​Collaborating with clients, stakeholders and team members can be challenging. Some situations – and people – push your buttons, making it hard for you to self-regulate and respond appropriately. Perhaps someone you rely on hasn’t completed a critical task on time, and as the manager it now falls back on you to resolve the issue as it’s ultimately your responsibility. You get annoyed and angry and say things you wish you hadn’t. But why do some situations trigger such a strong reaction in you and what can you do about it?   The core quadrant model is a powerful tool developed by Daniel Of ..read more

​Inclusion is the action or state of being included or including others in groups, decisions and structures. Inclusive managers and leaders are highly sought after because they have the ability to make others feel safe and accepted, which in turn means that they are more likely to innovate, be a team player and contribute to high performance. Inclusion isn’t just a nice idea. It creates a true win-win situation. Team members feel involved, empowered and trusted. The organisation benefits from a more engaged and motivated team, and the client receives a better product or service.   Asked t ..read more

Severe stress that leads to sickness and burnout is a growing issue in organisations. With the ‘always-on’ work culture and fewer people employed to get work done, many stretch themselves to the point where their body and mind can no longer cope. A recent study of 382,000 employees, revealed that the discussion of burnout amongst UK workers is up 48 percent. And a report from Westfield Health, shows that 51 percent of people surveyed believe they’re less than a month away from burnout. Unfortunately, as shocking as these figures are, they correspond to my own experience. In my coaching pr ..read more

​How to have challenging conversations Working effectively on a project, interacting with stakeholders and leading the team to deliver the best outcomes, require hundreds if not thousands of conversations. Not all of these conversations are going to be easy or pleasant. Customer expectations need to be managed and the team needs to find its feet. Many heated conversations may be had about scope, quality, timelines, budget, resources, solutions, tools and methods. In addition, team members represent diverse cultures, values and languages. They have different ways of working and diverse ways of ..read more

In recent years there has been much debate on how to characterize management versus leadership. Management is said to be the discipline that specializes on maintaining the status quo, conforming to standards and organizing and directing individuals around the boundaries (time, money, quality criteria etc.) that have been set to achieve the task. If you are a good manager it means that you are good at producing a set of products and services in a predictable way, day after day, on budget and to consistent quality. It is a discipline, which requires you to be rational and logical and make u ..read more

Consider the most successful team you have been part of or that you know of, and what the characteristics were of that team. How many members did it have? How did the team members communicate with one another? How did they make decisions, and what was the feeling you had when you interacted with the team?    Many of us know instinctively what it feels like to be part of a great team. We feel accepted and trusted and communication seems easy. And when conflict arises it doesn't cause a breakdown. The team is able to openly discuss differences in opinion and agree a way forward. But e ..read more

The ability to identify, articulate and share a clear vision for the project is one of the key ingredients to project success. When we run projects we must begin with the end in mind as Stephen Covey put it in his best-selling book; The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Beginning with the end in mind – in a project context – is about envisioning what we ultimately would like the project to achieve and how it fits into the bigger context of organisational change.  The vision clarifies the clients’, sponsors’ or organisation’s strategic objectives, focuses the t ..read more

We often say that one of the most important roles of a project manager and leader is to be able to communicate effectively. Being the hub of the project, the PM communicates with team members, stakeholders, end users and the project sponsor – all of whom have different preferences for how they would like to be communicated with. Some people prefer email and written status reports whereas others favour telephone and face-to-face interactions. At times there’s a great need to delve into the detail and at other times it’s all about the big picture.    One of the most important questions ..read more

Karine Mangion-Thornley is an executive coach and Senior Lecturer at Regent’s University in London, where she lectures in International Business, Global Management and Organisational Behaviour. She recently completed her PhD in the role that coaching plays in talent management.  In this interview she shares her insights from the research she undertook. Congratulations on your PHD Karine! Tell us about your research and what the main findings were.  Thank you Susanne. Completing a PhD can be a real challenge, bu ..read more

Whenever I train, coach or consult in project management, it always surprises me how few people plan in a truly collaborative manner. I’ve trained senior project professionals with fifteen to twenty years of experience who don’t appreciate the importance of fully engaging the team in the planning process. They see it as the project manager’s responsibility to plan, and forget that today’s workforce wants to be involved in the work it’s expected to deliver. Many project managers only involve the team as and when needed. But that approach is extremely poor at creating a team that ..read more