When we talk to managers about agreeing a code of conduct on behaviour in their teams, the reply is often “isn’t it just common sense? Doesn’t everyone know how to behave at work?”

The answer is that unfortunately no matter how obvious you think the definition of appropriate behaviour is, people do have differing interpretations.

David Brailsford, coach of Team Sky – the British cycling team - has just introduced a Code of Conduct for the team. Rocked by the Lance Armstrong saga, he has identified that it is not enough to leave standards of behaviour and conduct to chance. And quite rightly, he is not just going to draw the code up himself and impose it on the team. He will be discussing standards with each team member and incorporating their input, in order that it is a shared understanding across the team.  We would also advocate that if there have been problems of misconduct in the team in the past, which have sparked the need for clearer guidance, it is important to focus on the future and how people should behave going forwards, rather than dwell on what has already gone. See this as a chance to start with a clean slate, if you like.

There are two key points we can take from Team Sky’s approach…

• If you don’t currently have a code of conduct around appropriate behaviour at work, but see the value of drawing one up, use team meetings to identify and agree the standards with everyone – you will have far more buy in that way
• If you do have a code of conduct or policy in this area, check if people really understand it. Do they see how it relates to their day to day work? Holding a team discussion or one to one meetings with everyone and asking for their examples of appropriate and inappropriate behaviour can be a really effective way to clarify understanding. Giving them a chance to ask questions will help that clarity too and mean they are far more likely to display the behaviours discussed. 

With the season of office parties and client entertainment almost upon us, it is an ideal time to review your Behaviour at Work policies and ensure people really understand what they mean in practice. Investing a bit of time talking to people now can save a whole lot of headaches later.

For more ideas and guidance on Managing Appropriate workplace behaviour see our workshops and for sessions to facilitate team discussions see Your Team Health check.

Teamwork is the glue that holds businesses together. And team meetings are one of the key ways to ensure good team work.

But what happens when it all gets a bit staid, a bit monotonous, in a bit of a rut?

How do you inject some energy back into them?

Five Top Tips to Energise your Team Meetings

1. Rotate the chair
   It does not have to be the manager who runs a team meeting – involving all team members in chairing a meeting is a great way to develop their skills and to increase ownership of the discussions and actions.
2. Open with the positives
   Especially in this tough market, people can find it hard to keep motivation levels up. Start with asking everyone for one thing they have been particularly pleased with or proud of that week. It sets a really positive tone for the rest of the meeting and recognises effort and results.
3. Ask everyone for input
   Ensure everyone gets the chance to participate – not just the most vocal people. Give people things to think about beforehand or go round the room asking for everyone’s thoughts on a topic
4. Use creative thinking techniques
   Use team meetings to tackle problems or hurdles. Brainstorming or using techniques like De bonos 6 thinking hats can help people to look at things from a different angle and bring a spark of creativity that may otherwise not be tapped into.
5. Ensure you agree an action plan
   If people can see progress being made as a result of the meetings they will find them so much more motivational. Allocate responsibility to individuals to drive each action and make sure there are timescales agreed on each.

When your people look forward to their team meetings and want to make the time to be there you will know you have got it right!

For more guidance on working creatively have a look at our creative thinking workshop
For details of our programme on team work for the Aged care channel click here
For more ideas on team work have a look at our article

Or look at our team health check sessions 

At Focal Point we are about to embark on the Investors in People journey so this area is very close to our hearts!

The Department for Business (BIS) in a recent independent review, stated that a wider take up of engagement approaches would have an enormously positive impact on UK competitiveness and performance.

The agreed definition of Employee Engagement is;
‘A workplace approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to their organisations goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, and are able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-being.’

The report suggests, however that engagement levels in the UK are currently low, so it is clearly an area that many organisations need to be tackling.

http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/employment-matters/strategies/employee-engagement

But it is a tough call. The Guardian recently highlighted how the traditional career ladder is a thing of the past; success is no longer measured by steps up the ladder, as organisations are so much flatter in structure. This means fewer opportunities for promotion and a career nowadays will mean multiple changes of direction, more of what the article calls a ‘career carousel’ whose direction is often a step sideways rather than up. http://careers.guardian.co.uk/careers-blog/time-to-step-away-from-the-career-ladder

This lack of traditional career progression can contribute to a lack of engagement and managers now need to work harder than ever at identifying what is important to their people.

Welcome to the world of ‘Career Management’, where it is vital to align organisational and individual needs.

But how to tackle this? As a starting point consider the following points…
• How clear is the vision of the company?
• Are all your managers engaged themselves and committed to the organisation?
• How clear are individuals about what is expected of them?
• How much do managers understand about what their employees want from work?
• Do your managers show appreciation and offer feedback?
• Do they treat staff as individuals - with fairness and respect?
• Do they enable employees to have a voice?

Companies which challenge themselves in these key areas and examine how they can be improved, will be the ones that create a genuinely motivated and engaged workforce and reap the benefits of increased loyalty and performance.

In a recent article in People Management Meredith Belbin talks about his team roles work transcending cultural boundaries and being particularly proud of his work in Russia.

The team roles analysis is something we use a great deal in management development programmes and working with teams in the UK, but had never before taken it abroad. But we recently had the chance to use it with a group of new managers in Russia’s leading recruitment consultancy, Antal.

As part of a modular management development programme, we used Belbin’s  team roles to raise self awareness around different styles of working and create an opportunity for them to explore their make up as a management team, as well as looking at the dynamics of the teams they were managing.

They found the process empowering, coming away with a far greater sense of their own strengths and the contribution they make. They also developed a stronger sense of themselves as a management team, who together with all their combined skills and approaches have a real opportunity to drive the success of the business. It was the first time they had ever used any kind of self analysis like this and were hugely motivated by it.

In a business environment which is often not seen as sophisticated as the European market, using an assessment tool such as Belbin’s team roles worked really well and demonstrated that given the opportunity, Russian managers value diversity and could see the competitive advantage this gives them.

A fascinating piece of work for us and we are looking forward to returning this year to see their progress!