Resilience and positivity at Cheshire East UK Council
Cheshire East Council were looking to extend the range of skills and tools for their internal coaching network so they could offer greater support with culture change activities. StrongSuits were invited to train a selected group of coaches to use the StrongSuits cards and games with teams and also in one to one coaching. This is a case study to present the process of engagement and the achieved results.
Therese Hynes, Senior OD lead responsible for the project reports:
“Our initial approach has been to be demand led. A few teams wanted help with team away days and events and StrongSuits has proved to be a very useful toolkit for helping teams in all kinds of situations. One of the key strengths of StrongSuits has been its flexibility; it’s very adaptable and allows us to tailor our approach to what each individual team needs at that time.”
Talking about the impact of using StrongSuits Therese says:
“The fact that it’s based around card games makes it very easy for people to participate; it feels light-hearted and yet it also gets people having conversations they wouldn’t normally have. It’s easy to challenge and very non-threatening. People like it. People have learned about themselves and this has helped them deal positively with the many changes that are happening in the organisation at the moment. There have been a few surprises. One team that thought of themselves as very task focussed discovered that they were more relationship focussed. This led to a very productive conversation about how the team deals with customer demands which has given them some new strategies for coping with demand.”
A gentle start has led to bigger things at Cheshire East as the power of the approach has been recognised and is being woven into mainstream people management and culture change activities.
“One of the best things is how it has given people self-belief and left people feeling more confident. There is lots of positive energy and that is spreading in the organisation. As word has spread about the positive benefits of a StrongSuits workshop more teams are asking to be involved. We are also getting people coming up with ideas for how to use the approach in day to day activities such as personal development reviews and even recruitment. We are really pleased with how StrongSuits is making a difference and making it easier for us to create the positive culture we want in the organisation.”