29 Aug TWBC – ‘We amplify quiet voices’, let us amplify yours!
By amplifying quiet voices, you can reduce damaging myths and assumptions in your organisation…
TWBC prides itself on teaching, modelling and living by its values. Our focus today is on ‘We Amplify Quiet Voices’ and the following case study demonstrates how by actively ensuring these quiet voices are amplified, you can reduce or even eliminate myths and assumptions which can negatively impact morale, performance and resilience if left unchecked.
Case Study
Recently, I spent half a day with team of Administrators, who provide support to a public sector Leadership Team. They had not had any team development time for 4+years and most of the individuals had not had any facilitated away time.
By exploring their role and its impact on the Leadership Team, staff, stakeholders and service users, it became very clear their work had a tangible impact on the Organisation as a whole. In order to achieve success, the team members required skills in engagement and emotional literacy.
As the front face of the Organisation their behaviour is on view on a daily basis, however, they received infrequent 1:1 time with line managers, limited support and almost no development opportunities. The results of this were far reaching, impacting their performance, resilience and morale – believing the Leadership Team viewed them as competent but quarrelsome.
How many of us would make assumptions about this team, or one we can relate to in your own organisation?! ‘I bet they have poor relationships with the senior team they support’, or, ‘they must work in a culturally toxic organisation’, or maybe even that ‘they must be unusual in finding themselves isolated and unheard’?
The truth is very different! In this case study example;
- Each Administrative Assistant has a good working relationship with the senior leader they support,
- The organisation is forward thinking and working systematically on creating a just and learning culture.
This team of Administrators are not alone, in our experience, there are pockets of teams in every organisation who are unheard, unsung and only come to light when something starts to go awry.
So, if this is the case, why are such important teams often overlooked? The team in this case study believe that it is due to inconsistent line management, that their senior team are too busy and because there are myths and assumptions made about the team’s capability, experience and self-sufficiency.
In just one of our facilitated workshop sessions:
- The team gained a much deeper understanding of what is working well currently,
- What could be better,
- What the root causes of the current situation might be,
- What needs to change at a root level to deliver concrete change,
- and finally, how the changes could impact the team’s behaviour, productivity, morale and overall sense of achievement.
I was extremely proud to help them with this task, and I am very excited to see how they take this work forward. By the next session they will be in a position of enhancing the clarity of their roles, receiving collaborative leadership from their organisation and be provided with consistent development opportunities in the future.
TWBC – ‘We amplify quiet voices’, let us amplify yours!
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