Mindbeat was proud to support Save the Children UK’s Christmas Jumper Day 2024.
Didn’t we all look fabulously festive!
To find out how your workplace can make the world a better place with a sweater on, visit: https://lnkd.in/dch_AGW
Author: Mike
Game Lounge has embarked on a dynamic new initiative designed to empower the outstanding visionaries who guide teams at the top iGaming affiliate.
Developed in collaboration with business coaching experts at Mindbeat, the THRIVE Leadership Programme combines cutting-edge insights with practical, interactive training, to equip leaders at all levels in the organisation with the skills to support high-performing teams in the fast-paced, ever-evolving world of iGaming.
Through THRIVE, Game Lounge aims to redefine excellence in leadership, paving the way for an innovative and agile future at the company. Rooted in its core values of innovation, inclusivity and growth, it will ensure ambitious Game Loungers are ready to lead by example, embrace change and continuously develop themselves and their teams.
The THRIVE Programme kicked off earlier this year with an initial vision-setting phase, where Game Lounge’s C-Suite worked closely with Mindbeat – a pioneer in psychology-driven coaching and consulting – to establish clear expectations, cultural shifts and success metrics.
Following these foundational sessions, THRIVE will roll out in three phases to ensure a well-rounded learning experience, with opportunities for both group learning and individualised coaching. Directors will begin their development journey this year, to be followed by Heads of Departments in January, with the final phase launching in April 2025 for all remaining leaders at Game Lounge.
Each phase will cover the same core training modules including Setting Up for Success, Empowered & Engaged Teams, Get to Know Your Team and Coach for Performance, combining masterclasses, one-on-one coaching sessions and three-way coaching to support the unique strengths and goals of each participant. Transparency, accountability and agility are also integral skills nurtured through the programme, aiming to shape leaders who can adapt, embrace diversity, communicate with confidence and inspire high performance through collaboration.
“THRIVE is more than just training; it’s an investment in our leaders, empowering them to take charge, build collaborative teams and drive Game Lounge forward,” shares Agnieszka Pawinska, HR Executive at Game Lounge. “We’re setting a new standard for leadership within Game Lounge, ensuring that every team member is not only prepared for challenges, but thrives in every situation.”
Mindbeat is delighted to announce that it ends the year as ISO 27001 certified.
Mindbeat’s digital coaching platform has been assessed and certified to enable organisations to globally upskill leaders, retain talent and improve employee wellbeing in accordance with the internationally recognised standard for information security management systems.
Mindbeat co-founder and CEO Elisa Krantz said: “ISO 27001 provides us with a framework to establish, implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain, and improve our information security processes. Its primary goal is to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information by addressing risks to sensitive data.
“By becoming ISO 27001 certified, customers can feel confident in our commitment to data security and our overall operational efficiencies.”
Mindbeat will host its next discussion forum on 28 November and you’re invited!
We know in-person breakfast events don’t work for everyone, so we’ll run a virtual one at midday on 28 November. You’ll have the option to have lunch delivered to your home/office, so you don’t miss out.
We aim to bring together like-minded individuals to discuss topics relevant to our community. We’ll create a supportive environment for you to share your challenges and collaboratively explore solutions. While Mindbeat is a learning and development supplier, we won’t promote our services during the event.
Topic: Creating strategies to strengthen the leadership fundamentals within our organisations
Date: 28th November (Virtual Event)
Timings:
12:00 – 12:30: Lunch / Networking in Small Rotating Groups
12:30 – 13:00: Introductions and a Short Talk on the Topic
13:00 – 13:15: Break into Small Group Discussions
13:15 – 13:25: Regroup and Discuss Findings
13:25 – 13:30: Closing Remarks
Optional lunch delivered to your office/home (up to the value of £10.)
Chatham House Rules.
We would be delighted to have you with us! Please let us know if you can attend by emailing [email protected]. Alternatively, please feel free to let us know if there’s someone you would like to invite from the team.
World Metal Health Day took place earlier this month, themed around workplace mental health. Mindbeat’s partnerships director, Val Kessell, looks at the role of group coaching in fostering a supportive and empathetic work environment.
In recent years, mental health has emerged as a central focus in workplace wellness. Poor mental health can affect productivity, engagement, and overall job satisfaction. So, fostering a culture that prioritises mental health is not just beneficial for employees, but for an organisation as a whole.
Group coaching, in particular, is an effective tool to help both leaders and employees cultivate a supportive and empathetic work environment. According to the International Coaching Federation, group programmes can transform team dynamics, drive a positive workplace culture, and provide an ROI (return on investment) of up to seven times the cost.
