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The Team Building Away Day – And Why They Never Work

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“In order to strengthen the concept of team working and/or cross sector team working, part of the awarding authority’s training budget is allocated to teams/regions for development days out of the office. Corporate training days for all the awarding authority’s staff are also held three times per annum, with the aim of promoting communication and sharing …”

I see this sort of thing on an almost daily basis – and it drives me mad!

An ‘authority’ with silos and poor cross-sectoral working thinking things will be fixed with some time out of the office teambuilding.

When teams start solving problems involving planks, barrels, rafts, pretend minefields/alligators/swamps and so on, team work will come shining through, because it will be incentivised, praised and rewarded. Trainers will look for behaviours that lead to good teamwork and cross departmental collaboration (open, honest communication, good listening etc) and will reward these behaviours with affirming feedback, praise and a warm cup of Bovril. Behaviours that undermine good teamwork will attract adjusting feedback and suggestions for behaviours that might work better. Team performance will be compared and clear winners and losers will be established – and no-one will want to lose.

The trainers will do what good managers would be doing every day. Observing what people do, comparing it to what the organisations requires from them and providing feedback and coaching.

Instead of burning the training budget with expensive off-sites and corporate training days the ‘authority’ should invest in setting up a process for clarifying the kinds of behaviours and outcomes that it wants to see in the organisation.

It should then set up a rigorous system of supervision and support (121s) so that every employee gets weekly feedback and coaching designed to encourage the desired behaviours and discourage the rest.

For a fraction of the cost of these ‘offsites’ the desired behaviours would become prevalent throughout the organisation within 6 months.

GUARANTEED.

So the next time you find yourself asking your training department to set up a Team Building away day – just ask yourself if there might not be a better, more systematic and cost effective way of getting the results that you want.

Or better still – give me a call!

Progressive Managers Network partners with YMCA Training

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YMCA Training, Harrogate

I am delighted to say that the PMN has established a new partnership with YMCA Training in Harrogate to add to existing partnerships with the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board and The Goodwin Development Trust in Hull.

PMN events will be available at YMCA Training from October. The first launch event is free of charge. Subsequent events carry a 50% discount for bookings taken before September 1st.

Brilliant One to Ones

  • 19th October 13.30- 16.30 – YMCA Training, Harrogate – FREE Introductory Event

Giving and Getting Great Feedback

  • 26th October 09.30- 13.30 – YMCA Training, Harrogate – Early bird discount of 50% on bookings received before Sept 1st

Practical Coaching for Progressive Managers

  • 2nd November 13.30 – 16.30 – YMCA Training, Harrogate – Early bird discount of 50% on bookings received before Sept 1st

Find out more about PMN events here.

Find out more about the Progressive Managers Network here.

The Truth About Performance Management

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What is performance management about really?

  • Outputs?
  • Outcomes?
  • Impacts?
  • Measurement?

In truth performance management is a communication process that helps individuals learn and grow in their ability to connect with, and contribute to, the organisation’s priorities. This connection between the individual, their values, beliefs, skills and aspirations and the purpose or mission of the business is the real driver for performance improvement.

Just to repeat – performance management is a communication process that helps individuals learn and grow in their ability to connect with, and contribute to, the organisation’s priorities.

Too often I see organisations spending time and money developing processes for providing data on performance without investing in the communication processes (121s, feedback, coaching, delegation, priority management etc.) that turn the data into effective performance management and improvement.

Some More Great Questions for Managers

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First posting for over 2 weeks – courtesy of a family holiday – with no laptop!

I have been reading Drucker, again, and found another really useful set of questions for managers to ask of themselves. They are also the kind of questions that you should be able to answer for each of your team members. You might consider exploring them in your 121s.

  • What is your task?
  • What should it be?
  • What should you be expected to contribute?
  • What hampers you in doing your task and could it be avoided?
  • What are your strengths?
  • How do you work most effectively? (Think about the personal style you bring to the work you’re doing. Are you best with a team or by yourself? Do you like structure or are you better at playing it by ear? Do you work well with the predictable or the chaotic?)
  • What are your values? Are you in the right place to express your values through your work?
  • Where do you belong? – What kind of work environment suits you best?

This is all about clarifying roles, contributions and opportunities for development and improvement.

All meat and drink to the Progressive Manager.

When Standards are Breached….

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Successful modern leaders must be supportive of staff, but must also take decisive action to maintain standards of behaviour and professionalism in the workplace.

Are the worst leaders those who fail to support and develop staff or those who fail to effectively challenge people when standards of behaviour and professionalism are not met?

The best managers are those who are able to do both.

In order to establish and enhance standards in the workplace as a manager the first pre-requisite is a strong relationship of trust and respect.   It is possible to maintain minimum standards through fear – for a while at least – but if you want people to perform to their best then your relationship with them has to be strong.

As a manager you have to have a clear idea about what excellence is, and to be confident enough in your own knowledge and the relationship with the report to give feedback.

Usually when people hear the feedback word they assume immediately that the feedback must be negative or corrective. There is an assumption that feedback is given when a standard is not met.  However managers must spend time providing affirming feedback for all the great work that goes on – if they expect their adjusting feedback to be listened to.

Feedback needs to be given effectively.  It needs to focus on the specific behaviours and their consequences and leave the responsibility for making necessary changes with the report.

It needs to be given from a position of wanting to help and being constructive.  From wanting to see the recipient of the feedback produce consistently high quality results.  Feedback given from a critical, negative or superior place is rarely effective.