#17. Remote team tactics from tech industry FTSE 50 senior exec/entrepreneur

10/06/20 • 25 min

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why?

If you're starting, building or re-structuring your remote team for massive success, this episode is for you. FTSE Senior Exec turned Entrepreneur Ian Drew shares his team tactics drawn from 20+ years in the global technology industry, including long stints at Intel and Arm.
We discuss the challenges of building and motivating a remote team, noting especially how much harder it is to build trust when not face to face. And when under stress Ian would choose "a medium performer that I can trust a lot, over somebody who's a high performer that I can't trust as much". Interesting. Do you agree?
Ian elaborates on the following top tips when managing teams virtually:
#1 Don't assume people have understood you - especially when some aspects of body language are removed
#2 Clarity of communication is even more important. Listen to understand not just to be understood.
#3 Include everyone on virtual team calls. The quietest often have the best ideas. Ensure everyone is part of a solution.
And we wrap up as usual with our guest's 4 words which depict an extraordinary team.
Enjoy - and thank ewe for listening :-)
Free resources:

Sheep, Shepherd or Dog - which one are ewe? Take our personality quiz and find out.
Connect with the speakers via LinkedIn:
Caroline Palmer - Top Dog and Co-Founder, Raising the Baa
Chris Farnsworth - Head Shepherd and Co-Founder, Raising the Baa
Ian Drew - Former EVP at Arm now Serial Entrepreneur and Disruptor

What are your main team challenges and desires? Maybe we can help?
Book in a 15-minute Exploratory Call now and let's see.

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why?

What are your main team challenges and desires? Maybe we can help?
Book in a 15-minute Exploratory Call now and let's see.

Previous Episode

#16. Developing people or training sheepdogs - is the psychology the same?

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why?

In this week's episode we welcome an award-winning people development specialist who brought together a remotely based cohort of lead consultants at management consultancy firm Newton Europe to spend a day with Raising the Baa. So why did she feel this was a good idea? Our first question will reveal all!
Diane Law has built her career helping organisations and their people to perform better. Her psychology background gave insight into how people learn and are motivated. Diane gained business and organisational insight through her MBA and her professional experience covers process improvement, change management, team leadership, strategic planning and all aspects of people development. Diane has formed internal L&D functions from scratch, building teams focusing on all aspects of learning.
Diane outlines the 3 key elements of a high performing team and reckons it generally takes about one year to establish it. We draw parallels with the shepherd training a 6-month-old puppy to become a dog that can be trusted to confidently drive a flock of sheep. The shepherd and his dog are the epitome of a well-oiled team when observed in a field but it takes many months of dedication, failures, understanding the common purpose, recognition and praise to get to this stage.
We discuss the challenges today's leaders are facing during the pandemic when there is so much uncertainty. How can they maintain highly productive teams whilst ensuring that the sense of community and wellbeing is equally if not a greater priority?
People need time out just as a working dog does or they will burn out. We're all pack creatures after all, as Diane says, and that play and switch-off time is super important to us all. This could have led us to a much longer discussion and we preferred to respect your listening attention span. So we strongly recommend you read Diane's article on the 9 IngredientS of Wellbeing, as also mentioned in the Resources section below.
Enjoy - and thank ewe for listening :-)
Free resources:
Diane's recent research into mental and physical health is summarised in this excellent article "9 IngredientS of Wellbeing" - have you got a good balance of the 9 'S's or could you do with addressing one or two of them?
Sheep, Shepherd or Dog - which one are ewe? Take our personality quiz and find out.
Connect with the speakers via LinkedIn:
Caroline Palmer - Top Dog and Co-Founder, Raising the Baa
Chris Farnsworth - Head Shepherd and Co-Founder, Raising the Baa
Diane Law - Former Head of People Development at Newton Europe and Director of Peppermill Ltd

What are your main team challenges and desires? Maybe we can help?
Book in a 15-minute Exploratory Call now and let's see.

Next Episode

#18. Dog, wolf, hunter, farmer - who's in your sales team?

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why?

Dog, wolf, hunter, farmer - just a few of the descriptors for salespeople and their selling style. And the most successful sales team is likely to have a diverse mix of them all.
In this episode we're in discussion with Simon Hares of SerialTrainer7 who, like Raising the Baa, is based in the South West of England. With over 200 recommendations on his LinkedIn profile, it's fair to say that Simon is a well-regarded, experienced and much loved sales and management trainer.
Our conversation with Simon includes several analogies of shepherding with the business world, more than he might have imagined! We had an insightful discussion, for example, comparing a manager training a new salesperson and a shepherd with a young sheepdog. And how the natural instinct of a dog can be seen in the two key types of salespeople - hunters and farmers.
We naturally asked Simon about today's challenges for organisational teams and how they might be different to pre-Covid times. In his response he talks about "Trusted Freedom", a framework to help leaders look after and manage their teams. Simon has put a new twist on the well-known acronym SMART, normally associated with goal-setting. He reveals what these letters stand for when related to team leadership in this climate.
Simon's West Country lilt is easy to listen to and he was a delight to talk to as always. Even in this brief dialogue he aptly shows how he is evolving to meet the needs of today's team leaders.
Enjoy - and thank ewe for listening :-)
Free resources:
Regular, topical, thought-provoking and helpful videos and articles on SerialTrainer7's LinkedIn company page and website
Sheep, Shepherd or Dog - which one are ewe? Take our personality quiz and find out.
Connect with the speakers via LinkedIn:
Caroline Palmer - Top Dog and Co-Founder, Raising the Baa
Chris Farnsworth - Head Shepherd and Co-Founder, Raising the Baa
Simon Hares - Founder and Managing Director, SerialTrainer7