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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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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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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Endorsed programmes drive Local Authority Leadership Development – in partnership with the Sussex Training Consortium The Sussex Training Consortium (STC) provides targeted, relevant, high quality training for all staff working in 12 Districts and Boroughs across East & West Sussex. It aims to ensure that any learning and development they offer the authorities is not […]
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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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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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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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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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What’s the Big Idea? Management guru, Peter Drucker, has written extensively on the value of innovation and the need to avoid ‘the temptation to feed yesterday and starve tomorrow’. Third sector, public sector and even social business often have a false sense of ‘playing safe’ by sticking to what has worked in the past. But, […]
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“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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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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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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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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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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UNICEF UK (UUK) is part of UNICEF’s global network. It raises money for their work with children and children’s rights worldwide. Accurate, up-to-the-minute information – data – is a key element in UNICEF UK’s very successful fundraising operation. And how that data is managed across the organisation is increasingly significant to their work. Challenge Supporter […]
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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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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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Anthony Nolan is the leading UK charity working in the areas of leukaemia and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. It recruits individuals to a national donor register and carries out research to help make bone marrow transplants more effective. Their vision is to save and improve the lives of everyone who needs a stem cell transplant. To succeed in this ambition, […]
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Age Exchange was formed in 1983 as a specialist reminiscence charity, and over the years has developed new ways of working to reduce loneliness and isolation. For the past 15 years, due to a growing older population, the charity has expanded its work with people who have found themselves as carers for older relatives and […]
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To be an effective leader you need to get people engaged with your ideas and work – whether it’s a senior manager to agree a new way of working, a colleague to help with your project, or support from a funder or external stakeholder. Whatever the situation, bringing people on board is critical to success […]
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Into Film is a national agency working throughout the UK to engage children and young people in film and cinema. Their focus is educational, supporting teachers and educators to achieve a wide range of learning outcomes using film. The programme includes a network of extra-curricular film clubs, resources to use in clubs and in the […]
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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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=mc’s new updated version of the systems approach to project management offers you the solution to a range of challenges whether you’re a multi national humanitarian INGO or small art gallery that needs to see every exhibition as a mini-project. Among the organisations who’ve used the =mc Systems Model are: Project working is becoming the […]
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This article on pitching your idea is adapted from the Strategy Workout book by Clare Segal and Bernard Ross (Pearson 2016). Action 1: Pitching – selling a radical idea Having an idea is only the start of your communications journey. You need to know who can make the decision to back your idea, and then […]
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Following on from a previous article on Emotional Intelligence at Work, we explore why emotional intelligence (EI) is especially important for leaders. What is EI and why does it matter? Emotional intelligence is defined as a critical group of non-cognitive skills, capabilities and competencies which help individuals to control and manage their emotional response to […]
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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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Great managers are an asset to any organisation. They engage, inspire and motivate their staff to achieve results. Their staff feel like valued team members. A ‘bad’ boss, on the other hand, can leave people feeling demoralised. They reduce trust, inhibit creativity and innovation and can set staff up to fail. So just how badly […]
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Making an impact isn’t always easy. In this article, Philly Graham, Senior Learning & Development Consultant at =mc and accredited coach, explains how developing your personal brand can help. What is personal branding? Personal branding is “the process whereby people and their careers are marketed as brands.” The concept of personal branding suggests that success can come […]
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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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Team days, focus groups, planning sessions – they’re all about getting specific outcomes from a finite amount of time. They’re about bring groups of people together – people who might not know each other – to work towards a common goal. A skilful facilitator can be the catalyst for consensus and output. The alternative – leaving the group […]
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It is a truth universally acknowledged (or very widely, anyway) that good time management and prioritising our activities are key to helping achieve high pay-off results. It’s also true that too often it can be difficult to focus and stay on track – especially when things are really busy. At that point it’s all too […]
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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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Developing line managers for an evolving culture West Kent Housing Association (West Kent) is a vibrant, community-based business providing affordable homes and services to people living in the towns and villages throughout Kent. Established in 1989, they were one of the first large scale voluntary transfers of local authority housing. They were the first ‘excellent’ […]
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(previously South London YMCA) provides a range of supported housing services for 545 homeless people Croydon, Bromley, Lambeth and Kensington & Chelsea. Over the last five years, they’ve transformed most of their properties through a £25m redevelopment programme, so that those living in them have a better chance to turn their lives around and live […]
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When Paul Amadi took up the reins as Executive Director of Fundraising at the MS Society, it was an exciting time of change. There was an ambitious, new organisation strategy. A 10 year, £100M research appeal had started. A new marketing strategy was in development… and a fundraising improvement programme was building on the outcomes of […]
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Fundraisers are worried about donors saying ‘no!’ This article explores the idea developed by =mc directors Clare Segal and Bernard Ross in their book The Influential Fundraiser (Wiley 2010) that there are 9 different ways in which donors say ‘No’ and how to respond. The starting point is that No normally means “ask me a better […]
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Giving good feedback is an essential part of a manager’s role, not only to get the best outputs, but also to motivate and develop staff. It is doubly important when dealing with a performance challenge of some sort. But no one said it was an easy part of a manager’s job. Fortunately, there are a […]
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In any senior manager’s career, the transition from manager to leader can be a tricky one. In any manager’s career, the transition to leader can be tricky. How do you lift yourself up from the operational to the strategic? What are the secrets to providing visionary leadership? How can you inspire and lead change in […]
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In this article, =mc’s Senior Learning & Development Consultant, Philly Graham looks at an important new framework, behavioural economics, and what it can teach us in learning & development. At =mc we are constantly reflecting on what could improve training and development initiatives, especially in terms of supporting real change in organisations. A challenge that is often cited to […]
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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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