Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (2002)

Overview

With the move to flatter organisational structures, more complex processes and an increase in global working, successful teamwork has become synonymous with business success.  Yet efforts to create high performing teams so often fail because the basics of good teamwork are overlooked.  This practical Master Class will help you to understand how teams develop, what makes them successful and why they fail.  You will develop and practice essential team skills including the skills involved in leading virtual and complex teams.  Whether you’re a team player or a team leader this Master Class will give you the tools and techniques you need to achieve peak performance.
 

How much does it cost?

The Master Class fee is £235 per delegate payable at the time of booking.

The fee includes all materials and refreshments including lunch.
 

Available for bookings shortly

Where is the Master Class being held?

The Grand Connaught Rooms, 61-65 Great Queen St, London WC2B 5DA. The venue is easily accessible and close to all London transport links. The nearest tube is Holborn which is served by the Central and Piccadilly lines.

JPA Master Class Policy

JPA accepts firm bookings through the JPA website – in making such bookings clients accept our bookings and cancellation policy.

Provisional bookings may be made but must be confirmed at least 30 days before the course date or else they will be considered a firm booking and will be subject to our standard booking and cancellation policy.

Confirmed bookings may be cancelled up to 21 days from the course start date without any penalty. Cancellation within 21 days of the course start date will mean that the full fee is payable for the course and there will be no refund. We will however consider transferring your place to another course date if a suitable course and place is available.

Name substitutions can be made at any time before the course without penalty.

Only one discount can be used per booking.

JPA does not store credit card details nor do we share customer details with any 3rd parties.

JPA reserves the right to cancel a course if insufficient bookings have been received. Delegates will be offered an alternative date or a full refund of the course fee. We reserve the right to make changes to the programme and the right to refuse any booking.

02-01-14 - Comments (0)

Alex Ferguson’s leadership legacy

Alex Ferguson, the world’s most famous football manager, announced his retirement today.  He was the man behind Manchester United’s success and was known for his unwavering determination and steadfast focus on results.  But what can we learn about Alex Ferguson as a leader and would his leadership style work in the real world?  Here are Alex Ferguson’s top three leadership lessons.

 Inspire your team with passion and commitment.  Nothing motivates a team more than a leader’s own determination and exuberance.  Alex Ferguson inspired his team by getting them to believe in themselves, telling them stories and helping them to visualise victory.  He said:

“I remember going to see Andrea Bocelli, the opera singer. I had never been to a classical concert in my life. But I am watching this and thinking about the co-ordination and the teamwork, one starts and one stops, just fantastic.”

Don’t be afraid to deal with under-performers.  OK, we have to steer clear of employment tribunals but Ferguson put performance and results before everything.  He supported and defended his players for as long as they performed. But he managed talent effectively, having the courage to move players on when the time came.

“You can’t ever lose control — not when you are dealing with 30 top professionals who are all millionaires. And if anyone steps out of my control, that’s them dead.”

Give praise when it’s due.  Ferguson was a tough, uncompromising and sometimes aggressive boss.  But he knew how important it was to give praise.  And because he was so demanding, that praise was all the more effective when it came.

“For a player – and for any human being – there is nothing better than hearing “well done”. You don’t need to use superlatives.”

Alex Ferguson has done what many leaders cannot do  – made his exit early, leaving the crowd wanting more.

08-05-13 - Comments (3)

How do you think you did?

After running a residential weekend on Leadership Skills for some MBA students I was keen to make sure they applied their learning when they got back to work.  I wanted them to commit to at least one action that would change the way they work and improve their management skills.  “So what are you going to differently tomorrow?” I asked.  The responses were many and various but were not specific enough for my liking.

“I’m going to try to listen more and talk less” one said. “I’m going to improve the way we make decisions in my organisation” offered another.  These were encouraging resolutions but were not specific enough for my liking.  Then one of the quieter members of the group said “Well from now on, whenever I am giving feedback or carrying out an appraisal, I’m going to start the conversation with ‘How do you think you did?’”.  It’s a little thing, but her words made my heart sing!

