The Management Centre
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Blogs

Snowman

‘Tis the season to party – and polish your presence

Walk down any UK high street in the last three months of the year and you will be bombarded with seasonal offers, treats, ideas and temptations. And one thing that always stands out in the shop windows is the vast amount of glittery dresses and sequined jumpers. It is the party season! Office parties, team […]

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Snowman

=mc’s Seasonal Survival Guide

For your final =mc insight of the year, we sought advice from the leader of one of the biggest enterprises globally. Among other things, this inspirational figure is responsible for running a worldwide manufacturing and distribution service as well as maintaining a large and demanding supporter base. He manages a team of thousands – often […]

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The Management Centre

The 7 Challenges of Change

When organisations are experiencing change, we’re often called upon to help smooth the transition using various tools, techniques and training programmes to address the challenges. So you’d think that now things are changing here at =mc, we must be excited, full of beans and finding it all plain sailing, right? Not exactly.  Just because we […]

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Yvette Gyles Director

Leaders – what are you doing about inequality?

If the answer is nothing, then be warned… I had the honour of convening a panel discussion about Women in Fundraising at this year’s IoF Fundraising Convention (#IOFFC). I was both shocked and inspired by the debate. The panel was honest, the audience was forthcoming, and the discussion produced very useful suggestions. What fascinates me […]

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The Management Centre

If you think it’s hard to manage projects – try being the project leader

It’s well recognised that project management is an essential skill for all of us these days – even outside work. Inside work, there is the added dimension of project governance – who sets the parameters for any project and who’s ultimately accountable – and this usually falls to a senior manager. This person will often […]

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The Management Centre

A leadership dinner party – who would you like to meet?

Imagine the scene: a trendy-yet-affordable restaurant in Kings Cross, a selection of delicious tapas to share, bottles of wine, and 10 well-known leaders discussing challenges they face and sharing solutions in how they overcome them. Who wouldn’t want to be a fly at that table? What could we learn? What might inspire us? At a […]

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Yvette Gyles

Why I love team away days (now)

There is something about the summer that brings on the desire for a team away day. As we move into July, we are getting more and more requests to facilitate these get-togethers. Maybe because it’s too hot to do all the usual things, and because we have been apart for so long, managers want us […]

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Worst away days

Why I hated team away days (then)

There is something about the summer that brings on the dreaded team away day. As we move through summer, we are getting more and more requests to facilitate these get-togethers. Maybe because it’s too hot to do all the usual things, and because we have been apart for so long, managers decide it’s a good […]

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Georgina Wright

The Joy of Effective Project Management – no, really, I mean it!

As a Learning & Development Consultant at =mc I have supported many organisations – from MS Society to the University of Reading to WWF UK – in developing their project management. Probably like many of you reading this, I also juggle several projects in the office. And like some of you, I have the advantage […]

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Delegate don't drown

Delegate don’t drown!

“Being a manager means I have more on my plate than ever and trying to keep up with my own workload as well as those of my team is a big job. I’ve got too much to do and not enough time to do it all. What can I do?” On our management training programmes, […]

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Social proof

Social proof… it’s essential to influence… let me prove it to you!

In the Influential Fundraiser training, =mc uses its powerful five stages of influence model and teaches you the 15 tools you need to learn to apply systematically and sensitively for success. These techniques have been used to secure at least six £1M+ gifts in the last five years, as well as countless smaller ones. The […]

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The Management Centre

Help! Managing the matrix is messy

Working in a matrix should make us more flexible, productive and effective. So why am I finding it long-winded, hard and messy? Matrix management is when reporting operates along both task and people lines. We are hearing from more and more people in the NFP sector that their organisation has developed a matrix structure. This […]

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The Management Centre

Help! The Matrix is messing with me!

