengths: The book suggests approaches to introduce strengths as a concept and to support your team in identifying their strengths.

    Regular conversations: To embed strengths into daily practice, the authors provide checklists and questions which embody the three principles that will help you develop a strengths mindset:

    • start with an outcome focus
    • focus on what’s working
    • manage weakness from strength

    They advise how to use this mindset in one-to-one conversations, development planning, team meetings and coaching: interventions where a strengths-focus has great rewards.

    Employee processes: Roarty and Toogood provide specific advice for a strength-based approach for performance appraisals, development discussions and recruitment. Particularly interesting is their approach for adapting to institutional reality: that while you may be required to use certain forms, competencies or expected approaches, you can still use a strengths mindset and techniques to provide a better outcome.

    Leadership and teams

    The book ends by providing the advice, evidence and resources to use strengths in two key challenges: creating a high-performing team, and in leading change. While specific examples are given, the advice reflects the key messages delivered previously, as detailed above.

     

    You can buy The Strengths-focused guide to leadership, by Mike Roarty and Kathy Toogood, on Amazon UK or Amazon USA

     

     

    Eszter Molnar Mills is a strength-based leadership and organisation development specialist.

    She helps organisations and individuals reach enhanced performance by reflecting on what works, and by developing skills and strategies for improvement.

    If you’d like help or advice on using strengths – such as implementing the MORE model, helping you find or use your strengths, or adopt a coaching approach, then please get in touch.

     

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  • Coaching 101: Myths busted and advice for using a coaching approach

    Coaching 101: Myths busted and advice for using a coaching approach

    Coaching 101: Myths busted and advice for using a coaching approach

    Do you want to help your team members improve their performance? Do your one-to-one meetings often end up with you giving all the answers and telling them what to do? Do you want your team to be more self-sufficient and empowered?

    If the answer to any of the above is yes, then I suggest you learn how to coach. Increasingly seen as an essential management tool, coaching supports people to give their very best regardless of their current performance level. Coaching is focussed on helping them find solutions themselves, rather than the manager providing direction or advice. As a coach, and a trainer of coaches, I’m going to share with you some of my key ideas on why all managers and leaders should be coaching.

     coacHing_cmi1. Coaching myths

    We’ll cover aspects of how to coach later, but first, let’s look at some of the reasons why managers don’t coach, and debunk these myths.

    Myth 1: “It takes too long; it takes less time if I just tell them the answer or what to do.”

    You may worry that coaching is too time consuming, but it takes no more time overall than many other management practices. Crucially coaching builds capacity in your team to resolve their own issues – or to come to you with solutions, rather than questions. This saves you time in the medium to long run

    Myth 2: “I’m not a professional coach, surely an external person needs to do this work?”

    While there is real value in independent coaching, anyone can add a coaching approach to their management toolkit. I’ve trained hundreds in coaching skills, and you’d be surprised how quickly people can take it on board. David Rock defines coaching as ‘the art and science of facilitating positive change’ – and if you think about it, that’s what good managers are all about. The aim of coaching, and the skills you need, are aligned with being a positive and supportive manager: meeting people where they are, then helping them build on their skills, strengths and experiences, addressing shortcomings, finding solutions and identifying strategies to meet agreed targets.

    Myth 3: “I’m the manager, I have the right answers, I should always share them.”

    You should if there is only one right answer. But allowing your colleagues to maintain ownership, think issues through and work out their own solutions helps to get the best from your people. If you focus on goals and outcomes, your team can be more creative. Sir John Whitmore argues that coaching encourages acceptance of responsibility, which results in a commitment, in turn optimising employees’ performance.

    A coaching approach helps establish boundaries around their responsibility for delivering outcomes and resolving issues. Your role is to work with people not for them – helping them work towards solutions rather than micro-managing. It helps when people own their goals.

