Top tips to building Rapport!
When you meet anyone for the first time, be it in an interview, at a bar, or starting in a new workplace, there are some key essentials to having a successful conversation, versus an unsuccessful one, and therefore making a good first impression to move forward. Obviously with dating and relationships out of work there are a number of other initial factors such as if you like the look of them, their voice, their smell and how they dress or smile. In the workplace, whilst the
Are you a game-player or playing the game?
When was the last time you played a game, a real game like chess or backgammon, cards, or jenga? Did you see any similarities between that and what you do every day at work? First lets look at the definition of ‘game’ in this context : "play games, to act in an evasive, deceitful, manipulative, or triflingmanner in dealing with others" "Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both.
Strategic Innovation - the misnomer!
Working in Digital Delivery and change programmes one question I’m constantly asked by clients is how they can deliver faster, better and cheaper. Naturally Im quick to say that innovation is often the answer. There is usually a ‘but’ that follows that statement - either from them or from me. “ But what of strategy? But what innovation can we do? But what should we focus on first? But what does that really mean?" All very sensible ‘BUT’ questions. However, I prefer to try and
Top tips to getting the best results from your workshops...
Workshops have become a common workplace tool to drive out ideas, solutions and gain clarity. Whether you are running a workshop to understand business requirements, a persons goals, lessons learned or more detailed and in depth analysis of your business strategy, delivery programme, policy or sales funnel and service offering, I have collated a few hints and tips to help structure your session and gain better results. Its based on the 3 R’s - Roles, Rules, Results. Roles: A
Fee-fi-fo-fum........are you letting procrastination and fear prevent you from living your dreams?
Do you often find that you are focused on a path of action only to find that you get de-toured or distracted along the way? You walk in to a room and forget your very specific purpose for going there and then find yourself doing something else that is more important or urgent! Or perhaps you go out to the shops to get a specific list of things and return home with completely different items that you thought were better? Do you start on one thing and then abandon it only to t
Bridging the Gap between traditional Change programmes and Creating disruptive and innovation change
Business Change and Delivery programmes have a natural lifecycle. There are 3 core phases: The first is to establish the strategy and programme following a period of analysis, reviewing the current state and existing business models pros and cons. Next, as the Programme starts to evolve in to the delivery and change roll out stages this is where the greatest momentum is seen and experienced. The team and business are running full tilt at delivery and going through the key sta
Building the digital foundations of a digital business
image credit : channellife.au In the current landscape businesses are facing huge disruption from new players in their industries with ever increasing demand on revenue and pipeline. The pressure this places on not only maintaining or building their business in an ever increasingly competitive market but dealing with increasing demands of recruitment, globalisation, productisation, data and content insights and changing perceptions and needs of customers, is not insignifican
Leadership - do you have what it takes?
I caught a conversation the other day where leadership was the main topic and what it really meant to be a leader - either a successful or terrible one. Im sure if we all think over people we have worked with in the past (or current) there are always a couple of stand outs among them that you don’t even hesitate to say that they were not only exceptional leaders, but also mostly likeable and people you respect and admire, and more often that not, enjoyed working with. So wh
Resolutions? What resolutions?
As we all see in the New Year many of us make resolutions, full of optimism and ambition for what we want to achieve. It gives us a mental line in the sand to restart from. So why then do so many of us then ditch them as fast as we have made them? In the past I have made a number of resolutions - usually something fluffy around health goals, weight, learning new skills, seeing more, travelling more or even finding that long yearned for job. They are all made in the belief t
Are your fear gremlins making you freeze?
I was talking with a well renowned public speaker recently, Dr John DeMartini, as I was picking his brains on his 40 years of speaking, teaching and mentoring - hes been one of my mentors – and part of the discussion was how you go about facing large audiences, something I’m doing more of as I expand my skills. He explained to me his view on facing large rooms of people. He articulated the fear many have of speaking in this way: that fear of public speaking is not a fear of
