Phoenix Training and Development

Phoenix Training and Development Phoenix is dedicated to make learning and development be seen as part of individuals role not someth www.phoenix-training.co.uk

Sales, Management, Team Development and Self Improvement - all you need to know you will find in here. To inspire, develop and make learning more fun and what's most important: Make people better at what they do.

13/10/2022

"Can our managers really make a difference?"

This was a question I was asked recently and have been asked over the years. The "askers" of this sort of question are often considering the value of training their management team, they are concerned that the investment in time and, of course, money will be wasted. They have a nagging doubt that even with some training the managers they have will not be able to have a positive enough impact on the performance of their teams and they will end up having to replace under performers with new, "higher quality" team members. They think that that will be a better tactic than spending money on the management team in the hope they will be start having an impact on team performance.

There is no doubt, managers do impact on team member's performance in a hugely powerful and impactful way. Sadly this is often in a negative way - we've all heard the phrase "people don't leave their jobs, they leave their managers". This is the truth of it. People want to do well, they want to stay in their roles and develop into better versions producing results as they go. Managers hold the key to this. Poor management leads to, not only, poor performance but also major levels of discontent and stress which ultimately means people leave their roles.

Managers who recognise their level of influence and impact create environments for their team members to thrive within. As mangers improve and grow in confidence so do their teams.

Companies may be worried about investing in their managers, particularly as budgets get squeezed. Think long term - This is precisely the time to invest in the people who have the biggest influence on team performance, motivation and engagement.

31/05/2022

One of the questions we get asked all the time, whilst running management sessions is - "how do I find the time to put all this into action?

There is no simple answer to this but one thing that helps considerably is to reframe your role as a manager. Don't think of yourself as a busy person who has to try and fit managing your team into an already packed schedule.

Think of yourself as a manager who prioritises their team and their performance before everything and fits everything else around that.

It's not about creating hours solely for management it's about adopting a "manager first" approach and using a little and often approach to the role of the manager.

This is great to hear from one of our participants who is currently attending a management development programme - I hav...
09/05/2022

This is great to hear from one of our participants who is currently attending a management development programme -

I have had three 121s since our session and trialed the '3 things' format (using 3 things they are excited about, 3 challenges and 3 things they need more / less of from me). It worked really well and provided some structure to the sessions. Surprisingly, it didn't take away from the free flowing / organic format that I typically like from an unstructured 121. Will definitely incorporate more of these going forward.

To find out more about the sort of practical programmes we offer that provide useful and actionable techniques and skills that have immediate impact, please get in touch.

24/02/2022

Clarity and Feedback

Managers are often frustrated by a team member's under performance, they often find themselves filling in the gaps between the team members under performance and the level needed to get the job done.

This constant "gap filling" gets the job done for sure and helps the team achieve it's goals and targets but does little or nothing for the individual's development.

Managers often forget their "real job" in these situations, resorting to short term tactics to drag their team over the line, and not focusing on the development of their team members.

I was working with a group last week who recognised this situation - they are busy, "under pressure" managers, frustrated by under performance within their teams, claiming they had no choice but to fill in the gaps and get the job done.

After a long discussion, about what they could do to improve the situation and put more emphasis on the development of their team members. It boiled down to two key actions.

1. Work hard to clearly define the task they want the team member to carry out - this sounds like an obvious one but this group recognised the they were too general in their description of what they wanted doing and as a result were having to redo tasks themselves. "What does good look like" was the phrase we used. Does the individual know exactly what is expected of them before they start.

2. Give regular and evidence-based feedback as they are carrying out the task. This was another area this group recognised as a shortfall. They admitted that they rarely gave feedback whilst the individual was working on the task, in fact they realised just how little evidence-based feedback they gave in any situation.

These two factors will make a massive, positive difference to performance and development, they show how the manager needs to take responsibility for their team members performance and not fill in the gaps when it falls short.

07/02/2022

Seems a while since I posted on this page, needless to say that we have been working hard to help our cleints to support, develop and motivate their team members with ongoing training and development. It's been great to see how having to use virtual training rooms has not held us back and participants have recognised the need to be exactly that, participants even though they are not in a physical training room.

As we move out of restrictions and the training room becomes available again, I think and hope that some of the lessons learnt form delivering sessions online will stick around as well as enjoying getting back into the room and being able to interact with groups in a more flexible manner.

Lots to look forward to in 2022. Do get in touch if you'd like to discuss your learning and development needs and requirements, we'd love to help.

18/06/2021

“knowing is not enough – we must apply – willing is not enough – we must do!”
This is a quote from Johan Wolfgang Van Goethe, considered one of the greatest German literary figures of the modern era. When I first read this, I was struck by the relevance of it to the world I operate within.

These two key components are what we stress to our participants, attending our programmes, on a daily basis. It's not enough to simply learn new things, you must apply it and it's not enough to leave the training room stating your intention to use what you've learnt - you must actually use it or as Goethe says we must do! I love the simplicity of the quote, what a great mantra for learning transfer that ultimately impacts on results.

10/06/2021

As organisations of all descriptions prepare to return their offices in some shape of form, the term hybrid working is being used merrily as a coverall to describe how people will be working over the next few months. It is, of course, an apt and accurate term to describe a combination of home and office working. However, I think we need to be wary that we don't think that simply offering hybrid options to employees will be the key to sucess going forward.

