Being a manager means taking on more responsibilities and also letting go of others. However, as much as we know delegation is a good thing – we still struggle to do it well. Delegation provides your team with learning opportunities, development projects, balances workload and gives room for new insights. As a manager though you […]
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=mc Director and L&D specialist Yvette Gyles blogs on the pros and cons of appraisals… Many of us have had to adapt to changes to hybrid or home working in the last couple of years. Whether it’s affected you directly or indirectly, our working patterns and processes have been disrupted. Add to that an increasingly […]
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When we put together management training, we like to involve potential participants in the design. This co-creation approach has some real benefits – participants are engaged early on, and we can understand exactly what their management challenges are and ensure the training is tailored to meet their needs. We also find out what their teams […]
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Welcome to the Safe Space – where managers can share their issues, and gain advice from top learning & development consultants. Here at =mc we encourage every participant we meet on our programmes to get in touch if they have specific issues they want to follow up on. From this we hear some common problems, […]
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Managing a team and maintaining – or even upgrading – their performance is a big, time consuming job, however experienced you are. Supervision sessions, coaching, advice, support all take up big chunks of your time – time away from your ‘own’ work. So the question is, how can you maximise the positive impact you have […]
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Using blended learning and leadership support to build management cohesion, competence, confidence and connection in a local authority context. Wealden District Council is hugely ambitious. From handling one of the largest volumes of planning applications in the UK, to an unwavering commitment to sustainability and the environment, their strategic aims are clear: to ensure everyone […]
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Leadership is multi-faceted and complex. That’s why there are so many books on the topic as well as blogs, videos, articles, training courses and podcasts. At =mc Learning we know this from our leadership courses, which often start with the following questions: what do you think are the characteristics of effective leaders? Who do you […]
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Starting a new job always comes with a mix of excitement and trepidation, as you wonder what it’s going to be like. Working in multiple locations also comes with its own challenges. Here at =mc we’ve always worked in a hybrid model: some office time, some home time, some on-site time. And that model seems […]
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Throughout any project there are challenges that can spring up, and attempt to take us off track in progressing our projects. Even when we’ve carefully laid out our project plan; the context, our stakeholders, and even our own project team can throw a spanner into the works. Throughout our Project Management training programmes, we find […]
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Welcome to the Safe Space – where managers can share their issues, and gain advice from top learning & development consultants. Here at =mc we encourage every participant we meet on our programmes to get in touch if they have specific issues they want to follow up on. From this we hear some common problems, […]
Read more
Welcome to the Safe Space – where managers can share their issues, and gain advice from top learning & development consultants. Here at =mc we encourage every participant we meet on our programmes to get in touch if they have specific issues they want to follow up on. From this we hear some common problems, […]
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On our management programmes we regularly discuss what it means to be a great manager. When we ask people what they themselves want from their managers we continually hear the five key themes: direction, openness, modelling, trust and challenge. Direction We want our managers to provide us with a sense of direction. In order to […]
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Development enables your team members to grow in their role, to feel stretched and supported, and to stay motivated and engaged. One of the main benefits people value in their role is the opportunity to increase and refine their skills. Indeed, one of the main reasons people cite when leaving an organisation is the need […]
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Welcome to the Safe Space – where managers can share their issues, and gain advice from top learning & development consultants. Here at =mc we encourage every participant we meet on our programmes to get in touch if they have specific issues they want to follow up on. From this we hear some common problems, […]
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In this blog Charlie Scott outlines why motivation is important, and how leaders can encourage others Motivation is energy People who are motivated perform their jobs more effectively. They are more creative, flexible, and healthy. They have the energy and commitment to do what is needed today and to welcome what might be needed tomorrow. […]
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How to ensure people learn, develop and feel invested in – no matter how small your training budget is. This time last year the CIPD released their latest learning report[1], and whilst not entirely surprising, it highlighted that charities and non-profit organisations have very tight training budgets. The Covid-19 pandemic has meant shifting resource and […]
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Managing a remote team of people – who are not sitting 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, especially when you might have been used to seeing at least some of […]
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In this blog, =mc Director Charlotte Scott asks leaders to take a look under the rock… Leaders who want to do the very best for their team and organisation tend to have some awareness of their impact on their teams already. Especially in the charity, social and public sectors. We like to think that we […]
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I’ve been working with managers and leaders in public sector organisations for some time now. It’s still a bleak picture for many: a lack of central funding and increasing demand means crucial services are under more and more pressure. In nearly every programme I’ve delivered I have been asked to help managers with leading their […]
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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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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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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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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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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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Driving culture change at Housing & Care 21 Housing & Care 21 are the UK’s largest non-profit care provider and a national leader in providing innovative, affordable housing for older people. Their strong belief that later life should be happy and fulfilling, has lead to them supporting over 28,000 people across the UK with essential […]
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The Manchester Museum is unique. In no other university can you find such an encyclopedic compendium of human creativity from every corner of the globe, alongside evidence of the evolution of the planet over the last 4.6 billion years. Breaking down silos was a key goal and =mc was able to help in a number […]
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