Tag Archives: team performance
Getting the best out of our people (Top 10 Business Challenges)
In a survey conducted by the Insights Group, top companies considered that getting the best out of their people was one of their key issues. So how do you do this? Insights Discovery uses a four colour model, comprised of Cool Blue, Fiery Red, Earth Green and Sunshine Yellow energies, to describe people’s strengths, styles and team contributions. Everyone has all four energies, although no one is strong in all four, and the unique combination of these helps to determine why we think each and behave the way we do. It is important that you set clear directional goals for your business and that your employees all know and understand what these are and how you want them to be achieved. Employees that can see the bigger picture and have an understanding of where they fit within this are likely …
Choosing my crew carefully
As much as we would all love to be good at everything in life, success often depends on realising that we are not! When boat sailing my small cruising catamaran, I often take to the water with those who possess additional skills or knowledge that I am sorely deficient in. It’s not the main reason I take them with me, but it helps! My younger son, a marine engineer, has an ability to analyse a practical challenge, identify the problem and then fix it. And we’re both happy to laugh at my ability to defer the difficult jobs until he arrives. Mike, my crew for a weekend back in June, is retired and has a love of all things mechanical. Tom, an equally-experienced sailor, is a semi-retired engineer and possible part-time contortionist who can turn his hand to most things; …
Two tools for raising team effectiveness
I was talking with someone from a small (two-person) team recently. Working for a small charity, their responsibility was for fundraising a challenging amount of money for the year. Dividing the work and opportunities evenly between them didn’t seem to be working and both were feeling stress levels rising. And then they were offered some psychometric profiling. It clearly identified one person as being relatively introverted, focussed and with good attention to detail. Her colleague could hardly have been more different. Outgoing, bubby and extroverted, she drew her energy from meeting with people and found paperwork draining. What a revelation this understanding of each other brought! Instead of dividing the work evenly, they split it by temperament. Our introvert spends more time researching, applying to trusts, completing the paperwork (yes, even her colleague’s paperwork!) She feels a new freedom and no …
