The Blogworld of Poppyfish People Development

The Neanderthals sat huddled round the fire. The soft orange light reflected from the walls of the large cave in which they were gathered, giving an eerie light to proceedings.   From the walls of the cave the dull handprints and paintings of the top mammoth hunters from all ancestry hung over the group, reminding them of just why they were here.      Ugg gruntedfirst. He grunted of how he and his team of hunters had worked all day to corner the great mammoth whose carcass now filled their bellies. It was the first time they'd eaten mammoth in many moons. The other hunters sat and listened as Ugg told the tale of how he, newly returned to the community from sabbatical work with the tribe on the other side of the stream, demonstrated how he had used his new "cat-a-pult" process to maximum effect to bring down the giant beast. They listened in awe. "Cat-a-pult". What a strange device.   The hunters glanced uneasily at each other as Ugg handed round the n...

Example Job map: Building Site Manager A Job Map is a diagram, created by you, that shows the interconnections between your job and the people who have an expectation of you in your job. It can be a very helpful tool for understanding and clarifying your role and priorities at work and as a tool for problem solving. It is especially helpful when used as a tool to aid recruitment, or to assist someone starting a new job. A good job map can be used to:   Give a clear indication of key responsibilities. Make it clear to others exactly what it is that you do. Identify and tackle problem areas. Help produce a job description and be useful when setting objectives. When you combine your own map with the job maps of other people in your teams you may also be able to: Identify common problems. Highlight areas where efforts are duplicated or confused. Spot important new areas of work or gaps in existing responsibilities.   Sharing your Job Map ...

A selection of photo's from this week's sandpit with NIAB's Innovation Farm. Proof, if any were needed, that quality conversations are a great platform for sharing best practice.

In the field of management science and in organisational development in particular we often talk about the differences between managers and leaders. Every now and then I come across great little snippets and insights from outside the field that add to the conversation. And here is one of those from the field of military history, a place to which my reading commonly wanders and where the rich tapestry of leadership is a theme that is commonly discussed. Less common though is for this field of study to throw up a direct comparison between leaders and managers.  The British General William 'Bill' Slim was the master of successful military campaigns against the Japanese in the Far East during the Second World War and the leader of what is often called the "Forgotten 14th" Army. Slim, with excellent credentials of success both in terms of strategy and leadership saw a keen difference between leaders and managers. Slim's comparison runs as follows: "The lea...

Technical excellence. You strive for it, you study for it. Ever since that first day at school when they opened the top of your head and started pouring in all those facts, algorithms, rules, dates, ratios, laws and equations you have been building the extreme specimen of technical genius that you are today. Technical knowledge is essential, it is the bedrock of our physical world, and for year upon year you have strived to improve your mastery of it. Technical excellence is important for all sorts of reasons, but at the most basic level it is important because it gives us power. It gives us power to speak with authority on our chosen area of excellence. It gives us power to get our foot in the door of that job we are seeking, it gives us power to earn reward and recognition, and it gives us power over other people. Neuroscientists are technical experts. They have power over me. The power I assign to them means that I believe them when they talk to me about the way the brain ...

This blog post is in support of the SPECTRUM evaluation tool available online from www.evaluationstore.com . Although just one of a number of profiling tools available, SPECTRUM was initially designed for Evaluation Store by Poppyfish Associate Steve Jarrett and benefits from being one of the more affordable profiling tools for those taking their first steps with this approach.   What is SPECTRUM? One of the key ways that learning and development programmes can promote organisational development is through changed individual behaviours. As we develop new skills and new awareness so we change our behaviour to achieve better outcomes. The SPECTRUM™ questionnaire provides you with valid information about your own behavioural preferences and your impact on the people around you.   What is behaviour? Behaviour can be defined as the combination of what you do, what you say, how you say it and what facial expressions and body language you use in the process. ...

Poppyfish People Development is pleased to be partnering the construction company, Durkan Limited, in its new LEAD initiative which gets underway in June. The company wide Durkan LEAD programme will see all 160 employees embark on a pathway of learning and development that is designed to maximise individual potential and generate continuous performance improvement across the firm. Each Durkan employee will be enrolled on one of three learning pathways, each following a personalised structure that will see a number of compulsory events supplemented by additional optional events that the employee can choose to attend. Employees that complete all compulsory courses and an appropriate number of optional courses will be entitled to receive a 'Durkan Diploma' in recognition of their learning. “ We are very pleased to be able to offer this exciting new opportunity to our staff ,” said Ian Cresswell, Director of Health & Safety, Quality and Environment at Durkan, “ we fee...