Another lively meeting with good banter. The 5 minutes ‘more lighthearted’ presentation was given by myself. When managing teams of people or when operating in a group it is essential that leadership, teamwork and communication are strong. As a thought provoking exercise I explained how nature has evolved a strong formula for a skein of geese in flight. Their V formation (slightly offset on the vertical also) allows each goose to take perfect advantage of the slipstream of the bird in front. The ‘lead goose’ may not be the established leader but will be the strongest at the time, having no slipstream gain. Another goose may take over the position if he/she tires. Often you will see a small separate group formed and that can happen if one bird tires and falls out of formation, Given that he is already struggling at least two other birds will drop out of formation to create a strong slipstream and try to get the weakened bird back into formation. Critical to this is constant communication – that’s why they honk almost with each breath – they know exactly where each other is and how they are doing. This came from a study of the social interactions of geese and we should draw analogies into our business teams and our networking.
Tammy Willson then gave the 10 minute presentation on how her business, Magicdust‘ operates. Tammy is the most organised person we all know and her approach to wedding planning is meticulous and project management like. It is underpinned however by her approach to ensuring that her clients get the wedding that they want and they get value for money. Great business model and personal philosophy and on top of that she’s lovely! Blog readers should go straight to her website:www.magic-dust.co.uk.
Our one-minute presentations revealed some new skills amongst us and some humorous input.
Meeting ended with over 10 referrals – and in my experience these will be quality, personal introductions built on the knowledge of each other and trust that this group has built up.
Steve Leverton, Cornmill Associates.
