• Search Site Appraisal Schemes Appraisal Skills Article Writing Assertiveness Biographies Business Development Business Plans Business Strategy Career Development Chairing - Meetings Skills Chairing - Facilitated... Change Management Coaches - Information Coaching - Introduction Confidence Conflict Consultancy - Introduct... Consultants - Informati... Copywriting Correspondence Course CVs Dealing with Difficu.. Effective Meetings Endorsements Executive Coaching Facilitated Events Focus Groups Ghost Writing Guest Speaker In-House Training Interview Skills Job Hunting Leadership Letter Writing Life Coaching Media - Appearances Media - Writing Meetings Skills Managing People Managing Workload Marketing Negotiation Skills People - Managing Perception Surveys Personal Development Personal Effectiveness Persuading - In Person Persuading - In Writing Plain English Planning Presentations - Delivering Presentations - Preparing Presentations - To The ... Press Release Writing Public Speaking Radio Broadcasts Recruitment Report Writing tlc Retreats Stakeholder Surveys Strategy Stress Surveys Team Building tlc Team Coaching Team Working Time Management Thinking tlc Courses Television Appearances Work/Life Balance Workload Writing Writing For Publication Writing Skills

ARK's coaches help teams who want to improve their performance. We use our unique tlc method to stimulate clear thinking amongst all team members. Then we ask teams to listen properly to others’ perspectives and concerns. And we ensure that people communicate succinctly and helpfully.

Business teams are increasingly using external help so that they can:

• Be sure they understand each other’s perceptions
• Allow everyone’s voice to be heard
• Think effectively together
• Communicate productively, especially under pressurei
• Get to real issues, sometimes kept below the surface
• Identify priorities; and tackle actions in the right order
• Speak out honestly in future

tlc team coaching can be used for any topic a team chooses - for example, when developing business strategy; reorganising a firm; developing a new management tool; or team building and team working.

Top Team Checklist

In changing times, every organisation needs strong and coherent leadership. The top team needs to have a clear and agreed strategy: and to believe in that strategy. There's no room for old animosities, pet projects or prima donnas.

So how does your firm's leadership look at the moment? Here's a checklist of questions you might need to consider. We recommend investing just one hour to go through this checklist with your senior colleagues.

1. Where are we now?

When did we last review our corporate plan? Do all the Directors remember exactly what it includes? Have they all communicated the relevant parts to their teams? Do we revisit it regularly? Is it still appropriate for where the business is now?

At a deeper level, has every member of the leadership team bought into this strategy? What evidence do we have of that? If not, what's causing the resistance? Has the resistance come about because the market has changed, or for another reason?

If there are real differences of opinion within the team, do these pre-date the current strategy? How do these differing perspectives manifest themselves?

How good are we at airing any differences honestly and then getting to consensus?
How good are we at communicating our visions and plans to the wider team?

2. Where do we want to get to?

What are realistic goals for the next 3 months, 6 months, one year, three years?

Do we need to substantially revise the corporate plan to meet these goals? Or is it that we just need a touch more specific detail and clarity in our strategy? How will we ensure that the wider team will deliver our plan?

Is it more complicated than that? Do we need to be sure everyone is equally convinced about all the aspects of our strategy? Do we need to voice and then settle doubts? If so, what are those doubts?

Is it actually rather serious? Do we need to settle divisions between the philosophies, vision or ambitions of the directors? Or less worrying – perhaps there’s baggage: maybe some historical, habitual disagreement that needs to be laid to rest?

Do we want to achieve the goals so much that we will have the courage to discuss and settle our doubts and divisions?

3. What are we going to do about it?

Do we need to sit down together and devise a more appropriate corporate plan? Do we need to talk to establish the nature and scale of any lack of buy-in?

What will we need to do once we have a revised strategy we're all agreed on? What are the consequences of the revisions?

If there's a conflict in our team, do we all recognise that there's really a problem here? What can we do to resolve it? Can we settle our differences working as a full team: or would a series of one-to-one conversations get a better result? Can an outsider help us fix the situation? Can it be fixed?

And when you have the answers to all these questions, it's simple. You start again....

.....So, where are you now?

Dyslexia in the Workplace Almost three million adults in the UK workforce suffer from dyslexia. Most people associate the condition with impaired reading skills, but in fact symptoms are more wide-ranging, including problems with maths, prioritising, absorbing and communicating information accurately and completing tasks in sequence. Adults with undiagnosed dyslexia have often developed sophisticated coping strategies, but can hit a wall when given autonomy over managing their day and their workload.

ARK now offers coaching support for dyslexia, including: dyslexia awareness for HR professionals; diagnostic testing; and coaching support for dyslexia sufferers and their line managers. We can help dyslexic people implement highly effective self-management action plans to reduce stress for themselves and their colleagues.