Working with the management system means consciously working together with all the management groups in the business. Our goal is to create a consensus and a single management culture at the same time as clarifying goals, visions and strategies. In concrete terms, it is about creating a coordinated drive for the common task by clarifying both important and current issues at the same time as having a crystal clear goal on all levels.
At MiL Institute we have experience of working with several management groups on different levels, at the same time as customising development measures for specific management groups. In many cases, there is also a specific need for two or three management groups to improve their cooperation and clarify their respective roles and tasks. In this case, we meet both the overlying and the specific needs. United and parallel efforts give higher returns.
MiL Institute’s role
MiL Institute contributes with new perspectives and alternative approaches which improve the quality of the solutions. We identify patterns in the management group’s way of working together and we contribute to resolving deadlocks, achieving better functioning group dynamics, and clearer working methods which lead to more efficient meetings. An outside resource makes a difference: to justify focus on important development issues and challenge the obvious and matter of course; to support and challenge so that objectives set are attained at the same time as there is a learning process; to add models, methods and tools along with the guidance to use them professionally. These are all examples of how we can contribute.
Engaging MiL Institute in a management group venture has certain advantages. One is that we have experience and competence in working with both factual matter (business ideas, strategy, business plans) and in relational matters (group dynamics, solving conflicts, team development, feedback, and more). This is of particular importance with regard to implementation questions. Several of MiL consultants have their own experience of working as heads or members of management groups, and all have experience of working in a consultative process, in issue-orientated ways.
Our way of working
Our involvement in management group development is often initiated by the manager in charge, alone or in consultation with internal HR resources. The first step with regard to management group development is to discuss the conditions of the manager and be given mandate to perform a situation description and needs assessment. Based on their outcome, one or two MiL consultants are proposed who have the most appropriate experience and competence for the task in hand – and who will instil confidence in the client. A plan is then custom-made in collaboration with the manager in charge and, preferably, an internal resource.
Elements in this plan may be to hold interviews or trialogues, coach the manager in charge, and have the opportunity as an observer to be present in the ordinary management group’s work. Key activity often consists of both contributing to the quality in the management group’s ordinary work with ‘just-in-time’ contributions, and designing and implementing specific development opportunities around important issues for the management group. These development opportunities can be arranged with the scheduled management group meetings or be placed as separate development opportunities. Often some sort of climate measure is carried out at the start which is then repeated after the development process in order to be able to more precisely establish how significant the shift has been.