Understanding workplace mental health
Workplace mental health encompasses the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of employees. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave. When employees experience good mental health, they are more likely to handle work stress effectively, maintain positive relationships with colleagues, and contribute productively. Conversely, poor mental health can lead to burnout, decreased productivity, and absenteeism.
The modern workplace is fast-paced, competitive, and often stressful. This makes it crucial to create environments where mental health is openly discussed and actively supported. Yet, many employees, particularly target-orientated employees, may feel uncomfortable speaking about their mental health concerns due to a fear of being judged.
Group coaching provides a structured environment where employees and leaders can come together to build supportive relationships, improve communication skills, and address mental health concerns collaboratively.
Unlike one-on-one coaching, group coaching involves small groups of individuals working through common challenges together. It encourages open dialogue, trust, and shared problem-solving, which are all vital components of a positive workplace culture.
Effective and empathetic communication
One of the primary benefits of group coaching is its focus on communication, both from leaders and between colleagues. Communication in the workplace is often task-oriented, leaving little room for emotional and empathetic interactions. Group online coaching sessions, however, emphasise the importance of both effective and empathetic communication, which is crucial for addressing mental health.
Leaders and employees alike are taught to listen actively, express understanding, and communicate in ways that promote emotional safety. For instance, instead of reacting to stress or conflict with frustration or impatience, leaders can learn to approach situations with empathy, asking open-ended questions and offering support where needed.
Empathetic communication encourages employees to voice their concerns without fear of judgment, helping to create an environment where mental health challenges can be addressed before they escalate. It also fosters mutual respect and understanding, both of which are key to building trust within teams.
Spotting signs of mental health issues
A crucial aspect of mental health awareness is learning how to recognise when a colleague may be struggling. Digital coaching can provide leaders and employees with the tools to spot early signs of mental health issues in themselves and others.
Some common signs include:
- Withdrawal from colleagues or a noticeable decrease in social interaction.
- Changes in work performance, such as a drop in productivity, missed deadlines, or increased absenteeism.
- Emotional changes, such as irritability, mood swings, or uncharacteristic behaviour.
- Physical symptoms, including fatigue, headaches, or frequent illness, may indicate stress or burnout.
Group coaching often focuses on raising awareness of these signs and discussing strategies for supporting a colleague in a non-invasive, respectful manner.
Leaders are trained to approach the individual privately, offering help rather than making assumptions. Creating an open culture where employees know they are supported is crucial in managing workplace mental health effectively.
The benefits of group coaching for leaders
Leaders play a critical role in setting the tone for workplace culture. Through coaching, they can develop the emotional intelligence necessary to manage their teams more effectively.
Group coaching helps leaders:
- Improve emotional regulation: Leaders learn how to manage their own emotions in stressful situations, preventing reactive behaviour that can negatively impact team morale.
- Develop active listening skills: By learning how to truly listen to employees’ concerns, leaders can address issues before they become larger problems.
- Foster inclusivity and trust: Leaders who are empathetic and supportive create an environment where employees feel valued and respected. This inclusivity strengthens team cohesion and fosters open communication.
Group coaching also encourages leaders to model vulnerability and self-care, which normalises the idea that everyone, including those in leadership roles, can experience mental health challenges. This can reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and encourage employees to seek help when needed.
Creating a positive and safe workplace culture
Group coaching fosters a workplace culture where mental health is valued and protected. This culture encourages open communication, reduces the stigma surrounding mental health, and provides employees with the tools they need to thrive.
When both leaders and employees are equipped with the skills to communicate empathetically and address mental health proactively, it creates a workplace that feels safe, supportive, and conducive to both personal and professional growth.
Mindbeat held its inaugural L&D Manager Networking Event at the end of last month to help attendees create strategies to strengthen their leadership fundamentals.
A dozen L&D Managers from brands such as Costa Coffee, the BBC, Bloomsbury and Linklaters attended the breakfast session to hear insight, research, and some of the innovations currently being trialled within organisations.
Some of the latest research discussed during the event included McKinsey’s ‘Reimagining people development to overcome talent challenges’ report. It states that the most challenging imperatives to implement are ‘Providing a state-of-the-art learning experience’, ‘going leader-led’ and ‘empowering the learner’.
Mindbeat’s two female co-founders Elisa Krantz and Joanne Payne showcased best practice examples of programmes that conquered these challenges, along with innovations like Deloitte’s use of AI, Walmart incorporating Augmented Reality into its leadership development training, and Standard Chartered’s Talent Market Place.
