Collaboration: the three questions you should be asking
When global business leaders from Virgin’s Richard Branson to Apple’s Steve Jobs say collaboration is at the heart of their success, then you know it is more than just today’s buzzword. They are in good company. PwC’s annual ‘CEO Survey’ reports that 86 per cent of global business leaders now view collaboration as a very […]
Leading remote teams: how to deal with conflict
At the other end of every computer, every mobile device, there is a person. Every person holds a range of thoughts, a range of assumptions, and a set of preferences about how they want to be treated and how they should treat others. In the third and final article of this series on leading virtual […]
Leading remote teams: the role of performance management
“At the core of effective performance management are frank, yet supportive performance conversations that include ongoing feedback. Occasional processes, such as annual performance reviews and pay setting, can be useful, but shouldn’t be the main focus.” This is a quote from the CIPD Factsheet of 31 July 2017. The essence of performance management remains the […]
Leading remote teams: why you need a different mindset
The good news is that, in essence, leading remote teams is just like leading any other team. The bad news is that if you’re used to managing by watching what people are doing, you will need a shift in mindset. “Work is far less meaningful and pleasant than it needs to be because well-intentioned leaders […]
What to do about team conflict
There’s conflict and there’s conflict – the productive conflict that energises us when we’re grappling with complex tasks together (we often see that in winning teams) – and the non-productive, energy-draining conflict which is something different entirely. The latter causes people to dread Monday mornings; to loathe team meetings and to focus on survival (which […]
The reality of performance: no team is an island
In my last three articles, I’ve spoken about the things a team needs to focus on to become a winning team – with the main emphasis being on the team itself and its members. It’s fair to say that some people object to the term ‘winning’ to describe a business team because the implication is […]
The six habits that help teams win
In my last article I outlined the five steps to building a winning team. There are some meaty things to do and it’s not a quick fix. But if you focus relentlessly on those five things you’ll see significant progress and a stronger, more successful team will emerge. In this article I want to focus on six […]
5 steps to building a winning team
In my last article I described five different team types including the Winning Team. The Winning Team is the one that gets exceptional results. Results which benefit the organisation(s) and clients they serve. (And they get results without exhausting themselves. That’s an important distinction as many teams get great results but at significant personal cost). These teams pay equal […]
Team types – which one are you?
Six years ago my colleague Lois Burton and I identified five different team types – this was not an academic exercise – (goodness knows, there’s enough theory about teams out there to last a lifetime) – but one based on our experience of working with numerous leadership teams across all sectors over a ten year […]
Is all anger in the workplace bad?
Around 65% of office workers have experienced office rage, and 45% of staff regularly lose their tempers at work say statistics for National Anger Awareness Week which takes place 1-7 December. Of all the emotions, studies suggest that anger is the one that we most easily recognise through facial expression and body language and academics […]
How to align your team with good co-ordination
Better managers recognize that the art of management is something they need to learn. No one becomes a fully competent manager overnight. There are, of course, many ways of learning how to be an effective manager. There is no doubt that experience is the best teacher – the time you have spent as a manager […]
Work teams need these six things to be successful
Historically, when it comes to people performance, we’ve always focused on the individual, forgetting about the importance of teamwork. Human beings are naturally social creatures and the impact that team dynamics can have in the workplace is huge. Research shows that employees who fit well with their job, team and organisation have greater job satisfaction, […]
Priming teams: to do it or not?
There’s so much rich insight coming out of the academic sector that HR professionals need to know. At Academics’ Corner we feature the best HR researchers that tell you what they’ve found and what you need to do differently on the back of the research. Get connected to the academic sector through Academics’ Corner and make sure […]
Evidence-based agony aunt: “I want to give more responsibility to people. How do I get them to step up?”
Our evidence-based agony aunt, Jan Hills, uses findings from neuroscience and psychology to tell you how to solve your organisational problems in brain-savvy ways, that work with the mind's natural tendecies and not against it. Got a problem you want her to look at it? Drop us a line at [email protected]. We'll get back quickly. Question: […]
The office choir: can music revolutionise the boardroom?
Tessa Marchington is the Founder of Music in Offices, an organisation which works with some of the UK’s top employers, using music as a means of engaging and motivating their people. Earlier this month, Music in Offices launched the campaign #RevolutionisetheBoardroom, calling on employers to make music and the arts an integral part of the strategy […]
Taking one for the team: why it’s time to ditch the dogma of individual rewards
For the past ten years, I have been interested in the area surrounding how and why employees at work are rewarded for their results. This has led me to think about the conventional approach of rewards, and how they are at odds with desirable behaviour. More and more, organisations are aiming for teamwork to improve performances […]
8 winning tactics for creating gold medal teamwork
This article was written by Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn, authors of ”The Team Formula”. The Olympics are now in our rear view mirror. This is a good time to review and learn from the teamwork that goes into making an Olympian successful. Team GB had magnificent success at the Olympics. That kind of success […]
The diversity challenge? Team cohesion grows from shared goals
Nisha from Finance eyes her lemon meringue cupcake, the topping melting in the sun. Liz from Communications forces a bright grin as she grapples with the microphone. “And the winner of the Cupcake King or Queen of 2016 is…” Nisha hasn’t mistakenly entered herself for The Great British Bake Off, she’s just struggling to enjoy […]
Just how can you quickly spin up teams on the fly and make them more efficiently?
In response to today’s rapidly changing contexts, businesses are regularly reviewing their lists of projects, closing down some and kick-starting others. With this constant flux, building teams on the fly and expecting quick results is becoming a common occurrence in modern organisations. What type of leader is best suited to build them and what should […]
Do team members retaliate or cooperate when co-workers call in sick?
There's so much rich insight coming out of the academic sector that HR professionals need to know. At Academics' Corner we feature the best HR researchers that tell you what they’ve found and what you need to do differently on the back of the research. Get connected to the academic sector through Academics’ Corner and […]
