Corporate training is focusing even more on how we work together as a team and how we lead that team. At Kingstown College we are noticing that our conversations with corporate clients are showing even more focus on three key areas.
Team Communication – To adapt to the hybrid or remote working environment
Coaching – To support high potentials in the organisation and newly appointed managers
Mentoring – To create a culture of knowledge sharing and a forum for non-training conversations
These training requirements are showing up right across the spectrum of industries – from the household name tech companies, to call centres, to military organisations and even education!
The common thread that connects all industries and professions, is people. We are all different in how we learn, work, grow and thrive. Therefore adapting to a changing work environment means everyone is moving at a different pace (assuming they have managed to get moving yet at all!).
The expectations of the organisation, the individual and the leaders of the day can be very different. However, many organisations and individuals are now unsure of their own expectations and, in many ways, don’t know what to ask for.
This prompts a reset. But how do we approach it?
Instant messaging is killing our culture
Manager, Large Call Centre
Team Communication
We had a scoping conversation recently with a company operating a large call centre with most of the agents working remotely. We heard first hand what was showing up in their day-to-day work, and many of the challenges are not specific to the call centre environment. The issues included;
- Regularly misunderstood tone due to an overuse of instant messaging
- Staff feeling isolated at home
- Lingering anxiety when minor corrections/performance issues are delivered through instant messaging
- A reluctance to simply pick up the phone and talk to each other
- Consequent staff turnover
- Effect on call handling and customer experience
There is no doubt that the understanding of what we expect from our colleagues and the organisation has changed. However, in the mayhem of the years of change we have just experienced, the hurry to maintain a level of service resulted in missing that step in the process.
This is one of the most important training and facilitation we provide to teams. And the most fulfilling.
Coaching
More and more we see organisations – public and private sector – adopting a coaching style of management. Taking an ‘ask’ approach to the conversation rather than a ‘tell’ approach sits much better with the workforce of today. The quest for meaningful and engaging work goes on for most valued employees. The coaching approach provides a space for them to stop the search and create it instead. Collaboration, and a strengths-based conversation, contribute to an equation that provides value for the organisation and meaning for the employee.
This is of course in addition to the one-to-one executive coaching support which is often provided to leaders in an effort to ring-fence quality thinking time.
Mentoring
This year, mentoring has seen a huge increase in popularity as a training topic. From retaining corporate memory, to retaining key personnel, the mentoring relationship provides the space to learn from the lived experience of others.
One recent example from a training course we delivered to a military organisation, saw two of the learners practice a mentoring session with each other. They were from different branches of military service and one was considering a transfer in order to move closer to his wife’s parents as they start their own family. This authentic and sincere exchange became a real world example for the class of how powerful a mentoring conversation can be.
For the mentee, he could see hope, a path forward and an example of success. For the mentor, there was a rewarding exchange that aligned to her values. For the organisation, it would mean that a valuable member of the service could see a path to remain in the military. Structuring a programme to accommodate these relationships also requires planning by the organisation, and the training of mentors is crucial to creating a standardised approach to mentoring.
We like to talk about a key measure of the success of a mentoring programme; the moment we see mentees asking to be mentors. That is how success shows up in this space!
How are your people speaking with one another?
In researching what he coined Appreciative Inquiry, David Cooper-Rider noted that the difference between organisations which are thriving and not, was based largely on how they were dialoguing with each other. They focus on what is working, and build on it. They are strengths-based in their approach. They bring the best of the past with them. And most importantly, they believe that in every team, organisation or situation, something works.
It’s a culture that can be created. We just need to decide what we want it to look like.