Attendees then held group discussions around key issues and challenges and shared ideas and solutions.
Mindbeat’s Joanne Payne says: “The energy in the group was great. Attendees appreciated spending time with other L&D Managers to discuss problems and challenges and hear ideas. We’re already planning a second one and I’m sure it will become a regular series of occasions where people can connect face-to-face.”
According to Accenture’s Pulse of Change: 2024 Index, the rate of change affecting businesses has risen by 183% since 2019 and by 33% in the past year alone. This is not showing any signs of slowing down.
Whether you are a growth business, going through an M&A or downsizing, you need to regularly evaluate the skills of your leaders to ensure you have the right capabilities to lead your organisation, and to mobilise change at all levels.
Times of change present an invaluable opportunity to ‘reset’ and think about whether the people you have today are the people you need to drive the future success of your business. And if not – what skills or behaviours do you need to build to bolster your organisation’s resilience and enable you to be successful in the next phase of your journey?
At Mindbeat we are on a mission to address these questions by helping you evaluate the skills of your leaders and create customised yet scalable development interventions focused on activating measurable change which you can tie directly to organisational performance.
With this in mind, we’re offering you the opportunity to conduct a free skills assessment of your entire leadership population, using our proprietary ‘MyPulse’ whole-person diagnostic.
It will involve a short 10 – 15 questionnaire conducted by ‘Sam’ our online AI coach. Once completed, your leaders will automatically receive a report of their leadership and management profile, strengths and development areas.
We will also aggregate the results from this diagnostic into a company-wide report, which we will share with you during a free one-hour consultancy session, along with some advice and solutions to addressing any skills gaps we’ve identified.
We are making this offer available to the first 50 organisations who sign up before Friday 11th October 2024.
Interested in learning more? Get in touch to discuss what this might look like for you.
Earlier this year, we announced AI-powered coaching to support Mindbeat’s global network. Here’s what we’ve learned so far from our trials.
Recent studies on the application of Artificial Intelligence in psychology found that young adult cancer patients had reduced anxiety after using a positive CBT-based AI coach for four weeks, while college students could reduce their self-identified symptoms of depression.
These findings suggest that although AI lacks true human empathy, positive outcomes are possible even in practices that have long relied on human intelligence and a strong human connection.
We believe that this is also the case for leadership and professional development coaching, so Mindbeat has been conducting 12-week trials with our newly developed AI coaching tool.
In theory, with clearly defined goals and explicit measures of success, an AI-powered coach can support human-to-human coaching by providing ‘always-on’ guidance and helping users to reflect and experiment with development pathways and learnings.
To discover how it works in practice, one of our trials partnered with Operations & Supply in VELUX – the Danish specialist in roof windows and skylights.
VELUX had a specific goal-orientated challenge – how to empower its leaders to test and analyse what they learn via the organisation’s development framework across daily scenarios without fear of judgment.
This is an ideal use case for an AI-powered coach. Each individual will have had a personalised strategy from a human coach, and they can use the AI to reaffirm pathways, prepare for everyday situations in which they can test the strategy, and reflect on results ‘in the moment’.
Jon Holst-Christensen, VELUX’s Senior Director of HR Partnering Operations & Supply, took part in the trial. One of his tailored professional development goals, defined by the framework, was to develop his communication techniques in meetings for more effective results.
“I was surprised by how much help the AI could offer,” he says. “I asked it for techniques I could use before a meeting, experimented with those techniques during the meeting, and was then pushed to reflect on my success directly afterwards. Real-time experimentation and reflection is a powerful development tool.
“The AI bridges the gap between knowing and doing so that applied learning can form a much greater part of the human-to-human coaching experience. The AI provides a safe space within which to test and analyse.”
As part of the VELUX trial, Mindbeat provided weekly learning nudges to guide users on how to write more effective prompts and get the most out of their ‘always on’ digital coach.
“Experimenting with prompts is key to getting the most out of an AI coach,” Holst-Christensen continues. “For example, if you just ask it to ask you questions, you get inundated before it moves swiftly onto solutions. However, if you prompt it to ask singular questions, it goes deeper and takes its time to get to the solution path, which is more beneficial.”
One improvement that Holst-Christensen would like to see in future iterations of Mindbeat’s AI coach is for it to ask the user about the coaching process itself. For example, it could ask: ‘Is there anything you’d like done differently?’ or ‘Are we progressing in the right way?’. Responses could then teach the AI to adapt and evolve its coaching style.