    Telling people the right answers isn’t always effective. Think about training sessions: a significant U.S. study found that the application of learning following a training course was around 22%. The majority simply didn’t put anything into practice. But when training was combined with coaching or some sort of a follow-up, it really helped people put their learning into practise. Suddenly, application went up to 90% – so with an approach of coaching rather than telling you could generate a much better return on your time investment.

    2. When to use a coaching approach

    PWC’s Global Coaching Study for the International Coach Federation found that coaching creates improvements in areas such as self-confidence, relationships, communication skills, work-life balance, work performance, business management and team effectiveness.

    So, is there any occasion when you would not want your team to have those benefits? I’d encourage you to make coaching part of your daily management skills – but especially when there are high stakes pieces of work, big projects, or issues where you’re carrying an awful lot of responsibility.

    Coaching can be delivered just in time; you can talk about a project just as it arises. Coaching is targeted, it can be specific to your organisation and the type of work or individual that you are talking to. It can build on their experience, knowledge, and skills while addressing their specific challenges.

    By adding a coaching approach to your practice you can look forward to reaping its many personal and organisational benefits.

    3. What a coaching approach looks like

    Now we’re going to consider how you would start coaching. You can coach anytime, anywhere. Your coaching conversations don’t need to be formal or take more than a few minutes. It is however distinguished from other management activity by two key points:

    • it is solution-focussed
    • it leaves ownership and accountability with the staff member or coachee.

    To achieve this, coaching involves asking insightful questions and providing reflection without giving advice or direction.

    3.1 Start with the outcome

    Start conversations with ‘what do we want to achieve?’, ‘what do you need?’. Encourage your staff member to articulate where they are aspiring to be or what an ideal outcome would look like.

    Then you look at the current situation: ‘This is our goal, and this is where we are at the moment. Let’s talk about how we bridge that gap.’

    Next, encourage the coachee to come up with potential solutions or options. Rather than providing advice, ask questions to help them work issues out for themselves: ‘What options do you have?’ ‘What do we need to do to make this project a success?’ ‘How are you going to marshal your skills, experience, and resources to achieve it?’ and the magic coaching question: ‘What else?’ Aim for as many options as they can gather – I often find that the really innovative solutions only emerge once I’ve exhausted all the obvious ideas.

    Ensure that there is a specific set of outcomes or actions from the coaching conversation. The coachee needs to choose and commit to their own next step to draw real benefit from this approach.

    This basic process I’ve described has been worked up into a number of coaching models. There’s not much difference between them beyond which acronym you prefer.

    3.2 It is not about you – ownership and accountability belong with the coachee

    In coaching the question is always, ‘what are you going to do’, and then ‘what support might you need to succeed’? Accountability and ownership rests with the coachee or individual whose job or project you are discussing.

    Your role is to facilitate their thinking, not to solve the team member’s issues, or do their job for them. Understanding this distinction is remarkably freeing and allows for better quality conversations. It will be tough at first, but try hard not to be directive.

    Listen to the other person, rather than your thoughts about how you might respond. What is really important to them? What are their challenges? What opportunities are they seeing? What next steps do they want to take?

    When encouraged to come up with our own solutions, we maintain ownership and accountability, and feel much more motivated to follow through than when we are told what to do.

    3.3 Provide support and challenge

    Provide support and help where it is needed. Ask your team member to articulate what they see as the main challenge in a particular project and how you can support them in overcoming it.

    Encourage them to identify the resources available to them; or similar situations or tasks where they have previously been successful.

    Praise people for difficulties they’ve chosen to tackle, for taking ownership and accountability or for doing a great job of resolving their own issues.

    Also provide constructive challenge. If you hear ‘We can never do that because…’ ask them, ‘Are you sure? Can you tell me what it would take for us to actually be able to do it? Could we do something differently to enable us to achieve this?’ Challenging is often a crucial part of coaching conversations.

    4. Coaching is a crucial management skill that you should have

    So you can see that coaching has wide-ranging benefits for your team and you – and is a great return on your time invested.

