On several occasions recently clients have asked me to help resolve conflict between two employees. I have my own model for developing relationships in the workplace (PARTNER) which you can learn more about here. But another valuable resource is the Handbook of Solution-Focused Conflict Management by Frederike Bannink which Hogrefe published in 2010 (ISBN:  978-0-88937-384-6)

How to review performance is a challenge faced by most leaders. This week I have been busy coaching senior leaders and also launching a new programme to help managers have more effective performance conversations. The thing that struck me was that leaders are very harsh when they review their performance.  That’s fine if it helps them improve.

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post on the Seven Steps to Effective Partnership Working. In it I shared the PARTNER model I developed to strengthen working relationships between individuals, teams, departments and organisations. Today I thought I’d share how I used the model in a “Partnership Working” workshop and the tools and

One of the most important responsibilities of any business leader is performance management.  In other words to manage and develop the performance of their people. Performance management is the means by which the work individuals do every day contributes to the larger goals and core values of the organisation. Managing performance is vital to the health

I was coaching a client a few weeks ago and she was sharing her anxiety about having a performance discussion with a member of her team who she has a difficult relationship with. I asked her a few questions about what impresses her about this member of staff, what she is good at and what

Leading change is a priority in business today. Although it sounds like an oxymoron, change is happening all the time – changes in technology; changes in Society; changes in the economy.  And all of those demand changes in organisations. Over the past few decades we’ve gone from a situation where stability was the norm and

Are you developing a new team?  You’re not alone. One of the key challenges faced by most organisations is the ever-increasing pace of change and the need to continually develop to adapt and respond.  So, many organisations are adapting the way they’re structured in line with their new goals and objectives. New organisation structures involve

This post was originally published in the Newsletter for CIPD Management Toolclicks.  You can read the original article here. “The solution does not care where the problem came from”  W. Herren This paradoxical quote is a powerful maxim for developing your team. When teams want to develop or change, what usually happens is they analyse everything

This post was originally published in the Newsletter for CIPD Management Toolclicks.  You can read the original article here. Thanks to technology and globalisation, more and more business teams are working together remotely from different locations and sometimes different countries. But even with an array of new Web-based collaboration tools at their disposal, most managers find