Inspiring Excellence in Teams

A firm operating in 40 locations had to be sure that all its senior players were able to articulate a compelling vision and lead people effectively. VOX worked with them to strengthen the skills they needed to inspire their teams.

Challenge

A leading provider of rehabilitation products and services, including prosthetics, wheelchairs and occupational therapy, recognised that it had to maximise its teams’ effectiveness if it was to flourish in an increasingly difficult market. The firm was heavily dependent for its business on the NHS, whose resources were becoming more and more constrained and which needed to control costs ever more tightly.

A further problem was that a large proportion of the company’s staff were embedded in some 40 clinics around the country. Achieving consistency of delivery, message and style was much harder than for organisations with a centralised structure.

In such circumstances, it was vital to ensure that every manager and supervisor was capable of articulating a vision and direction, gaining the co-operation of staff and dealing promptly and effectively with performance issues – all of which are essentially about communication.

Solution

The company brought together more than 40 senior players from across England and Wales and charged VOX with strengthening their professional personae, their influencing skills and their ability to exercise authority well.

Using their skills to present scenarios that were familiar to all the course participants, four coaches from VOX explored the communication aspects of these fundamental issues:

How status, hierarchies and power relations work
Making your expectations clear
Inspiring people to want to achieve more
Strengthening teams
Addressing underperformance, difficult behaviours and sensitive situations
Nurturing your best talent

As well as the collective experience of the plenary sessions, participants took part in small-group sessions that enabled them to focus in on key points, practise communication techniques and receive individual feedback. VOX’s overall coaching provision was varied, inventive, intense and highly enjoyable.

Results

The company is always likely to be vulnerable given the extent of its reliance on a single client. Nevertheless, its judgment was that VOX’s input would make an appreciable difference to the way managers and supervisors led their staff.

As is almost invariably the case with VOX, the written feedback from the participants themselves was uniformly positive. As well as developing their practical skills, this normally dispersed group gained confidence and motivation from coming together in this way. The company itself appears to be stable, and VOX is confident that it contributed to its resilience.

What our clients say

I have been pleased to work with VOX Coaching since 2007 … Pete Bailie and his colleagues work very professionally and have engaged wholeheartedly in meeting our needs and designing material to our briefs.

Researcher Development Officer

[The] interpretation of the brief, tailoring of content and varied delivery made for a productive and enjoyable event … I wouldn’t hesitate to use Pete or VOX again.

Director for Careers and Employability

… an inspiring coach who makes an enduring difference to the way people communicate, lead and manage.

Communications and Marketing Director

Participants find the sessions great fun, and at the same time are amazed at how blind they might have been to their own and others’ behaviours, be it in a meeting, or relationships with junior or senior colleagues.

Assistant Director, Researchers and Research Culture

On the day of the interview I was barely nervous (which is very unusual for me), very confident and performed very well…in fact I would say ended up enjoying it. They have awarded me a fellowship, so it must have worked!

One Health Policy Lead and Statistics Adviser Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

I had a fantastic experience with VOX Coaching … in preparation for interviews for large grants from research councils. In simple words, without [their] help, it would have been very challenging to perform well at the interview.

EPSRC Research Fellow & Professor of Coatings and Surface Engineering University of Nottingham

I attended a one-day group session … in preparation for a funding interview. Pete has a great understanding of the academic funding landscape, which helped demystify the process for me and my fellow attendees. I would highly recommend.

Lecturer in flight dynamics and control University of Bristol

Transformational, inspiring and fun … Liberating that inner voice, being able to ‘read’ body language and vary styles of communication are the secrets this course unlocked for me.

Marketing Officer UWE

… the single best presentation & communication skills trainer I have ever worked with. Deeply knowledgeable, personable, adaptable, and infectiously enthusiastic about his subject.

Associate Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship University of Bristol

Six months after my last coaching session with Pete I am still applying what I learnt. Pete is a creative coach with an inspiring array of tools and experience to call upon when coaching clients. Our sessions were focussed, creative and challenging, helping me to target those areas of my professional life I want to develop further.

Head of Corporate Programme Office NHS

Other case studies

Delivering Major Change

When a university had to move thousands of its staff members to a new pay-grade structure, there was a pressing need for skilful and sensitive communication. VOX helped managers across the institution rise to the challenge.

Gearing Up for a New Reality

When a small company becomes part of a big one, it can be all change for the staff. VOX helped a firm in the creative industries adapt to new circumstances by boosting their confidence and honing their communication skills.

Influencing Up

Top politicians benefit from the input of impartial advisers. But what if the advisers have trouble connecting with more senior people? VOX helped a group of such individuals develop communication skills that matched their intellectual prowess.

Managing in Turbulent Times

Financial constraints … complex change … restructuring – it’s a familiar story in local government. VOX helped a large group of managers prepare for testing times by sharpening communication skills on which so much would depend.

Pitch Perfect

An international company needed its IT specialists to be able to pitch business proposals to clients with greater success. VOX’s role was to equip them with practical techniques for engaging audiences – including difficult and critical ones.

Turning to a Trusted Adviser

A senior academic had a range of important communication challenges over the years, including bidding for multimillion-pound grants, giving high-profile media interviews and speaking at international gatherings. VOX supported them at every turn.

Winning Through

How can you do yourself justice when you’re being interviewed for your own job? This was the question facing people in a local authority service area that was undergoing reorganisation. VOX helped them find answers and grow in confidence.