    There’s no reason why you can’t go ahead and put into practice the ideas I’ve shown you in your next one-to-one or team meeting. If you’re interested, and would like some support in how to coach effectively, then I’d suggest two options. You could learn by being coached yourself, or you could find some training on coaching skills.

    If you want to get the most from your people, if you want to help them develop, then coaching is a great skill to use – as after all, personal growth takes place at the intersection of ownership, accountability, support and challenge – and that is what a good coach provides.

     

    Eszter Molnar Mills is a highly experienced and qualified leadership coach, and has taught coaching skills to hundreds of managers. Eszter and her team at Formium Development provide training and support to managers so they can get the best out of themselves, their teams and their organisations.

    How we can help you

    Coaching: if you’re looking for someone to help you to find solutions for your goals, we have a number of coaches available for phone/video conference coaching. Click here for more details.

    Training: if you want more help on using a coaching approach as part of your management toolkit, then get in touch about our in-house workshops on Coaching Skills for Managers.

    Webinar: People who join up to our newsletter get access to a bunch of helpful information and resources. This includes periodic access to our webinar on Coaching.

     

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  • Book Review: The Positive Organization by Robert E Quinn

    Book Review: The Positive Organization by Robert E Quinn

    So many business books leave you wondering “…but how does that work in reality?” That’s not a problem with The Positive Organization – this short book (less than 160 pages from cover to cover) is packed with ideas, examples, case studies and practical exercises, written in an engaging and straightforward style.

    Throughout, Quinn challenges us to consider a different way of thinking, and to think about how we can effectively participate in building a positive organisation. A key strength of the book is that it has actionable lessons for all, regardless of job role or responsibility, from board room to shop floor. Each chapter concludes with a tool to use with teams in self-assessment and development, as well as questions to encourage the reader to reflect and set aspirations, to deepen learning.

    The central premise of the book is that building a positive organisation requires accountability and authenticity, that for it to be successful it has to be emergent and self-generating. This approach is built on listening, consultation and empowerment at all levels.

    What marks this book apart from many others is both the effectiveness of Quinn’s model, as well as the Positive Organization Generator – over 100 real-life examples of how organisations have successfully increased their positivity.

    Mental Maps and bilingualism

    Quinn suggests that the culture of an organisation can be summarised in a mental map – an indication of what a company believes and assumes, covering domains such as Motivation, Status and Change. Most organisations, and most leaders, operate using what Quinn calls a Conventional Mental Map, a top-down, traditional hierarchy. He contrasts this with the more complex Positive Mental Map, focused more on networks and relationships, and a focus on the common good and authentic communication.

    However, this is not a binary state – Quinn suggests a successful leader needs to be ‘bilingual’ able to speak the language of both maps depending on the need of the people they are working with, to find the right tools for the right occasion.

    A question of balance

    Quinn provides us with a further analysis of organisational culture – the Framework of Organizational Tensions. Quinn groups organisational characteristics into two opposing lists, for example Individual Accountability and Cohesive Teamwork. If taken to extremes either of these positive characteristics could be negative – conflict on the one hand or group-think on the other. To illustrate the need to maintain balance between these positive forces, Quinn separates each pair on opposing sides of a disc, with an outer ring of negative forces that may arise if the positive force is over-developed.

    This idea of tension and balance is crucial to Quinn – organisations are not static, they are dynamic, and to effect positive change we have to consider the whole system, that positives can turn into negatives.

    A call to action

    Having developed these models, Quinn turns to a number of key issues in developing a positive organisation, in chapters that focus on how to drive organisations forward by developing and promoting authenticity, creating a sense of purpose, fostering bottom-up change and collaborative development. He uses a range of interesting and relevant examples, referring back to the models at every stage.

    In these sections he is challenging and insightful on the role of the individual, on our willingness to work for the common good, our ability to leave our ego and control behind when trying to develop an organisation that thrives. He is also realistic about human nature, and how difficult meaningful change and personal authenticity may be, but makes clear the benefits of developing leadership capabilities and organisational positivity.

