Adur and Worthing Councils: Remote Team Leadership
Supporting managers to lead a remote workforce
Case Study
“I really enjoyed the style of learning that was provided and would highly recommend this course to any managers at any level.”
Adur and Worthing Councils
Adur and Worthing Councils employ around 800 people. A combination of organisational ambition, political support and a talented group of staff have enabled the Councils to pioneer new ways of working.
The pandemic lockdowns of 2020 led to teams being forced to work remotely from home offices. When staff could return to the office, others were required to continue to work from home. This meant some managers felt they needed support in leading their remote teams. The Councils listened, having already considered there might be a need for such learning, and put out a tender for training companies to provide a bid to deliver a remote managers programme.
The Need
“We wanted to commission a learning intervention that would support managers and develop their confidence to lead teams remotely,” explains Amy Newnham, Organisational Design & Development Manager, Adur and Worthing Councils.
“Managers had been coming to us saying they were struggling and we wanted to help. They were asking, ‘How do you spot signs that people are not doing well?’, ‘How do you keep a sense of team when half are at home and the other half are in the office?’. We wanted to answer those questions, and more, for our leaders.”
The Councils put out a tender for training companies to bid for the project to deliver a remote team leadership programme. Key outcomes required by the Councils were for managers to be able to recognise the characteristics of highly effective remote teams and their own transferable skills and experience. They wanted managers to apply Situational LeadershipTM to remote working. Managers needed to be able to identify techniques to support team collaboration, deal with conflict and celebrate success to create a positive atmosphere. They needed to apply open communication to support remote development of staff and maintain shared accountability for delivery and performance.
The Solution
Amy says: “We chose McCrudden Training over three other companies. They were so easy to engage with. Nicky is always very responsive. Her enthusiasm and devotion comes through when you meet her. She really cares. It’s clear that for Nicky, her work is a passion as well as a business. It’s lovely.”
The Councils put out an open invitation asking who felt they would benefit from this programme and managers of different levels expressed an interest. Six hours of learning were delivered over four 90-minute remote learning sessions to 16 individuals. They sessions were:
- What is different (and the same) about remote leadership
- Building and protecting trust in remote leadership
- Conversations that suggest individual motivations
- Monitoring performance remotely
Gaps between each session allowed managers to take what they had learned, apply it for a short period and then return for the next session.
The Approach
Six hours of learning were delivered over four 90-minute remote learning sessions to 16 individuals. They sessions were:
- What is different (and the same) about remote leadership
- Building and protecting trust in remote leadership
- Conversations that suggest individual motivations
- Monitoring performance remotely
Gaps between each session allowed managers to take what they had learned, apply it for a short period and then return for the next session.
The Results
Amy says: “The course went really well. Some people said it was confirmation that what they were doing was the right thing, whilst others said they had learnt something new and that it was particularly helpful.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed the course and have learnt a lot throughout the four sessions. You set a great learning environment over Zoom, which I know is hard to do!”