The weekend course had involved a lot of group work where individuals gave feedback to each other on their performance after each exercise.  At first they approached this by immediately reeling off a list of what they thought the other person did well and what they didn’t do well (sadly the emphasis was nearly always on the negatives).  However, I had been encouraging them to start each feedback session with a question: “How do you think you did?”.  Gradually, they got the hang of it and began to see the benefits of this approach.

There are many situations where managers are called on to comment on the performance of their staff.  It could involve one of those difficult conversations where concerns about performance need to be raised.  It might be part of a performance appraisal or it could just be because someone has asked you for feedback.  If the feedback is positive the conversation is fairly straightforward.  If not, the approach needs careful handling.

There are two main advantages of starting with the question “How do you think you did?”:

• If things have gone wrong or there are performance problems there is a good chance that the other person will talk about these problems in their response to your question.  How much better is it for them to raise the issues rather than you?  Immediately you have been offered a way in to a discussion about why these problems came about and how they can be addressed.  Yes, I know that there are some people who will never own up to mistakes or short comings but in my experience most people are reasonably self-aware and, given the right environment, they are relatively honest.
• If the performance issues are identified and raised by the other person, rather than you, there is a much better chance of them taking responsibility for the problem and doing something about it.  When a person is simply told that they’ve got something wrong, even though they might agree, they are more likely to question their manager’s judgement and go on the defensive.  In this situation they will feel much less inclined to address the issues, and so improving their performance becomes an uphill battle.

Giving feedback and managing performance involves a lot more than opening the discussion with a question.   But that question can make difficult conversations a whole lot easier.  I loved my group member for giving herself a simple practical action that she can implement immediately at work.   Just six words – “How do you think you did?” – can be surprisingly effective.

29-11-12 - Comments Off

Say what you mean and mean what you say

I don’t know many people who have been gripped by the recent round of political party conferences in the UK.   Despite the effort that goes into staging these events and the forensic analysis by commentators, political conferences are generally dismissed as being high on theatre and low on substance.  However, I must admit to taking an interest this year from a professional point of view – it is the presentation skills on display at these conferences that fascinates me.

The two main party leaders, Cameron, and Milliband (sorry, I didn’t watch Clegg), have more or less mastered the basics of good presentation skills (no doubt with a lot of help from advisors, trainers and experts in the field).   In fact the format and style of their delivery is so similar that there is little to differentiate them.   Both speeches were evidently well prepared ; there was a coherent structure which included repetition of the key messages (‘One nation’ for Milliband and ‘Aspiration’ for Cameron).   Each speaker included some sort of personal anecdote to show the softer more human side of their character.  And both finished with a clear ‘call to action’ to demonstrate inspirational leadership  (Milliband:   ‘A Britain we rebuild together!’;  Cameron: ‘Let’s get out there and do it!”).

Both leaders looked relatively at ease and authoritative.  Their speeches were polished and obviously well-rehearsed but, so as not to appear too scripted, were littered with conversational touches.  For example both Cameron and Milliband seem to favour “y’know”  as a way of showing informality and mateyness.

So  Cameron and Milliband both did a thoroughly good job?  Well, yes to an extent.  But there were two problems for the party leaders.

First, neither appeared to be clear about who their audience was.  Ostensibly the speeches were directed at the party faithful in the auditorium waiting to be reassured and inspired to support their leader.  But as Radio 4’s Carolyn Quinn said to Michael Gove yesterday ‘at the end of the day, it’s the public’s reaction to (Cameron’s) speech that really matters’.  One of the rules of successful presenting is to know your audience and respond to their needs.   Unfortunately the party leaders were attempting to speak to two quite different audiences – their party and the electorate.  Trying to keep both happy detracts from the overall impact.

And why, despite the polished performances, did these high profile presentations fail to impress the general public?  The problem is that politicians are not widely trusted.  Both Cameron and Milliband are dealing with an electorate that is losing its respect and confidence in politicians who are known to say one thing and do another.  One fantastic speech is not going to change that.  Every good leader knows that demonstrating competence, honesty and integrity can only be achieved by your actions over time.  Our political leaders have a bit more work to do before what they say can be believed.

