Organisational development news archive
Our past organisational development news items are displayed below. Please visit this page for articles and updates of changes to the external
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13 May 2008
By Nigel Risner - motivational speaker Are your staff feeling lacklustre? Motivational speaker Nigel Risner shares his thoughts on how to get employees jumping. What do I need to think about when it comes to motivating staff? If employees feel valued and involved, they'll always go the extra mile and take the initiative. Ask yourself, why should somebody go out an give great service when they've had a lousy week and they're feeling demoralised? It's simpe. People who produce...
12 May 2008
By André Bedlow The benefits of continuous learning within any business environment are indisputable. Organisations spend a great deal of time and exert considerable effort on the implementation of easily accessible educational programmes for their staff. But time and again the training offers a welcome diversion, but fails to change behaviour or improve performance. In addition, people ought naturally to get better at their jobs as they gain more experience, but this collective learning...
08 May 2008
By Christopher Davies, Professional Support Lawyer The very vocal Lee McQueen and the ultra confident 'best salesperson in Europe' Jennifer McGuire took the lead roles in last week's project. Purchasing a list of specific items at the lowest cost did not sound the hardest of tasks even though the teams would have to haggle with the renowned market traders of Marrakesh. The shopping list in hand, Jennifer rushed out to get into the market first and did not take time to do any...
03 Apr 2008
By Didi Hopkins National Theatre management trainer. You might think the ability to influence colleagues and contacts is something you either have or you don't. There are a few simple changes you can ratchet up your personal impact. What is personal impact? Personal impact is about what you bring into a room and what others read from that. People get a very good idea of how you’re feeling and who you are from how you look and behave. They might automatically judge you without...
21 Mar 2008
Extracted from 'Councillors involvement in communities' workshop by Essence Consulting. 'There isn't a single service or development in Britain which hasn't been improved by actively involving local people'. [Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government] 'Community Empowerment' is about people and government, working together to make life better. It involves more people being able to influence decisions about their communities and...
14 Mar 2008
By André Bedlow. Many of you will already be acutely aware that the Government has set a further £4.9 billion efficiency target for the public sector as part of its spending review. This amounts to three percent of local government budgets year on year. This seems laudable, but worrying messages are coming from the senior officers about the impact on service delivery, with 68% planning to reduce their staff head count as the main way to achieve savings. The proportion of directors...
26 Jun 2007
A manager's competence is not just about the achievement of goals and objectives; it is also concerned with their impact on the human capital within their teams and the teams that they work with. We are all familiar with the impact of a manager who is extremely task orientated, but lacks the people skills or concern to bring their team along with them. In ths short term, such an individual will be able to demonstrate goods levels of performacne in an environment where only the achievement...
22 Jun 2007
Here are nine lessons for would-be change agents. 1. Be open to data at the start. Even if you think you know what you're doing, chances are you don't know what you could be doing. Open up your mind to as much new thinking as you can absorb. You may find different and better ideas than the ones your organisation started with. 2. Network like mad. There are many networks of people who are thinking about learning organisations. You can get in touch with them easily. 3. Document your own...
24 Jan 2007
By André Bedlow. If you are reading this you have probably have already heard the old adage that organisations need to manage their workforce so that they have, ‘the right number of people in place, with the right skills to deliver excellent products or services both now and in the future". This is a commonly held view of people management described as ‘workforce planning’. But what does it in mean in practical terms? A corporate view of ‘workforce...
19 Jan 2007
By Dianna Podmoroff. Your stomach is queasy, your palms are sweaty, and you're struggling to remember your opening lines. How will you perform when you’ve been introduced and the room goes quiet? Are you doomed to presentation panic or paralysis, or can you overcome that debilitating nervousness and deliver a speech that wows the audience? (Or at least leaves them feeling satisfied)? If you are like most people, then public speaking or presenting is one of your major fears. Yet these...
12 Jan 2007
Excerpted from "Working With Powerful People – 10 Strategies for Managing Your Relationships". Are your coffee breaks strictly timed at 15 minutes when your colleagues seem to stay out for 20 or 25 minutes? Is your desk the one right next to the loo where George from Shipping visits at 10:00am every morning like clockwork? Does your boss get a pained look on her face when you talk about career development? Or maybe you are having difficulty getting your ideas heard, or...
31 Oct 2006
It is best to think of planning as a cycle, not a straight-through process. Once you have devised a plan you should evaluate whether it is likely to succeed. This evaluation may be cost or number based, or may use other analytical tools. This analysis may show that your plan may cause unwanted consequences, may cost too much, or may simply not work. In this case you should cycle back to an earlier stage. Alternatively you may have to abandon the plan altogether - the outcome of the planning...
