CaseStudy /

230 team leaders from 15 different locations learned and embedded communication, facilitation and coaching skills that equipped them to drive change in the business and have a positive impact

A team leadership programme that transforms performance

01/ The Client Telstra is Australia’s leading telecommunications company, handling end to end services across entertainment, TV and all telecommunications devices: landlines, mobiles and satellite services. The company is currently transforming its business to maximise customer and shareholder value. This change has been driven by the roll out the national broadband network cabling Australia.

02/ The ChallengeThe company wanted to implement a team leader development programme that would build skills in facilitation, coaching and communication to drive change in the business.

“We wanted to develop a programme that would take our team leaders through a series of courses to provide them with the facilitation and coaching skills to lead more effectively in a business environment,” says Donna Kinsela, Contact Centre Manager at Telstra.

03/ The SolutionTelstra conducted an RFP process to find an appropriate partner for this project and rogenSi was selected because the capabilities the company wished to develop in their team leaders were a perfect match for rogenSi’s expertise. The company’s RFP included 16 capabilities that it wanted to teach these team leaders and rogenSi responded to the pitch by grouping them into three themes: grow my capability; grow my team and grow my business.

The idea behind the programme was that to become a better leader a participant first needed to develop their own capability, secondly they needed to be better at developing the capability of their team. Finally after mastering the first two aspects they would be able to create value in the part of the business they had responsibility for.

Telstra conducted an internal capability diagnostic, asking team leaders what they felt they needed in terms of development. The consultants from rogenSi used that data to tailor the solution and carried out a number of side by side observations, interviews and focus groups to refine the programme content. rogenSi then ran a series of ‘Centre Manager Alignment’ sessions where its consultants met with a steering committee of the company’s leaders, centre managers and HR managers from around the country to present the draft programme. This gave them the chance to get comfortable with the material, experience some of the modules, give their feedback and create a group of advocates for the programme within the business.“We helped shape the material for the programme and how it would look,” says Kinsela. “I went away from that initial workshop feeling very excited about what my people would be experiencing.”

“They learned the skills we believed they needed to be able to do their jobs effectively and the embedding phase played a huge part in its success.”

The programme was designed for team leaders and people in support roles and included up-and-coming team leaders as well as those who had been in team leader roles for a long time. It consisted of three sets of two-day training sessions, with 6-8 weeks of embedding the learning using a workbook and a series of activities between each set. “I was heavily involved in making sure my guys were doing these activities,” says Kinsela. “I would observe and assess their competence at those activities, document their coaching and talk to them. We were constantly having conversations about how they were growing and developing.”

The first two-day session focused on facilitation and communication skills, the second concentrated on coaching and gathering the right information to provide accurate feedback and the final course covered how to structure and deliver effective messages. Each course was built on the previous one: for example, in the second course participants were being watched to check that they were putting into practice what they had learned in the first one.

“The programme focuses on skill and not theory - it gives them practical things to use that they can see benefitting them every day,” says Kinsela. “They learned the skills we believed they needed to be able to do their jobs effectively and the embedding phase played a huge part in its success.”

Another factor that enabled Telstra to get the most from this training was involving the centre managers right from the outset. “rogenSi asked us to practice with the types of tools our team leaders would get, so we were aware of what was happening as they were going through the course,” says Kinsela. “It was a partnership with my team leaders and we worked together to make sure they completed all the embedding activities and met their deadlines.

230 people have been through the programme so far, across 15 different locations in Australia. It was also linked to the Diploma of Management, a nationally accredited qualification.

04/ AchievementsThis development programme was a great success and delivered a number of key benefits for the company.

The team leaders had greater confidence in their facilitation and presentation skills and demonstrated a noticeably improved performance in the workplace. “I could see a complete shift in the sales team leaders after the first training course,” says Kinsela. “Some of my people went and presented at a company-wide initiative and weren’t afraid to present in front of senior managers. They were quite comfortable because they knew they now had the skills to do that.”

The messages team leaders delivered to their people were clearer and more concise and the coaching skills they learned have also been put into practice. “In their coaching you could see them providing better

“One of them said to me ‘It’s the first time where someone has invested time in me for something that is really going to make a difference to how I do my job every day’ and that has absolutely been a key benefit of doing this project.”

feedback, says Kinsela. “They now have a deeper understanding of what really drives each of them. I can see a real benefit in how their performance has improved.”

For some of the team leaders, participating in the development programme has given them new motivation and an increased affinity for their role. “One of them said to me ‘It’s the first time where someone has invested time in me for something that is really going to make a difference to how I do my job every day’ and that has absolutely been a key benefit of doing this project.”

The programme has also had a positive impact on relationships with Telstra’s customers. “Improved performance from team leaders also cascaded down to their teams,” says Kinsela. They are now more focused on having the right conversations with customers and providing a higher quality service.”

05/ Legacy“The team leaders loved the course,” says Kinsela. “They said it was the best thing they’ve ever done and got real personal benefit out of it. Some of these people have been team leaders for eight years, but they could see how they had improved as a result of this programme.”

Following the programme, communication, people and coaching skills have all clearly improved amongst this team leader population. The company used a scoring system out of 5 to assess the team leaders in terms of their preparation, delivery and final execution and recorded an average score of 4.7 out of 5 for those team leaders who had been through this training.

What can we do for you?rogensi.com

06/ The Results“rogenSi delivered exactly what my people needed and because of the partnership and the way we approached this, we were successful. I was very happy with the way they worked with us to get to the outcome we achieved.”

“Running this programme was time very well spent, and I wouldn’t hesitate to spend it again. I’ve been in this job for 27 years and I would rate this as one of the best courses I’ve ever been on. It’s a really good hands on programme for team leaders and I can’t wait to see it rolled out next year.” Donna Kinsela, Contact Centre Manager, Telstra