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Which A-Team member are you?

In just a few days thirty and forty somethings all across the land will be covertly buying popcorn and taking their seats in darkened auditoriums to relive their youth with Hannibal, Faceman, Murdock and B.A. Baracus.

Teams being our thing at Fresh Tracks we are also getting more than a little nostalgic, much to the bemusement of the younger staff who claim they have never heard of these men. It’s hard to believe that there are people in our teams who can’t call upon those inspirational opening lines:…

Why BA Baracus would like the launch of ‘innocent success’

During my first week as an intern at Fresh Tracks, I followed Dan Collins to London to observe the launch of the brand new training film, Innocent Success. Being no ordinary company, it is perhaps unsurprising that Fresh Tracks chose to launch this exciting new venture in an extraordinary way.

After experiencing my first ‘webinar’ (which, after a small amount of research I discovered was not in fact a German composer, but actually an interactive live seminar on the web), I’ve been contemplating the enormous effect of the communications ‘revolution’ that has followed the development of the internet. …

When Two Tribes Go to War – Team Building in Downing Street

The Frankie Goes To Hollywood anthem was a rousing classic in the midst of the cold war. A time when US and Soviet leaders would stand side by side seemed impossible but it happened. And last week’s coming together of Liberal and Conservative politicians seems like an equally unlikely breakthrough.

Unlike Glasnost, Clegg and Cameron don’t just have to shake hands and smile to the cameras, they must govern, together, as one unit. Can they be a team?…

Three steps to forming cohesive teams

Group. Project. These are possibly two of the most dreaded words to an Massachusetts Institute of Technology  Student, inducing fears of getting stuck with the slacker partner or pulling an all-nighter to throw together a half-effort project.

The biggest of these projects is a semester long research project in a lab class, for which I have so far invested upwards of 20 hours a week, one all-nighter and countless late nights with my two partners. The class has a required team building component, one that we were all contemptuous of at first. Team building? Setting ground rules? Why should we waste our time learning things like that when there was real work to be done?…

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Based on five dysfunctions of a team Patrick Lencioni pinpoints the issue of building a great team and group behavior.

Team building is not complicated, declares Lencioni, president of his own management consulting firm and author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

Creating Captivating Conferences

I expect we have all at one time or another sat in a conference feeling bored. As our attention drifts from the indistinct slides and the speaker’s monotone soliloquy to the comfort or otherwise of our seat.

We begin to ponder whether the vast sums spent on such events will generate a worthwhile return. All too often expense and time come before imagination and courage. By this we mean that a little time spent thinking creatively about how your event will be sure to engage, inspire and motivate your audience will not only save money but, more importantly, extinguish boredom….

Teams that play together work together

What would you put at the top of a list of characteristics that make a good team? Perhaps; trust, flexibility, empathy, communication, shared responsibility or effectiveness?

Trust and communication are very important in team work

What becomes clear if you look at these characteristics is that most of them are not the hard skills of industry or management expertise: most are attitudes rather than skills. Successful team players are defined by the way they relate to their colleagues, and the way in which they interact across a broad range of skills bases. In fact 80% of what makes a good team member is determined by these positive attitudes, and only 20% by the specific job skills they possess.

So why does industry spend around 80% of its training budget on developing often short-lived skills which need updating on a regular basis? …

Developing the talent within our organisations

Despite rising unemployment recruiters of senior managers are claiming it is still far from easy to attract talent.  People in secure employment are far less willing to switch jobs than they were two years ago.

It is therefore imperative to develop the talent within our organisations, a fact supported by a Deloitte survey that found 60% of business leaders intend to increase investment in management development in the months ahead.  Another survey carried out by PwC reports that 85% of CEOs expect to overhaul the way their organisations manage people during change….

How to work like a team of superheroes

What separates the greatest teams from the rest is their mix of talents and, crucially their understanding of one anothers’ strengths.

When team building there are a number of questionnaires (or psychometrics) that can be used to help teams identify their strengths and preferences.  When this information is used to assign roles and tasks true teams are formed.

All teams need a blend of the following:…

Do some team building by asking the right questions

Wouldn’t it be good to know that every decision you take over the next 12 months will be the right one. This may sound impossible but there is a way to significantly increase the likelihood of your decisions being correct.

The secret is understanding. Without understanding we are very likely to make bad or the wrong decisions, with greater understanding we should have, not just the facts but also the instinct to make the right choices.

The key to gaining understanding is to ask the right people the right questions, whether they be staff, colleagues, customers or even our bosses. Here are some pointers towards asking the right questions:…