These include the well known and inexpensive Prisoners’ Dilemma trust game, several other low cost team building and creativity games, as well as a series of more sophisticated simulations, consensus building, planning and leadership games.

Also, lots of free resources

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• Subscribe to the CorporateCoach RSS feed
• Management games
• Personal development resources
• HR resources
• Careers support
• Free resources

Planks is a challenging exercise which highlights the importance of planning, teamwork, working in sub-teams, effective communication and problem solving. It is also very effective for drawing out the characteristics of effective management and leadership.

The exercise involves sorting a set of planks and then assembling them into a grid system that represents a large version of a shelving system sometimes seen on people’s walls.

The group is presented with a pile of oversize puzzle pieces and are tasked with putting them together to form a grid system.

The teams are given 20 minutes to work out their strategy. They are then faced with refining the process to get it assembled in less than 2 minutes with each member of the group putting at least one piece in place.

The objective is to beat the benchmark time of 30 seconds while demonstrating their ability to improve with practice.

This activity takes the team through the full problem solving process with emphasis on communication, leadership, role definition and continuous improvement. It is best used with groups of around 4-8, and takes around 1 hour.

Brefi Group experience

We first used planks than ten years ago, benefiting from summer weather and working outside on a lawn.

In that case we had two teams who, by sheer luck, chose contrasting strategies that demonstrated the benefits of a learning organisation.

In one team they adopted a highly centralised strategy, with one person directing the action from a set of notes.

The other team was the opposite, with each person responsible for making a connection and fitting two planks together.

In the first round the ‘organised’ team won easily.

However, in the second round the ‘empowered’ team improved significantly and from then on rapidly overtook the organised team, whose time remained stuck.

It was an interesting demonstration of comparing efficiency with effectiveness.

The planks activity at the ERS event followed Andrew Halfacre’s ‘Nuclear Reactor’, which involved carrying out a task without instruction and supplied with an odd collection of bits and pieces.

Three teams competed, this time indoors, and managed best times between 28 seconds and 17.5 seconds.

The best team took advantage of what they had learned in the nuclear reactor exercise and achieved their creditable time with only one practice.

Once again, valuable lessons were learned.

Applications for Planks

The planks is a versatile experience that can be used successfully in workshops, teambuilds, conferences or away days where the focus might include;

• Planning and Organising
• Communication Skills
• Project Management
• Problem Solving
• Performance Improvement
• Managing and Leading
• Team working and valuing work styles and preferences
• Working in sub-teams
• Team Learning
• Inter-team/department communication

For enquiries about using Planks and other management training games contact Brefi Group.

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• Management games

Rigger Game Pack – a team construction game

This game can be used to help teams understand skills, behaviours and techniques that work in a high pressure situation. It aids communication and learning about managing practical problems. It is particularly useful for drawing out the differences between managing a project and managing routine work.

Rigger can be played at several levels of complexity and the game pack suggests many variations you could use. [MORE]

Half price until 28 February!

Buy now at the introductory offer price of £25.00

The Red Stuff Handbook – what your accountant won’t tell you!
Why “Red Stuff?” Because You need to understand the mechanics of how it all works – tax, national insurance, expenses, VAT, whether to be a partnership, sole trader, limited company or one of the four other business structures you can use. It’s the lifeblood of any business – saving you money and saving time if you can find the most effective way to manage the mechanics.

If you are thinking of leaving your job and starting your own business or becoming your own boss then you are probably the kind of person who wants practical information that you can use straightaway.

Experience shows that even with all the help available to new start-ups, you still have to put it together yourself and it soon becomes clear that there is a whole lot of stuff that you don’t know about.

Understand the 12 decisions you need to make…

When you confront the mechanics of starting a business in the UK, I think there are 12 key decision areas that you need to sort out.

1. Are you building income or equity?
2. Which legal structure are you going to use (e.g. Sole Trader v. Ltd Company) and should you buy a franchise?
3. Do you need an accountant and a business bank account?
4. Are you going to register for VAT – now, later or never?
5. Should you buy a company car or van?
6. Are you clear about business expenses and how to claim them?
7. Do you know how to organise yourself, send invoices and get paid?
8. How will you price your goods or services?
9. Will your work be caught by IR35 and can you avoid it?
10. Which insurance cover should you buy?
11. Should you employ other people – now, later or not at all?
12. Do you need a website and should you trade on the internet?

You might want to think about how much time it would take you to sort all this out on your own and the time you can save by getting this information laid out for you in one place.

Who is this for?

Purchase this product if you want fast, practical help with the mechanics. It’s for people at the transition stage who have been curious and concerned about the mechanics and want to arm themselves with some information and answers before talking to other professionals. It is, for example, an ideal handbook to work through before you start talking to accountants.

Author Andrew Halfacre says: -

When I started my business a few years ago, I blundered straight into it and boy did I make some mistakes. Here’s just a few of them…

* I lost money by choosing the wrong trading structure and missed a valuable tax refund!
* I chose the first accountant I met who seemed friendly but turned out to be incompetent!
* I didn’t tell my bank something legally significant and traded for ages with the wrong sort of bank account!
* I got in a terrible muddle with National Insurance and signed a direct debit for the wrong sort altogether!

The worst of all of this was that I talked to the Revenue, I talked to an accountant, I went on a start-up course with BusinessLink and I talked to other people who had small businesses but STILL got it wrong. Nobody I spoke to seemed able to put it all together for me, to explain everything in one easy to understand way that I could follow to avoid these kind of mistakes. It wasn’t just the money, although I did lose some. It was the time. Time wasted on websites, phonecalls and puzzling out all this stuff – time that I could have, should have, been spending on working with my customers.

