Report on 2008

This year has been busy.  We have delivered in almost every continent of the world for a range of international clients.  We delivered two CSR programmes in Africa and India which have yielded some superb ‘real investment’ returns within the local communities, in addition to providing some of our corporate clients with some very powerful and engaging learning through our wining ‘hearts and minds’ methodology.

We have worked with the oldest law firm in the world and have managed to influence small changes in their culture, which will underpin their efforts to meet the challenges of a younger workforce and the changing nature of their markets. 

We have travelled to the Russian steppes to deliver on the edge of civilisation.  Working in Northern Siberia we engaged project teams to strengthen their team cohesion and performance viability; a programme that has now become the gold standard of project team development within the company.

Our online capability has been enhanced with the launch of www.mission-learning.com which as of October 2009 has 250 delegates enrolled on it.  Pre-programme assignments and logistics can now all be delivered to your inboxes as well as comprehensive programme support and follow up.

We have accredited all of our Mission team to administer the MBTI and have facilitated their accreditation to a master level with the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI).

Having pioneered the development of the SDI communications guide and the use of the SDI online service Mission continues to push the boundaries of content design and delivery.  Moving beyond psychometric tools as primarily aids to self awareness, we have pioneered their use to really develop team cohesion and viability, leadership performance and relationship capital.

We have continued to deliver two large multinational graduate induction programmes to a global investment bank.  The bank was awarded first prize for global graduate development programmes in the International Graduate Development Awards for 2007, beating a host of other international companies.

We have also been engaged by a very large telecommunications company to run their ‘Talent’ programme and by an international oil servicing company to assess and then develop their international sales force.  In addition, we have been selected to deliver our ‘Team Effectiveness’ portfolio across 47 countries around the world for a large international bank.

These are all very exciting programmes that will begin in the first quarter next year.

We have established partner relationships with organisations in Singapore and Australia to project Mission’s services into the Asian markets.  Following the excellent feedback received for our delivery on the Top Management Programme (TMP) for senior Abu Dhabi civil servants we have been invited to work with additional teams in the region.

We have established relationships with new associates; Kenton Cool and Matt McFadyen, both exceptional characters who have led some very challenging expeditions that will augment the bank of existing Mission experiences.

We look forward to 2009.  Whilst the storm clouds mass, Mission is set to take it on.

If you are keen to learn more about mission and its expanding services then please call the office and arrange an appointment with either Rob or Chris; Tel. +44 (0) 1329 841652

It is imperative that a Leadership 360 report provides feedback in a format that maps directly onto competence. If the aim is to highlight areas for self-development then the survey must link to a development programme that can address the gaps.

Mission has been using Professor John’s Hunt’s (London Business School) company for the last 5 years to provide and administer its leadership 360 degree reports.

(Professor John Hunt is recognised as the father of the leadership 360 in Europe)

However, it is not enough just to have the right survey. As important is the support provided to ensure the feedback translates into meaningful actions.

In addition a clear development programme that enables people with different needs to select the modules they require to develop within their leadership roles.

Working with our leadership 360 reports our clients are able to link behavioural feedback into specific actions.

They are all re-surveyed within a 6 month time frame to measure the change in behaviour.

After all feedback is the single most important thing in changing behaviour; much better then to formalise it and make it central to any organisational development programme.

We are currently delivering a leadership 360 feedback to large group of executives as part of a large organisational change programme. The feedback has been excellent thus far.

How much time did you spend listening in your last conference call? Could you hear others typing whilst the call was in progress? Was the meeting summarised into actionable points to be gripped by specific team members?

The chances are that you are not engaged to nearly the degree you should be and that the audio meetings you are part of are far from productive.

Global teams or national teams with regional briefs often communicate primarily on the phone or through email supplemented with monthly ‘off-sites’

How much time do you spend before each meeting to prepare? Do you listen in to the points that are relevant to your brief and switch off as the conversation moves to related issues that you are not responsible and accountable for?

If the answer is yes then you are not alone.

Mission believes that team effectiveness is all about accurate communication.

So here’s some more questions:

When is the last time you considered the words you used in an email? Were you aware that you may have been using negative language to express something positive? Using vague and non-precise terms to express something that needed to be very precise and explicit?

Mission is working with teams to improve the quality of communication at the micro level.

When you are unable to speak face to face you need to ensure that all other communication is as good as it can be.

Take time to analyse your last 5 emails. You may notice a style (we all have one) that will probably be linked to your core motivations and preferences.

Were you aware of your own bias that may skew your communication?

Are you attuned to the language people use?

If so, do your tailor your style to match theirs?

These and other questions are all answered on Missions team effectiveness programmes that are being delivered to some of the largest organisations in the world.

Missions Leading Self and Othersã curriculum covers all aspects of team communication including the written word.

Our module entitled “Language as a behaviour” analyses your personal literary style and provides feedback to refine it to achieve greater clarity and understanding.

Going that extra mile for your customers has never been more important given the impending doom forecast by the cognoscenti.  Switch on the radio and you might as well give up and ride out the storm, sit it out until 2010 and be ready for the next upturn.  This has self-fulfilling prophecy written all over it.

I believe that you can turn this downturn to your advantage.  Identifying the critical aspects of your operation, aligning them to the needs of your customers and resourcing them effectively will enable you to exploit these desperate times.  Your competitors might be about to curl up for the economic winter but you do not have to.

Working with one of our clients we are helping them to identify the critical aspects of their customer service operations nationally and then helping them to address them proactively.

Using Mission’s model of high performance teamwork, the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) and the Mission Leadership curriculum we have enabled a national network of customer service managers to identify their mission critical tasks and their mission critical behaviours to support their delivery.

The programme has been delivered in a 2 month time frame.

Phase 1 - Began with design and consultation meetings between the senior team using Mission’s business engagement and diagnostic process.  This helped us to define the need and identify the organisational factors that would shape the solution.  This phase included engaging the whole network of customer service managers via Mission’s online learning site (www.mission-learning.com).  Each manager completed a proforma which asked them to identify their key challenges and opportunities pertinent to their area of operation.  This included the nature of the customer and all of the stakeholders that influence the quality of service provided to them.  Once complete Mission produced an aggregate report and used this to form the specific content to be delivered in phase 2.

Phase 2 - The top team.  Mission delivered a two day programme designed to prepare the team for the national roll out.  Coaching in style, it walked the team through all of the modules to be delivered to the national customers’ service teams.  These workshops used the SDI to identify the critical behavioural skills  required to influence without authority.  Once complete we analysed the clarity of the teams’ mission and core purpose and discussed it using the Mission’s leadership curriculum.  This led to a reassessment of some of the key aspects of their brief.

Combining this with relationship management skills would enable the team to address the core challenges of raising their Customer Service Satisfaction (CSS) statistics.

Phase 3 - 9×2 day workshops, supported with online content and programme forums began soon after the work conducted with the senior management teams was completed.  Using the same format we walked the regional teams through the same material to help them address the critical aspects of their brief that would support the CSS objectives.  For some this meant a fundamental reappraisal of their efforts and behaviours.

Phase 4 - Brought the whole team back together for a plenary session following the national roll out.  Key regional differences were discussed and plans were drawn up to focus the collective efforts to drive up the CSS.  Specific individual actions were identified to allow a review of the progress against the plan.

Results thus far have been excellent.  Team and customer engagement scores have increased significantly.

Lessons: