It’s my first week of ‘social confinement’. As I look over my laptop screen towards the end of my garden, I am reminded that Eric Berne (1966) once wrote that “Most people become uneasy when they are faced with periods of unstructured time”. How many of us are now find our lives unstructured, or even…
Whether you are new to management or have several years’ experience under your belt, being a successful people manager can be exciting and challenging – and one of the most important roles in any organisation. So, it’s important to manage well. You could have the most fantastic workplace, on paper – but there’s truth in…
As COVID-19 continues to spread uncertainty across the world, the health and safety of our clients, participants, employees and suppliers is our number one priority. We wanted to share some of the steps Roffey Park Institute is taking to support you over the coming few weeks. We’re going virtual and online for now We are…
In the UK, Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer, and Sir Patrick Vallance, Chief Science Officer, have emerged as the calm, unflappable face of the UK’s response to the Coronavirus. On twitter users have compared Chris Whitty to James Bond, whilst others have suggested he is entrusted with Brexit negotiations. It’s a significant U-turn for…
What leadership words come to mind when thinking about leadership? With the International Women’s Day just around the corner and voting underway in the Labour Party’s leadership contest, I couldn’t help but think again that although debated a lot, women and leadership is a relationship that we continue not to be able to square up.…
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it…
Margaret Wheatley and Myron Rogers (1996)* once wrote that ‘organisation is always an expression of identity’. I happen to agree with this insight. The act of organising is an act of identity formation whether the particular form is that of a corporation, a social movement, or a sports club. And I think this holds true…
Collaboration with other people is one of the everyday activities in all organisations but not all collaborations are successful. We have all experienced or heard stories about groups of highly skilled people coming together to work on a project and failed. So, what’s required to make a collaboration a successful one? In search of an…
Not Altogether Foolish Leading, managing, designing and generally being part of organisations is, as we all know, a serious business. Organisations have duties of care, deliver peoples’ livelihoods, drive revenues, maintain health and safety, serve stakeholders, and much else besides. All serious stuff. But is there room in all this for a bit of foolishness?…
Mental Health and well-being in UK organisations: managers are feeling the strain, and it’s getting tougher – Roffey Park Institute | We develop people who develop organisations Founded in 1946, Roffey Park Institute’s origins lie in improving the health and wellbeing of people at work. Since then health and wellbeing at work has grown in…
The old stereotype of dictarial bosses no longer holds. Today’s leaders are more aware and face a more complex set of challenges. Good leaders tend to fall into one of 10 categories, but truly effective leaders are able to adopt different styles to suit different teams and projects. Which type of leader are you? View…
As I sit at the departure gate of another airport, waiting to fly back home to Dublin. I take in a beautiful landscape, a view that I am unfamiliar with and taken by, I begin to reflect on the session I facilitated earlier with a group of open and energetic participants. I wonder, as I…
