GIRI forum report: building new teams to strengthen post-Covid working

19 Jun 20

The impact of dealing with changing supply chains and materials is not exclusively negative - there can be  opportunities for improvements to be made when plans are disrupted, according to participants in GIRI's latest online forum.

The training workshop and discussion focussed on the supply chain issues that are likely to arise as projects restart post-Covid 19; GIRI Training director Nick Francis shared a number of tools that managers can employ to get new teams working together effectively. With staff coming back from furlough, and the likelihood that some subcontractors or suppliers will have to be replaced, staff may have to adapt quickly to get back up to speed, he warned. 

But some delegates noted that disruption of 'normal' work had not been entirely negative - in some cases where they had to seek alternatives for products or technologies that were difficult to source, they had ended up with better options. The opportunity to bring in new people who might have a different approach to the project or the way things were being done was also highlighted as a potential benefit. 

Covid-19 is forcing organisations to act in new ways that sometimes are better than the old ones. It is to be hoped that these new ways of operating will continue after the pandemic is over.

Effective communication is one of the main tools for good teamwork, but the key to achieving it is finding out about personal preferences. While some people prefer a phone call, others may find emails more efficient - and this may change depending on the circumstances, time of day, and type of information being relayed.

Techniques such as back-briefing and asking open questions - to establish that the information has been effectively communicated - also figured in the training workshop. 

Watch the video of the forum on our YouTube channel here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvjTwDo9VIA&

The slides are available for download from this link https://getitright.uk.com/live/files/resources/41-20200614-giri-forum-04-presentation-v101-final-150.pdf

More details about the full range of GIRI training courses is available in our downloadable booklet.

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