Conference Facilitation & Team Building Blogs

Management Training – The Moral of the Story

It could be said that those with the greatest influence on society are leading the nation astray. MPs cheat on their expenses, bankers alter the rules to suit themselves and journalists listen in on private voicemails to get a story.

The moral: The dishonest, if they act honestly, get no credit.

Business skeletons seem to be falling out of closets with increasing regularity and Wikipedia’s growing list of corporate scandals features many previously respected companies….

10 Styles of Leadership – Part 1

Leadership is often taught as a single skill whereas in fact the term ‘leadership‘ covers some very different and distinct characteristics. Churchill is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest leaders, his supreme confidence turning his country’s military approach from defensive to offensive.

Was Sir Winston Churchill a great leader? If so what type of leader was he?

Yet this same bombastic approach turned out to be his Achilles heel when, after the war, he failed as a peace time politician. Ghandi achieved similar notoriety yet was a very different character.

Just being a good leader is not always sufficient; here we’ll look at three very different sorts of leader, each uniquely equipped to lead in very different circumstances:…

Leading Gold Medal Teams

As London greets the world’s best teams there’s a great deal that leaders of workplace teams can learn from their example.

Here are three of the things leaders of workplace teams could learn:…

The ‘To Don’t’ List That Will Help Your ‘To Do’ List

Most of us are probably pretty good at listing our priorities for the day, week or even month.

How do you manage your 'To Do' list?

We might use a diary, notebook or MS Outlook’s Task app. Why is it then that all too often we get to the end of the day with so many of our ‘To Dos’ not done?

Interuptions and distractions come in many forms: chatty passers by, text messages, boss’s requests, over-running meetings, clients, traffic delays, conversations with team members, IT failures….

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.

Have a Nibble – For Free

We love chocolate here at Fresh Tracks (see our chocolate team building event to find out why) but too much at this time of year can be bad for our beach bodies. The good people at Graze.com have been sending us some tasty healthy alternatives and have generously offered to send our blog readers a free box. Just click here and tell graze what you love to nibble.

Try on for free by clicking on the link above

5 More Powerful Questions Every Leader Should Ask Their Team

After all the interest in our first 5 questions every leader should ask their team here are 5 more powerful questions that every leader should ask their team.

What questions would you ask your team?

…

Woodland Leadership – a unique leadership programme

When a client asked us to come up with a unique ending to their 6 month leadership programme, we decided to break with convention and exchange their hotel for a woodland habitat.

Despite the informal setting and the relaxed structure the resounding feedback was that this group feel significantly more confident as leaders.

This next generation of senior managers already spends much of their time in hotels. To conclude this programme in yet another hotel would dilute the impact and miss an opportunity to create lasting memories. Instead we began with breakfast and an intensive session exploring Insights Transformational Leadership before heading into the woods after lunch….

Free Team Building Activity – Superhero Feedback

This free fun and feel-good team building activity is great for the end of a team session or training day.

I wonder if they have checked their capes for feedback?

Overview

This is a fun and feel-good activity for the end of the session or close of the day. By encouraging feedback on individual skills it focuses on the positive aspects of the day and makes sure that everyone’s contribution is appreciated. …

You’ve got to laugh – 9 reasons why laughing is good for our health

Doctors can achieve greater success by getting to know their patients; similarly leaders will find their teams are more creative, productive and committed when they are given the freedom to have some fun.

Remember that laughing releases the body's natural opiates (beta-endorphins) and helps relieves pain.

The movie Patch Adams tells the true story of how a medical student introduces levity into a clinical profession that alienates patients from their caregivers. In the same way that doctors can achieve greater success by getting to know their patients, leaders will find their teams are more creative, productive and committed when they are given the freedom to have some fun. Furthermore there’s a wealth of scientific evidence that laughter keeps us healthy.

So here are 9 reasons why laughing is good for our health:…