    Over to you

    Quinn concludes by sharing with the reader his Positive Organization Generator. Designed to confront sceptics and resistance, he provides 100 examples of where an organisation has made positive change (from a range of industries, and with links to further articles on each of them). This is an amazing resource that gives readers a real opportunity to understand “how it works in reality”. Rather than just adopting these ideas, his instruction to readers is to re-invent them – to be inspired by the examples, extract the principle and re-imagine it for your own context, moulding and adapting to fit.

    Robert E. Quinn’s website www.bob-quinn.com provides you with the resources from the book, including the Positive Organization Generator.

    Or you can buy the book from Amazon UK or Amazon USA.

    For more ideas you can also follow his daily blog: www.thepositiveorganization.wordpress.com

     

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    Formium Development helps individuals and organisations to harness their strengths and improve their performance and culture. We know change can be hard, so we can bring our expertise to help you with organisational development – such as implementing the ideas in The Positive Organization.

    Click here if you’d like more information on how we can help you and your team analyse, assess, challenge, innovate, communicate and develop.

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  • You only win when you’re singing

    You only win when you’re singing

     

    In Britain, football crowds have songs for every occasion. If your team overturns a losing position, to taunt the opposition fans now sitting in crestfallen silence, you bellow at them: “You only sing when you’re winning” (improbably to the tune of a traditional Cuban song, Guatanamera).

    But have the fans got this the wrong way round? Some recent research highlighted on the informative website The Conversation suggests that you only win when you’re singing. Having studied the 2016 European championship, the academics Slater, Haslam and Steffens reckon you can predict the result of an international football match by how passionately the teams sing their national anthem (regardless of how good the team is perceived to be).

    So, apart from giving you a fun game to try at home during this World Cup, what impact could this study have for you as a manager or leader?

    1. The best results are achieved by the most passionate

    This aligns with a key concept of positive psychology, that we do our best work when we are doing something we are really engaged with. We’re not saying you need to come into your office singing everyday, but that you need to find a role or tasks that you believe in, that positively challenge you, that gives you the opportunity to reach a state of ‘flow.’

    If this doesn’t sound like you, then you could analyse your strengths (e.g. using the VIA survey) and see if you can more closely align your work with your strengths – a short-cut to working with passion.

    2. It has to be real

    One of the interesting findings was that there was no benefit when the players were instructed to sing up (as England players were memorably asked in 2014). The passion of the singing is a direct result of the underlying camaraderie and team spirit.

    So think about your team development – what could you do to create the conditions in which your team can organically grow?

    • Create opportunities for natural social interaction – e.g. a drinks break in a team meeting
    • Assign two team members to work on a task together, to build familiarity and trust
    • Establish collectively a clear team goal, with everyone understanding their role
    • Use an Appreciative Inquiry approach to help each team member understand the input, perspective and value of each other

    3. Don’t ignore a bad team spirit

    I’ve met many managers who are happy to treat their team as a group of individual performers, not bothering if there is antagonism in the team, providing the work gets done. Slater et al’s study suggests they’re wrong – that how a team interacts really does impact on performance. It may be hard work, but addressing team conflict and proactively encouraging a better team spirit will pay dividends in the long run.

    4. Actions speak as loud as words

    The study indicated that body language and non-verbal cues were important, not just singing. The challenge for you as a manager is to keep your eyes open – be sensitive to how your team members interact, not just what they say to each other.

    Help is at hand

    If you want advice or help in building your team, Formium Development can help with guidance, facilitation, executive and team coaching,.

    Check out our resources on teams:

    10 actions to build a strong team
    Checklist for a Positive Team Meeting

    Eszter Molnar Mills is a strength-based leadership and organisation development specialist and founder of Formium Development. A qualified executive and team coach, she helps organisations and individuals reach enhanced performance by reflecting on what works, and developing skills and strategies for improvement. Through team coaching and facilitation Eszter also helps organisations and teams work together to develop positive and productive cultures.