How innocent’s Richard Reed Leads his People

Starting on September 12th, Richard Reed the founder of innocent smoothies will front a new business show on BBC Three called “Be Your Own Boss”.

Richard knows a thing or two about growing a business – innocent went from an idea to a £100 million business in just eight years, and we took a film crew behind the scenes to see how they did it.  Alongside great products, quirky marketing and a steely commercial edge, innocent’s success is largely down to the way they hire and lead their teams.

They recruit and manage against five critical behaviours no matter what the role:…

It’s not Where or Who it’s How

Historically managers have segmented teams, clients and business units based on hard quantifiable factors such as industry sector and geography.  Having served us well for many years this practice may soon become outdated.

It’s common to meet a sales person whose role is defined by a very specific market sector, say hospital based healthcare in a geographical territory such as North West England.  Yet isn’t it more important that the salesperson can effectively communicate with the client?  …

Leading Academics say Tea Breaks make better Teams

There may be no ‘I’ in team but there is ‘tea’ and it turns out that tea (or coffee) could be the key to unlocking the potential of teams, with one US bank anticipating a staggering $15 million productivity increase as a result.

Back in 2004 the Oxford think tank Career Innovation published a paper entitled The Conversation Gap. The basis of their findings was that 4 out of every 10 high performers in several leading companies reported that they have an issue that they want to raise but feel unable to do so – the Conversation Gap of the title. Additionally the increase in electronic communication continues to rise. Average emails received and sent rose by over 30% from 2010 to 2011 despite spam dropping from 19% to 16% in the same period. One of the consequences of this increase is that those spontaneous conversations by the water cooler have reduced. Therefore employees feel less informed and there’s less likelihood that new ideas and opportunities will be discussed unless a formal meeting is convened.

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A Recipe for Successful Teams

Great chefs know that alongside the core ingredients it’s the careful use of seasoning that turns a mediocre meal into a something scrumptious.

Here we offer some tips to help team leaders make their team rise:…

The Four Things That Make a Team Work

Watch our latest 10 minute video on the four things that make a team work.

The four things are:

1. What is a team?
2. Who should be in a team?
3. What do teams need?
4. What do the best teams do?

Do comment below if you think there are other things that we should add to the list.

Get Out, Get Happy

The unexpected March sunshine seemed to lift the mood of the nation. At lunchtimes the parks are filled with usually cooped-up office workers, with some are even relocating their meetings from boardroom to the boardwalk.

Given both anecdotal and scientific evidence about the benefits of sunshine, this is an entirely sensible idea:…

Two Motivational Forces

The writer and psychotherapist Anthony de Mello writes: ‘Some say there are only two things in the world, love and fear.’

These two forces drive most behaviour and are commonly used in the workplace to influence others:…

5 Steps Towards Better Meetings

Our forthcoming seminar on Improving Productivity on the 16th March will give you some tips on getting the most from meetings.

In the meantime, here are some quick pointers inspired by a Japanese car manufacturer that has meeting guidelines pinned to the wall of every conference room. Why not paste these meeting guidelines alongside agendas to keep your meetings on track:…

The Language(s) of Love – for Teams

As we celebrate St Valentine’s Day it brings to mind Dr Gary Chapman’s theory that there are five Love Languages.

These are the different ways in which we show and receive appreciation, not just from our nearest and dearest but also from colleagues in our teams and our managers.  Dr Chapman suggests that each of us favours one particular Love Language over the other four and whilst his work is focussed towards married couples, his theory can be applied in part to those leading teams….

5 Tips for More Productive Sleep

Our level of productivity depends as much on our inactivity as our activity. Failing to get a good night’s sleep prevents our bodies and brains from fully recharging. Like a car battery, if we try to operate on less than a full charge both our short and long term performance will deteriorate.

Whether you are waking up tired or struggling to get to sleep, here are some tips that can help:…