Team building for Cameron and Clegg?

So we have a coalition government. Could this be stated simply as a result of the nation as a whole not being sufficiently persuaded by one party’s values for there to be a clear winner? Or is this too simplistic and are there much more complex and diverse reasons?

Whatever the reasons, we are now in a position where 2 parties with differing values and motivations have to come together and form a working government. Now those 2 parties are themselves made up of a large number of individuals, all of which have their own values and motivations. I suspect it’ll be a hard task to manage all of those expectations as well as managing the country!

However, this is what businesses across the globe have to do on a daily basis with varying degrees of success; the politicians being the employees and the country being the clients!

Can business leaders teach the government a thing or two? How well do you manage the expectations of both your clients and your employees; the most important stakeholders in your business? How much do you know about the values and motivations of both? How do you ensure that those with differing drivers can still work together towards a common strategy and outcome?

According to a study by OPP workplace psychologists, almost a third of employees have never experienced any kind of team-building, despite the average UK worker being part of four separate teams.(reported by HR Magazine). Even more interesting, according to the report, is that only 11% of people would rather have a day off work than engage in a team building exercise!

Properly planned and delivered team building and coaching can have dramatic effects on the motivation and productivity of a team. It is second to none in understanding and respecting individual values and motivations and pulling these together to create a highly efficient team, all of whom are pulling towards a common and agreed goal and strategy. An incredibly powerful team is created in this way as every person in it knows “what’s in it for them”. At the end of the day, human nature makes us pursue our own interests; be honest, how often have you approached a task half heartedly or not at all because you don’t know “what’s in it for you”?

So will we see David Cameron and Nick Clegg heading off for a bit of team building or will your business be ahead of them on that too?

Michaela Hardwick of Beyond Expectation is a Business and Personal Performance Coach who works with businesses of all shapes and sizes nationally delivering 1-2-1 and team coaching in packages tailored to suit each different client. She believes that team building should create long term solutions to the business whilst engaging the teams in an entertaining and memorable way. For more details, go to www.beyond-expectation.co.uk or call on 0121 288 6002.