Events

A Review of...
HOW TO HERD CATS!
4/5 June 2009
Creating Success In Turbulent Times

Our most recent event was held at Alexandra House near Swindon in early June.

Thursday 04 June 2009

The event began at 6.00pm with a drinks reception, canapés and the opportunity to network with others.

Following this there was a welcome from Andrew Boyd, General Manager of Alexandra House and Andy Collett, Director of Trainerpool.

During our opening business session we began to consider all that is going on in the world and how we are being affected. We all agreed that to see our way through this uncertainty we need to apply fresh thinking in order to craft a more sustainable future. There was then a session led by Trevor Hill asking us to consider our relationship with time – how we use it and the importance of taking time to sharpen our axe. We closed the first session with a lively game show – “Company Fortunes” featuring quizmaster extraordinaire Ken Lodge – in which we revealed the responses to questions asked in the Trainerpool Business Leaders’ Survey. Everyone really got into the spirit of the occasion and there were prizes for the winning team members!

An excellent dinner followed – with thanks to chef and his team. There was an impromptu ‘invitation’ from Andrew Boyd for the team to come out and face their customers, which led to a highly entertaining exchange of questions and answers about the meal and how it was sourced and prepared.

Friday 05 June 2009

We assembled at 8.30am after breakfast for our main session. Pippa Lee began the day considering the fragility of our existence on this planet and how we all share a responsibility for its wellbeing. And how this event models a new way of collaborating and creating success together.

We then moved in to a session led by Sarah Lonton and Ken Lodge which demonstrated a technique we use called ‘Forum Theatre’ – a very powerful, interactive way for participants to immediately see the effect of different approaches to a specific situation.

Following this we split into smaller groups and experienced a series of rotations covering very specific groups – Customers (led by Tony Walker and Tony Skidmore), Teams (led by Ian Fenwick and Tim Currant), Leaders (led by Ian Lewis and Pippa Lee) and Individuals (led by Trevor Hill, Sue Grey and Ken Lodge).

Once completed we came back together for a short session in which we captured any key messages and identified actions to commit to.

After lunch we focused much more on the ‘self’ as an individual and in particular looked at ways to make the most of what we have and how to really take care of ourselves. This included one-to-one coaching, removing blocks to performance, values diagnostic tools, opening up our communication with others, relaxation and stress management techniques.