Sharing responsibility and creativity
Featured in the Partnerships at Work training manual
By Ken Birkett & Val Rowland
Category: Performance Management
Credit price: 4 download credits (Single user)
Success for organisations is to a large extent determined by customer satisfaction. A focus on core business and the competency of staff is absolutely vital in a competitive environment. Empowered individuals who are able to contribute wholeheartedly make the difference between delighted and dissatisfied customers. The emphasis needs to be on team working and continuous communication. The divisive notion of people at work as ‘them and us’ has changed. People at all levels share responsibility and work together to achieve objectives. A successful team is a number of individuals who feel energised by their ability to work together, care about how others feel when working, and who are fully committed to quality output. Continuous improvement and innovation is also necessary tin a competitive world. Creativity in team members is a benefit, but many people think they are not creative and so block themselves. Team members need to have belief in their creative potential. Working as a team, however, does not mean that there is no managerial role. In this context the formal role of boss or manager is still relevant. Managers need people who share the workload and accept responsibility. This is much more likely if their people feel empowered enough to do it. A successful manager maintains a delicate balance between formal authority and shared responsibility.
You being the session by asking participants to read a mini case-study and then to complete a task concerned with the meaning of key words. When they have finished they report back and then you give input on the meaning of the words. You then move on to the aspect of creative contribution in teams. You ask participants to work in teams on exercises that need creative solutions. When they have finished you ask for volunteers to report back. You complete the exercise by giving input on how to unblock personal creativity. You issue a questionnaire for participants to work on individually, filling in information abut their team behaviour. They then rejoin their group to discuss responses. You give participants a case-study about a newly appointed manager who is seeking guidance from his previous boss about how to perform effectively as a team manager. You ask a chosen reporter to explain what their team came up with and then you give input on what a manager should do. You finish the training activity with a round-up of the key learning points from this activity in particular, for managers who want their team members to share responsibility.
Who is it for: This training activity is intended for use by trainers to emphasis the benefits of sharing responsibility and creativity.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 6 |
| Max Group Size: | 12 |
| Typical Duration: | 02:05:00 |
| No of Pages: | 22 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training activity is intended for use by trainers as part of courses on team building, developing creativity and management development.
Download the training activity, Sharing responsibility and creativity as featured in the Fenman training manual; Partnerships at Work