Human Behaviour in Organisations Organisational Leadership

www.lbs.edu.ng

Lagos Business School is using the leadership tool:

“An Even Better Place to WorkTM”.

MBA Students have applied it in their own organisations. They are sharing their feedback.

www.anevenbetterplacetowork.com

Dr Akin Oparison aoparison@lbs.edu.ng

Dr Akin Oparison is a Senior Fellow at LAGOS BUSINESS SCHOOL and takes courses on Leadership, Human Behavior in Organisation and Change and Organisation Development. He recently introduced the leadership tool

An Even Better Place to WorkTM with his MBA students who could use it in their own organisations.

DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP SKILLS

WHAT IS AN EVEN BETTER PLACE TO WORK

Improve leadership – Develop teams – Increase staff satisfaction

An Even Better Place to WorkTM (BP2W) is the world's first self-managed, on line (but not e-learning) culture and behaviour enhancing solution. People engage with a series of dynamic activities, measures and resources that quickly create a well-led, engaged and productive workforce.

On Line Measures Gauge staff engagement levels Measure the impact of leadership

Real Time Charts Colourful charts that are easy to interpret Indentifies Interventions to be made

Activities that Improve Scores Series of inter-related exercises Short, practical and interactive Facilitated by team members

Additional On line Resources Video – Books – Posters Articles & Quick Tips

Dr Akin Oparison’s approach is based on a belief that Leadership is about people transforming themselves and what they enable others to do as a result of this, and not just what they know.

Leadership development is a bit like developing an athlete. The athlete’s muscles are in place. All an aspiring athlete can be taught in a classroom is what are the muscles and techniques that great athletes use. To be successful the athlete learns to work out in Gyms and on the field.

It is the same with leadership. You can teach people what habits leaders have but developing these is up to the individual. Dr Oparison teaches these habits but it is up to the aspiring leader to get into real-life work relationships (the gyms of life) to develop and succeed.

He supports participants to learn in real-life work relationships. An Even Better Place to WorkTM is the leadership tool that allows the individual to practice, learn and monitor progress.

THE LAGOS BUSINESS SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

Read more about this experience and testimonials in the following pages.

THE SITUATION

A review of my work place climate in September 12, 2015 shows that my team members

do not take ownership of their work as they feel that they do not have the power or

authority to take charge of responsibility or to make decisions and that most times in their

opinion is not welcomed in the team. This shows a deficiency in my leadership quality in

the organisation and in the way that I handle my activities as the head of my group.

I however took the below steps based on the training I have acquired in the organisation

leadership class and using the “An Even Better Place to WorkTM” tool to improve my

leadership skills and create a conducive environment to work in my organisation….

ONE SUCCESS STORY

THE PROCESS USING AN EVEN BETTER PLACE TO WORKTM

• We collectively designed a roadmap for the team with every member having a clear

understanding of key objectives, agreed timelines, agreed individual deliverables and set

key performance indices towards meeting our team goals.

• We have scheduled meetings to review performance and individuals are expected to

appraise their work based on the agreed timelines set by them and agreed by the team

towards achieving the company global goals. This helped to align my team on a vision

of where the company is going and each member of the team could see where he or

she fits in the global picture.

• These improvement and achievement came from the team working together and the

openness of the members. A lesson to learn from this is that team efforts bring about

a great success.

READ OTHER TESTIMONIALS ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF USING AN EVEN BETTER PLACE TO WORKTM

www.lbs.edu.ng www.anevenbetterplacetowork.com

“There is increased performance,

increased commitment, better

interest at work, improved job

satisfaction, negligible rate of

absenteeism and targets are being

met.

My Satisfaction@Work chart

showed a low score in the area of

authority and decision taking. I

called for a meeting and my team

told me that if what is required of

them is 300 bags per day, I should

allow them a free hand to work out

how this target could be met…

Three days after, I saw the figures

going up from 275 to 298 bags

and then to 308 bags and currently

is 310 bags.

They collapsed the shift to one,

working between 7:30am and

4:30pm. Not just meeting targets

but they work less hours and no

overtime is paid.

Today, the results are amazing,

targets are being met, overtime

reduced, waste reduced and

colleagues are happier. I had been

controlling as a leader and was

getting compliance not

commitment from my team.”

“I began to replace 'You should'

with 'Let's' when giving direction

to my team members. It proved a

simple but effective way to create a

sense of ownership. I found that

employees are motivated and feel

valued when they are given positive

reinforcement and shown how their

work contributes to the success of

the business. I could see the

positive impact on productivity

within 2 months.”

“People who previously would not

speak up in the team gained more

confidence and were able to bring

up ideas that helped us achieve

goals more effectively. The team

members received regular feedback

which improved their self-

confidence and also helped them to

improve in areas where they were

weak. The level of trust improved

which helped in managing conflicts

amicably.”

“I have learned to listen more to

people while paying very close

attention to the words unspoken

which is the true reflection of what

is driving their behaviour. Overall,

the experience was a positive one

for my team. We have used the

learnings from the classes in HBO

and OL to resolve some of the

hidden issues in the team. The

team is now more cohesive and

conflict resolution is a thing we

embrace rather than avoid as we

have all learned that by resolving

our issues we are able to work in a

more productive environment.”

“What I undertook to create the

right climate for the team, has

helped me also to have more time

to do quality work. The

distractions of managing conflicts

have been minimized, team is

improving on innovation and

creativity. Quality decisions can

now be taken by the team members

as they take ownership of their

assignments and can avoid impact

of delays as they now have the

support to take such decisions.”

“It also revealed my leadership

capability and the expectations of

my team members. There were

some of my assumptions about the

departmental climate that were true

while some were totally different.

The analysis of the “An Even

Better Place to WorkTM” (BP2W)

chart brought out the outlook of

my department which was a way

from my assumptions. Working on

the issues raised had made me a

better leader, created a better

department and largely promote a

good culture in the organisation

at large.”

“This exercise has led me, and my

team members on the path to self-

awareness, worth, mutual respect, and excellent professionalism .»

IN A SNAPSHOT

Systemised and incremental

5% diagnostic, 95% solution

Designed for busy people

Works from the inside out not top down

Minimal time out of the business, ensuring the day job gets done

Solutions are found at the local rather than the corporate level …

An Even Better Place to WorkTM helps you LEAD

Contact us for more information: Akin Oparison - aoparison@lbs.edu.ng An Even Better Place to Work: info@mcconnonint.com

www.lbs.edu.ng www.anevenbetterplacetowork.com