The fourth edition of this annual handbook, expanded to 131 pages, will save you this waste of time. It contains the stuff that no-one tells you, presented in a way that no-else does. It’s vital information that will save you time, save you money and keep you on the straight and narrow.

The Red Stuff Handbook is available from Brefi Group, price £47.00.

Stefan Powell and I have been writing a proposal that includes training sales teams.

This is a good reminder to refer back to Sharon Drewn Morgen’s book: Buying Facilitation®: The New Way to Sell that Influences & Expands Decisions. I believe that this is one of the best texts on sales that is available.

If you visit her web site, you can download two chapters free.

I first found Sharon Drew through her first book, Sales on the Line, which is about telephone selling. again, I think it is one of the best resources around.

Sales on the Line: Meeting the Business Demands of the 90s Through Phone Partnering Amazon.co.uk

Sales on the Line: Meeting the Business Demands of the ’90s Through Phone Partnering Amazon.com

“The Combined Code on Corporate Governance is a set of principles surrounding good corporate governance and provides a code of best practice for all companies listed on the London Stock Exchange; it is overseen by the Financial Reporting Council and requires all quoted companies carry out an annual performance evaluation of their board.

It can be understood, why in times of pressure, companies may feel that the code is yet another time-consuming duty detracting from the day to day running of the business. However, good corporate governance is more critical than ever as companies must focus efforts to capitalise on ways in which shareholder value can be increased, other than the bottom-line.

An effective board must be able to react quickly to changing and challenging environments. In order to make decisions effectively the business needs proper procedures and a thorough understanding by all the directors of the role they play.

Right now boards should be planning for the upturn and will be taking tough strategic decisions. Those companies that have enjoyed regular, well conducted evaluations will be reaping the rewards and witnessing first hand how powerful a truly effective board can be. Individual directors that have been nurtured through evaluation along with their board will be performing to their maximum capabilities. Other companies that have in the past paid lip service to the code may well be suffering under the weight of the challenges and are likely to take longer to recover.

The tools for such evaluations are readily available, and Brefi Group has published a free 16-page report ‘Board Performance Evaluation and Director Appraisal’, which describes how the introduction of simple processes at board level can radically improve the corporate performance of organisations of any size.

The report includes a review of corporate governance and performance evaluation. It includes quick checklists for board and director performance. It then addresses how to improve board performance, and discusses corporate retreats and the use of profiling to build a truly effective board of directors.

Copies are available from Brefi Group on 0845 0678 222, or can be downloaded at www.corporatedirector.co.uk.

USEFUL LINKS

• Richard Winfield
• Director Development Centre
• Twitter

The centre provides a variety of services for professionals and can help ensure they stay ahead of the game in the toughest of economic climates. It aims to support and guide aspiring directors and partners as well as helping newly appointed directors and partners achieve their true potential.

The centre offers access to a unique psychometric testing system that defines eight distinct paths to success assessed by an individual’s personality. The system assesses personality, strengths, productivity, values and group behaviour to determine the most natural path to success.

Unlike other profiling systems, Wealth Dynamics relates directly to business roles and the stages of business. Organisations are using it to balance teams whilst individuals are using to unlock their true potential and give themselves an edge.

Richard Winfield, managing director at Brefi Group and Head of the Director Development Centre says, “Success is not something you learn; it is something you accomplish. Some may be destined to succeed but most do so because they are determined. At the Director Development Centre we offer a range of services that can help an individual achieve their full potential. In the current market sensible people and sensible businesses will be prepared to invest in themselves, so as to ensure they are positioned as strongly as they can be to weather the storm.”

The Wealth Dynamics profiling system was created by serial entrepreneur Roger Hamilton. Roger studied a wide range of successful people and discovered the eight distinct paths to success. He then developed the unique system for understanding a personal profile and how to leverage it to realise full potential.

Richard Winfield, head of Brefi Group’s Director Development Centre, has studied extensively under Roger Hamilton in Bali and his team now provides training and personal coaching in Wealth Dynamics.

You can obtain your own profile on-line at www.knowyourprofile.com

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• Director Development Centre
• Wealth Dynamics profiling

So, I am delighted to recommend a new video course that teaches you how to build an opt in mailing list from people you send emails to.

Paul Fuggle of Internet with Integrity has produced a 20 minute video and downloadable instruction set to teach you how do just this.

There is no cost – just sign up (and add to his mailing list!). Not only will you learn how to use your emails to promote your business, but you will be able to learn from Paul’s own role modelling as he builds his own.

To learn how to get started easily, just click on http://tinyurl.com/getstartedvideo

USEFUL LINKS

• Internet with Integrity
• Paul Fuggle
• Developing your Internet and Web presence

I am grateful to Triumphant Events for finding this video, which shares
some of the critical moments that have shaped Steve Job’s life and,
indeed, billions of people worldwide.

Management games

We have significantly increased the range of management games available on the Brefi Group web site. Management games can be used to achieve specific purposes or to fill a slot in a conference or workshop.

• Prisoners’ Dilemma – a trust building negotiation game
• Space Ship Shortlist – a consensus seeking game involving stereotype prejudices

• Hollow Square – a communication game that involves planning, assigning or completing tasks
• Supertanker – a leadership and planning game

• Monday Meeting – a meeting simulation game

• Viking Attack – a team building game

• Seven Wonders – a consensus seeking game
  
• Forest Fire – a consensus seeking game
  
• Westrek – a leadership and planning game

• Road names – a consensus building game

• Terra-Nova – a leadership and planning game

• Murphy – a leadership and planning game

To find out more about these new titles, click here.