Get JPA’s top tips on delivering the perfect presentation here. Top Ten Tips for Presenting

12-10-12 - Comments Off

Why diversity targets won’t help the Big Four

The spotlight appears to be on the big four accountancy firms as they struggle to address the lack of diversity in their partnerships.  The domination of white men from elite universities continues in these firms with Ernst and Young, for example, reporting that just 17% of its 549 partners are women.  Clearly the people occupying senior positions in these companies ought to more closely reflect the diversity of its client organisations and society as a whole – it makes good business sense quite apart from being seen as a progressive and fair employer.  Yet the pressure to address current imbalances at the top suggests that some firms are placing more priority on the achievement  of  diversity targets than on the quality of their partners or the inherent causes of male-dominated workplaces.

Ernst and Young has announced that, within 3 years, at least a tenth of its new partners will be black or from other ethnic minorities.  It has also pledged to make at least 30 per cent of its new partner appointments women in the same time frame.  Such ambitions might be impressive but are surely misguided.  Where are these senior women and ethnic minority partners going to come from?   We know that most women entering management roles in the city tend to leave in their thirties or fail to achieve promotion to senior levels.   Maternity breaks and child care responsibilities and are part of the explanation for this but there is also evidence that corporate culture discourages women from aspiring to senior management roles.  Being a partner means long hours and the high stress involved makes it difficult for women to cope with the demands of work and family.  On top of this, the male-dominated, performance-driven culture is off-putting to many highly capable young women.

Any company that is serious about achieving diversity at the top needs a long term talent management strategy.  The aim should be to ensure that the firm’s organisational culture and policies reflect a genuine desire to engage, develop, support and promote talent – wherever it comes from.  The desire to achieve diversity at senior levels in business should be welcomed, but the problem cannot be resolved overnight.  A slavish and superficial focus on targets alone suggests that the top firms are paying lip service to what is a complex and more deep-seated issue.

03-10-12 - Comments Off

Why 360 degree feedback works

One of the most valuable attributes a leader or anyone in a management role can have is self awareness.  With a deep and accurate understanding of yourself;  your strengths, weaknesses, habits and preferences, you have the basis for becoming a great leader.  Not only can you make the most of your strengths and address your failings, but you can also build a team around you that fills the gaps in your own skill set.  For instance, I am aware of my tendency to get excited about new projects and my desire to get going as soon as the idea finds general support.   I tend to overlook the detail at this stage and can overlook potential risks.  As a Chief Executive I made sure that my top team included someone I trusted to always consider the detail and to keep my enthusiasm in check if necessary.

But self knowledge can be difficult to acquire – we are often blind to our own personality traits and don’t see what others see in us only too clearly.  That’s why it is important to get feedback from people you work with in a carefully managed and anonymous way.  I use 360 degree feedback quite regularly with senior managers and teams and I have seen how the results can change behaviour and improve performance.   The feedback gives you better self knowledge and shows you how you are perceived by others.   Such rich information not only forms a great basis for self development but also provides a tool for measuring improvement (by repeating the same feedback exercise in, say, 6-12 months time).

360 degree feedback involves the identification of a group of people who you work with whose opinions you value and trust.  Normally the number of people chosen will be between 6-12.  The selected group should include a good cross section of work contacts (for instance a mix of peers, managers, juniors, external clients, board members etc).   Ideally you should avoid choosing only the people you like or who you know like you, but you should be confident that the feedback you receive will be constructive and helpful.

The feedback questionnaire can be designed to give general feedback on a number of management issues.  Alternatively it can be specific, focused on giving some in depth feedback on an issue where the aim is to build new skills (e.g. effective communication).  An independent expert should develop the questionnaire ensuring the questions are valid, clear and fair.  All questionnaires are completed anonymously and returned for analysis by the independent expert who then presents the results to the people concerned in a professional  and constructive way.  Of course, the results might be surprising or even upsetting and so this stage must be handled sensitively.  However, it is often the case that people recognise the need for improvement when presented with the evidence.  They are also pleasantly surprised at positive feedback which they hadn’t expected.

There are a range of costly and sophisticated business tools used to help improve self knowledge and our understanding of the people we work with.   I prefer 360 degree feedback above all of these.  It’s simple, relevant and cost effective.  Most importantly, it works.

05-09-12 - Comments (1)