Every week we (the wingivers team) have a call – one hour from 0900. It continues to amaze me that we get good attendance on the call and when people can’t join in, they let everyone in the team know. we are all self-employed – so everyone has a choice. This brings to mind a piece in our Parish mag for this month – about freewill. The piece is about us making choices about what we do and don’t do – how we choose to behave. The human challenge is to manage our own behaviour and choice of actions. We believe that people having freewill, power and alongside it responsibility.
However, we also understand the profound influence of organisation culture – the power of the soup in which people swim and the positive and negative impact this can have on the choices people make. The discipline of being in the group call on Friday morning is both exacting and energy giving. I’m challenged to listen, think, participate and keep in mind what we are doing in Wingivers. If it was all about freewill, there are some Fridays when it would be easier not to take part – but in our group it is quite hard not to take part. The soup we’ve created is stimulating, helpful to our individual work and it can be energising. Between us we’ve created a place where learning is immediately relevant and valuable.
However, the soup we’ve created is fragile. And the strength of this virtual collaboration needs nurturing – we are each responsible. It needs to be about more than “talk talk”. The conversation needs to deliver to the business and not be bullshi**y. And it needs to a place which accepts the individual – in whatever state they arrive.
As consultants we encourage group behaviour which help the business and we practice it ourselves. This morning we got this right but we have to stay awake. Tomorrow we may have to check the soup because the weekly call is not working anymore.
Photo: Staff member at Pantaloons pantaloons.co.uk – Thanks to Jude for letting us look at how work works in your shop