Managers in particular need to be really aware of the issues and challenges that hybrid working will create. Managers must be very mindful how they need to adapt their approach to match the variety of needs their team members will no doubt have. They will need to think carefully about the needs of those who are keen to be in the office a a lot and those who for a myriad of reasons favour more home working.

Many managers have an unconscious bias against home workers compared to those who are in the office on a regular basis. If managers are to create a truly successful hybrid working environment, they must work hard to create a environment that is fair to all, open to all and recognises the diversity of the team. Performance should be measured, in the same way for all employees, against behaviours and results and not presence and results.

Hybrid working will undoubtedly present a whole host of challenges for managers and leaders over the next few months and beyond. Managers will have to learn new skills and develop new approaches and ways of thinking to manage the complexity of hybrid teams.

26/05/2021

It wasn't long ago many were talking about the end of an era, how we wouldn't be returning to the training room even after lockdown restrictions are lifted. However, as we progress along the government's roadmap and see the steady lifting of restrictions it is interesting to see and hear this view changing and the desire to get back to the training room grows daily.

Obviously restrictions created a situation whereby we had to use virtual platforms to deliver any kind of training and it worked largely. Having returned to the training room last week, I was immediately reminded of what we've been missing. The benefits of the training room should not be overlooked, equally what we have learnt from virtual delivery should not now be jettisoned in a mad rush to get back the face to face events.

We have a great opportunity to combine the best of both worlds. The word "hybrid" is being used a lot at the moment, mainly to describe a way of working the combines WFH and retuning the office for a certain amount of days per week. The trick here will be to make the right decisions about who comes back, when and what to work on in the office compared to at home. This presents a lot of challenges and needs to be thought about very carefully. Self selection may not be the best choice but that is another conversation.

L&D needs to think about this as well. Rather than deciding whether a solution should be virtual or training room, we need to consider the objectives of the programme and which elements would work best virtually and what would benefit from the training room environment. Lots of challenges which may not produce decisions that may not be popular to start with.

Overall I think it is a great opportunity to design and create exciting programmes combining all the best bits of all that is available to us. Some training room time, some time allocated to applying what participants have learnt and some one to one virtual support would create the ideal platform for development and progression to mention results.

12/04/2021

Management tip for the week - .

Make sure you allocate time in your diary to focus on your team members development and not simply catch up with them and discuss what they are working on currently. Think long term and develop long term strategies for the ongoing development of your team and don't get caught up putting out the fires. Easier said than done in the busy environment that you all operate in, consider it a long term investment in your team's performance.

Actually put this time in your diary and stick to it. Create a new habit.

22/02/2021

One of the only good things to come out of the whole lockdown era is that acceleration of the virtual training world. It is is great to be able to be running programmes and modules all over the world in the same week. Just last week as a company we "visited" California, Eygpt, Singapore, Ireland, Saudi Arabia and all over the UK. Virtual training is bringing learning and development straight to the participants desks, giving them access to the skills and techniques they need to perform better and achieve the results they are aiming for.

14/12/2020

Managers - Show care and compassion

Remote management has obviously been a much discussed subject over the last few months. One of the real challenges for managers whilst running teams remotely has been the lack of opportunity to show care and compassion. Whilst team members are working from home there is a tendency for managers to become too formal. They check in with team members with a standard, task focused "zoom call" at the start of the day and maybe at the end of the day. It becomes routine and whilst it might be a good way to keep up to date with what that team member is doing, it rarely provides the opportunity to find out how the team member is really feeling and how they are developing and growing within their role.

We have been working with managers recently helping them to redress the balance. We have been discussing the importance of trying to build some "informality" into their management approach. I have been encouraged to hear managers talking about having "open zoom" calls with nothing in particular on the agenda, just a chance to chat and talk. It is also important to try to make sure one to ones focus on individual development and not just tasks and results.

It has never been more important for managers to show their support for team members and do this regularly not just when the team member is showing obvious signs of worry or stress, that could be too late. Work hard to create a safe, "fear-less" environments even if you are relying on virtual meetings and catch ups. Fear-less environments enable team members to ask questions, admit their concerns and the chance to try new things and develop their skills - not an environment where team members just say they are "fine" and bury their real concerns.

03/11/2020

Going beyond surpassing levels of expectation!

This is something that is often talked about and service providers continually reference how they work hard to surpass levels of expectation. Very often they are working hard to do so without actually knowing what their customers and clients are expecting. I was reminded of this when a recent participant on one of our programmes said that "it was way better than they expected".

I wondered what their true level of expectation was and should we be working to that? Clearly not, but where should we be aiming at in terms of levels of service if expectation levels are generally low. It saddens me to think that people are attending our programmes with a low level of expectation. Obviously I am delighted to her that it was better than they expected but how do we raise levels of expectation before they attend and then surpass those raised levels.

I suspect that most levels of expectation hover around the "does it do what it says it does" level. With this in mind we are now not trying to match or surpass levels of expectation. We are working hard to surprise our clients and participants with levels of service and expertise that they never expected, never thought were available and as a consequence help them to recognise that their level of expectation for learning and development should be way, way higher than it is and not accept anything lower.

We offer one to one support to anyone who attends a programme or session with us, some take us up on it and some don't, when they do though they get genuine support, recently one our team spent two hours with a partipant, helping her with some issues that had arisen further the management training session she'd attended. She commented "I never expected that" which sums it up really!

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