Working in a matrix should be empowering, agile and developmental. So why am I finding it confusing, hard and messy? Put simply, matrix management is about dual reporting lines. Someone based in a regional office might report to the regional manager – the geographical line – and to the head of their department who’s based […]

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The Management Centre

Innovation – so much cooler than Change

Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of calls lot about providing training and advice for managers in two specific areas. One call, often delivered in a slightly worried and urgent tone, asks for training on managing change. Another, usually slightly more upbeat call, asks for a workshop on creativity and innovation. What strikes me as […]

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Influencing & Negotiating

Keeping on track and stay in control – structure your negotiations for success

Negotiating with others, whether it’s at home with a partner over household chores, or at work with a colleague about help with in a project, is part of everyday life. And reaching an amicable agreement isn’t always easy. People often tell us they walk away from these situations feeling they either haven’t achieved what they […]

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FOLO consequences

Do you suffer from FOLO (Fear Of Logging Off)? 5 ways to switch off

We’ve all been there. After a long day at work, in meeting after meeting, you look at your phone and see that dot. The FEAR begins. The one that tells you there are 87 unread messages. And you are itching to look at them – but you have to get off home. You get in, […]

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flowers in a heart shape

How to handle your worries about change

Help! It’s all changing! Hardly a week seems to go by these days without someone asking me about change and how to manage change at work. The world is changing, our sector is changing and our jobs are changing. Whether you’re a manager driving change in your organisation, or a member of staff implementing change, […]

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The Management Centre

Problems with Presenting? Get a grip!

In this blog, =mc Director and L&D consultant Yvette Gyles shares three top tips for giving memorable, impactful presentations that you can enjoy, rather than dread

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To-do list

Leave me alone! How do I know I’m making progress when my to-do list just won’t go away?

Whether you are a fan of the ‘to-do’ notepad, post-it piles, scrap paper, a bullet journal, or =mc’s Action Sheets – sometimes even looking at the number of things that need to be done can be utterly overwhelming. And make you hate the list that itself seems to be nagging at you. When you’re up […]

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Project Management Graphic

What skills do I need to be a good project manager?

In this blog =mc‘s Director Laura Slater shares practical tips on how to become an outstanding project manager, and introduces the highly effective =mc Systems Model. What skills do I need to be a good project manager?

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Whose job is it anyway?

Whose job is it anyway? Accountability in learning

Just who is responsible for learning in organisations, and for learning transfer after training programmes? Yvette Gyles, =mc Director, explores the role of accountability in learning.  Many of our customers ask us to ensure the training we deliver encourages personal responsibility for learning – but exactly what they mean by that is not always clear. Learning is […]

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Presentation Skills 101

Presentation skills 101 – feel the fear and do it anyway

In September 2016 Ruth Jobling, Research Advisor at The Brooke, was a participant at their bespoke introductory day on Presentation Skills, run by =mc. For Ruth it was very much ‘just in time’ training – she was booked to put her learning into practise in front of a large audience at an international conference the following […]

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The Management Centre

7 Top tips for managing at a distance

Managing an ‘invisible’ team of people – who don’t sit anywhere near you and may not even be in the same time zone – can be a huge challenge. How do you make sure out of sight isn’t out of mind? Yvette Gyles, Assistant Director of =mc, looks at how to manage effectively at a […]

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5 ways to stay calm

5 ways to stay calm and carry on

Bad day? How to control your responses, and not let your emotions control you. We’ve all had bad days – and bad interactions with other people. You know the ones – where you feel the prickle of anger or upset, surges of frustration or even crushing levels of disappointment. These sometimes overwhelming feelings are the […]

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what type of procrastinator are you

What type of procrastinator are you?

We all procrastinate on occasion. But do you ever miss a deadline because you put things off for just a bit too long? Or delay starting on something and then have to rush to get it done, compromising on quality? Or miss an opportunity because you didn’t act earlier? If any of this sounds like […]

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The Management Centre

Leading and Managing Change

Lead a change process with confidence Managing change is one of the most challenging activities anyone can take on – whether as a senior manager, a team leader, or an HR professional. This intensive 1-2 day programme shares =mc’s practical consulting experience helping a wide range of large and small agencies to develop effective change […]

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The Management Centre

Change and the leadership challenge in housing

Social housing needs skilled managers and strong leadership to lead others through change and protect its social purpose. Housing associations have a core social purpose – to support those in need, ensuring strong communities and to do so in a way that empowers individuals to lead healthy, happy, and secure lives. However, we know from […]