“I’d also love to be able to talk to it rather than provide written prompts. It would remove even more barriers to self-expression and make it feel more immediate, more human-to-human,” he says. “Its ability to summarise and recall your sessions was impressive, though. Human coaches may forget certain aspects, but the AI can quickly recap the most complex conversations over multiple sessions. In conjunction with human coaching, an AI-powered coach is a major added benefit, and I can’t wait to see how it develops.”
For more on the benefits of AI coaching, read our ‘Seven benefits of AI Coaching in achieving professional growth’ article, or to discuss participating in one of Mindbeat’s future AI coaching trials, drop us a line at [email protected]
From ongoing conversations with our network and clients, we’ve discovered a gap in the market to bring L&D Managers together to network and collaborate. So Mindbeat is stepping up to help.
On Thursday 26th September, we’ll run our first in-person networking event, specifically for L&D Managers at our London offices. You and your L&D team are invited!
Topic: How you can strengthen the leadership fundamentals within your organisation by clearly defining and embedding consistent leadership behaviours and future-proofing your leadership pipeline.
Agenda:
08:00 – 08:30 – Breakfast / Networking
08:30 – 09:00 – Intros and a Short talk on the topic
09:00 – 09:15 – Break into small group discussions
09:15 – 09:25 – Re-group and discuss findings from the breakouts
09:25 – 09:30 – Closing remarks
– Discussions will be held under Chatham House Rules.
– Tea / Coffee and a continental breakfast will be provided.
– Address: Floor 5, 26-28 Great Portland St, London W1W 8QT
Spaces are limited, so will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.
If you and members of your team would like to join us, reserve your spaces by emailing [email protected]
Mindbeat’s Partnerships Director, Simon Morris, says it’s time to move the conversation away from how coaching works to what programme building blocks make a real difference.
Are you tired of reading articles extolling the virtues and benefits of coaching? Everyone knows that coaching works, it has been scientifically proven time and again.
When the world was forced online due to the pandemic, not only was there an accelerated need to support leadership development with proven coaching in a digital environment, but there was also a growing demand to help all levels of employees adapt to changing workplace cultures and navigate what was, for many an incredibly challenging time.
As a result, desktop and mobile-first coaching has democratised the provision of high-end programmes. At the same time, Artificial Intelligence has introduced neutrality and increased engagement due to the ‘always-on’ availability of AI support, which helps employees take greater control of their learning and development.
At Mindbeat, we believe it’s time to stop talking about how to deliver coaching at scale and the much-repeated psychology behind coaching’s proven success. Now is the time to explore the next evolution of digital coaching programmes and focus on the available building blocks required to drive individual and more client-centred success.
Ultimately, for digital coaching to effect real and sustained change, the right blend of ingredients is needed, delivered within a structured programme. It’s no longer acceptable to expect unlimited coaching hours to produce the same impact as a tailored programme that uses one-to-one, group sessions, line manager engagement, AI support and associated content.
For digital coaching programmes to continue to evolve, they need to be more blended, targeted and impactful. That’s why we work with clients to determine factors, such as how many sessions individual users need and what those sessions and support look like in a mobile-first world.
A more sophisticated approach to developing a digital coaching programme includes:
Diagnostic and 360 Assessment
Through assessment and diagnostics, employees can identify key strengths and the development areas they need to work on.
Specialist Mentoring and Coaching
Digital coaches provide advice and one-to-one guidance to help employees work through development tasks and overcome challenges.
Group Coaching
Group coaching sessions allow users to talk about their challenges, test ideas and learn from other team members.
Line Manager Engagement
Line managers play an important role by providing feedback, advice, encouragement and direction. Through their inclusion and engagement in group sessions, employees can build more trusted relationships with their line manager, and develop a deeper workplace connection.
AI-powered Support and Advice
An always-on AI coach can ask questions, help users work towards set goals and suggest alternative approaches and solutions.
Learning Tracks, Activities and Nudges
Tailored content can underpin and support employee learning and development throughout their digital coaching journey.
Varying the above building blocks to get the perfect blend achieves more effective results. We see it all the time with our clients – our blended programmes deliver an average of 66% goal improvement, compared with an average of 34% with 1:1 coaching-only programmes.
A more sophisticated and blended approach to building tailored coaching programmes has a more dynamic and sustained impact on professional development and performance, empowering your organisation to produce stronger leaders, thriving teams and better businesses.
Get in touch today to discuss building your sophisticated coaching programme.