Case Study: Global Teambuilding at Chiron Biopharmaceuticals
When Carl Pelzel took on the role of Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Operations at Chiron Biopharmaceuticals, he immediately realised that the US and European divisions could be working much more effectively together.The rapid evolution of the company from its start-up beginnings in the US 20 years ago, to become a global industry leader with […]
Managing Virtual Teams
Mike Willets, head of leadership development for MaST International explains how setting a few ground rules can help promote trust and lead to effective team working, even when team members have never even met. In order for any team to work effectively the team members must trust and believe in one another and the project. […]
Case Study: Team Building at Abels
Each member of moving firm Abels 100-strong workforce takes part in an off-site team-building course in a bid to promote greater awareness and co-operation across the company.On the most recent programme, 22 staff from the Suffolk-based company decamped to the Hilltop Activity Centre on the North Norfolk coast to take part in a two-day outdoor […]
Sporting heroes as business role models
John Macarfrae, director of training provider Maverick, believes the team training methods that create heroes on the sportsfield can translate into the field of work. If you are involved in training and development you will be well versed in the concepts of team-working and the need for a balance of people with the need to […]
Team learning – what’s the link with organisational success?
Why have teams become so important for organisational success? Research released by The Talent Foundation with the support the Campaign for Learning finds that organisations can unlock their creativity and effectiveness by promoting team learning.The report pulls together information from from existing literature and new interviews to establish the basic process behind team learning, examining […]
Team building – your views
Following our report on a recent Office Angels survey which found that employees struggle to see the point of many team building activities, TrainingZONE members had lots to say on the subject. Here, we’ve collected together your views – and they make for very interesting reading…If you’re a Training Manager, we’re particularly interested in hearing […]
Team building strikes fear into the heart of office staff
While employers may be keen, employees struggle to see the point of many team building activities, according to a recent survey. The Office Angels research questioned 1,500 office workers, and found over half of them regarded team development activities as ‘childish and embarrasing’. One in ten felt uncomfortable about the pressure of ‘bonding’ with colleagues, […]
Team development doesn’t have to be hard work
Lud Romano, managing director of Alive Communications, argues that team development doesn’t have to be hard work. It is inevitable that many people will have to operate within a team at some point in their working lives, and being a good ‘team player’ is crucial. It doesn’t mean however, that individual personalities are dissolved in […]
The manager and the team
Ruth Spellman, CEO of Investors in People, describes the managerial skills required to foster the essential relationship between manager and team. A simple definition of teamwork is a group of people working together to achieve a common goal. Yet developing a team – a successful team – is a complex task that requires certain skills. […]
Manage the individual and you manage your business
Performance management is a key part of any business, yet is not often a priority for line managers. Barrie Friend, Partner at MaST International, outlines some of the ways HR can involve line managers in performance management, and explains how encouraging them to understand the financial and legal aspects of the process is vital to […]
TrainingZONE’s theme for March: Developing Teams
Any organisation’s success depends almost entirely on its capacity to function as more than a bunch of unconnected individuals. Formal structures can only do so much, you also need to engage people. So how do we make a crowd into a team? This month we are looking at any and every aspect of team development, […]
What makes for a successful team?
Jan Bailey, Marketing Manager of the Leadership Trust examines the qualities that make a team successful. What makes for a successful team? How many organisations throughout the UK and across the world have pondered this question? And it is not only business organisations. In the world of sport, for example, teamwork is frequently crucial – […]
How to choose a training provider
Outsourcing training to a specialist provider is an increasingly popular choice in today’s organisations. There are a large number of training providers to choose from, each offering different training solutions, so how do you find the provider to suit your needs? Robinne Collie, Managing Director of The Gourmet Challenge, outlines the questions and issues managers […]
Surviving change
In the current climate of global and economic uncertainty, the stresses and anxieties of individuals within the workplace are often overlooked with dire consequences for business. Julie Heavens, director of Sages and Wise Women explains how to minimise the damage to employees and to the employee relationship. Companies which are downsizing and restructuring may find […]
Thinking the same… differently
Globalisation and changing demographics in the UK mean that most organisations have staff who need to be able to work cross culturally. In addition, there is growing competition for talented people – businesses need to recruit from every possible pool to increase their chances of recruiting the best. It is clear that organisations need to […]
Teams benefit from emotional engagement
Jim Welch, programme director at Pera explains how emotional intelligence contributes to team effectiveness. How can organisations meet the challenge of getting people to work together more openly and honestly? Is emotional intelligence the answer?Research suggests that it is. A study by Yale University, for example, found that teams with high levels of emotional intelligence […]
Understanding teams
Roy Davis, Head of Communications at SHL, answers our featured questions about what makes a team work. What special qualities does a manager need to be a good team-developer?Given that job analysis projects show time after time that up to 80% of job content is personality related i.e. soft skills, it is the developing of […]
Nurturing team spirit
Tim Drewitt, Director of Balance Learning looks at what we should expect from team leaders. Trainers who are looking to help others develop team-working skills, to maximise the effectiveness of teams, should realise that the requirement for team training goes much further than just discrete courses for team members. It extends into other areas such […]
The great Myth of Teamwork
Kim Coe, CEO of the The How2 Group, sees successful group working as a matter of removing internal competition. Many speakers and writers have done a much better job than I ever could in illustrating team work and team building in the worlds of sport, great exploration and even war, so I am going to […]
Workplaces provide a sustaining community to employees – research
New research by Penna Sanders and Sidney explores the social and commercial advantages of workplace friendships. The context for the study was the breakdown of the traditional networks that support individuals – family, neighbours, the church and so on – and hence the importance of the workplace as a source of social community and friendship. […]