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pencils in a heart shape

5 energisers for team meetings and away days

In the blog below, Learning & Development Consultant Philly Graham shares 5 practical energisers to help bring teams together. Before you read on… if you’re fed up of enforced fun with no clear output from your standard summer away-day we want to hear from you. =mc‘s tailor made away-days for teams are more fun, more […]

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Robots listening

Action Learning Sets: making behaviour change stick

How often do you send your staff on training programmes only to discover that down the line, nothing really seems to have improved or changed, either in skill, practice or results? While you might be able to claim back the money for the course – you’ll never be able to get back the two or […]

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The Management Centre

Being new – 5 things you need to do

When I joined =mc as a new consultant one of the first things they asked me to do was to write a blog… So I decided that I needed to learn from my past experience of changing jobs. After all I have done this before First I noticed there are two overriding emotions I have […]

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The Management Centre

Using Strategic Planning Tools for Fundraising

Is your organisation competing in a Red Ocean or Blue Ocean? Put simply, Red Ocean & Blue Ocean are two different ways of comparing the strategy of an organisation in relation to the territory they are competing in. Red Ocean Strategy sees an organisation fighting for a share of the demand in a market which […]

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Motivational message on a post-it note saying "great work"

Being productive – 5 ways of staying on track

Dealing with a seemingly never ending to-do list and constant interruptions can seem overwhelming at times – read on to discover ways of thriving in a busy environment with this blog by Yvette Gyles, Director at =mc:   Staying productive is tricky. We all have moments in our day when our energy dips, or when […]

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The Management Centre

Beyond the Induction — 5 things you need to do to help your colleague

The latest post from our new Learning and Development consultant Yvette Gyles is around what you can do to help out a new colleague. Following on from the post I wrote last week, I’ve been thinking about the support I’ve been getting in my first few days here at =mc. I’ve had great support, and […]

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The Management Centre

Emergency giving – a personal view

In this blog, Angela Cluff gives a personal perspective on fundraising appeals, and the impact of statistics versus individual stories on giving. It’s been a busy few days, so good to relax on the sofa, glass of wine in one hand, football on in the background and catching up on Twitter. This caught my eye. […]

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seedling

Four ways to ensure learning transfer

In this blog, =mc’s Director Charlotte Scott shares four ways of ensuring that the learning you’ve invested in is passed on and applied throughout your organisation. If you’ve spent time and money on training and development (or are thinking about doing so), this blog is a must-read!   Four Ways to Ensure Learning Transfer Ensuring […]

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The Management Centre

How can I engage people in my change?

In this blog, =mc‘s Principal Learning & Development Consultant Charlotte Scott shares insights on how to engage staff throughout a change process, by first analysing what’s driving the change. How can I engage people in my change? Question: From Charity CEO: We are a growing organisation, and our programme work has grown significantly in the […]

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The Management Centre

How do I build a successful career journey?

In this blog, Senior Learning & Development Consultant Laura Slater shares three key ideas for creating a successful career path… How do I build a successful career journey? From Forest Ranger to Learning & Development Consultant in six years is quite a journey. It’s a journey that has taken me to exactly where I want […]

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online learning - thinking

Why do projects fail?

In this blog =mc‘s Senior L&D consultant Philly Graham shares ideas on why certain projects fail and what you can do to avoid this. Why do projects fail? Depressing though it is, I think we can all say we have been involved in a project that has gone wrong in some shape or form. But […]

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seedling

Innovation in Action

In this blog, =mc‘s Director Yvette Gyles shares 5 ideas for improving innovation, and how these steps are already helping organisations such as ActionAid. We’re good at coming up with ideas in my organisation – the creative bit – but they never seem to get off the drawing board. Where are we going wrong with […]

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The Management Centre

2. Change Series: The 8-Step Approach to Change

In my last blog I wrote about the key drivers for change. This blog focuses on a well-established model for change. The most commonly used, and easy to adapt, model is that developed by US management consultant and Harvard Professor John Kotter. Originally developed for business, we have found it useful for charities and other […]

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