3Squared were pleased to welcome the co-founders of Northern Value Creators to the office for a fascinating talk on workplace stress and pressure and the impact this has on your mindset and behaviour.
Amanda and Simon Cookson are on a mission to make the North’s digital & creative sector the best place to work. They believe everyone has the right to flourish, reach their full potential and feel happy at work. At the heart of this is an understanding that happy engaged people build successful businesses.
3Squared’s philosophy has always been relatively simple; if you employ the right people, provide the correct support, collaboratively create the best methods and processes for the business and communicate often, in theory, success (which of course can mean different things to different companies) should be in sight.
However, running a company can be an unreflective and insular operation and somehow is never as simple as the mantra above implies. With 3Squared’s appraisal season just around the corner we decided to engage independent experts to run a session for all our line managers to ensure we are properly equipped as leaders to do the best for our people.
Amanda’s background and training as a coach and mentor for both individuals and businesses, alongside Simon’s commercial acuity, drawn from an extensive background in client and stakeholder management, ensures they approach their craft from both sides and seemingly meet in the middle with a business model that in a practical sense, just really works.
Amanda introduced us to how the brain functions in a scientific sense and how the body is programmed to assess situations and react to pain, worry and pressure. We related this to workplace scenarios and were able to identify patterns of behaviour that are usually evident when people aren’t coping as well as usual. This also promoted a study of body language when communicating – a particularly useful area to cover for any workplace.
We loved the concept of the ‘safety’ dashboard, and subsequently assessed the various meetings and workshops here where we want to encourage ideas and feedback and promote a positive and receptive environment.
Another key element of Amanda’s toolkit was her ‘Flow’ diagram where we learnt about the primary aspects of unlocking staff potential and balancing what can be a tricky line between a ‘burgeoning’ member of staff and an ‘overburdened’ one.
Overall a really enjoyable session with lots of learning which was delivered in a way that was very relatable to our business. Amanda presented the dots, and with her guidance we joined them. Each team lead now has plenty of food for thought to take back to their departments.
The session has enabled us to approach our performance management commitments with a bit more co-ordination, confidence, and most importantly consideration.
Northern Value Creators:
Tel: 07921 842760
Email: [email protected]
www.northernvaluecreators.com