DASA: How Partnerships and Impact became one team…
How Partnerships and Impact became one team.
A set of away days with Stefan of stefanpowell.co.uk
Defence and Security Accelerator
The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) finds and funds exploitable innovation for a safer future. DASA’s Partnerships and Impact (P&I) Team are a large, multifunctional team who support innovative suppliers in realising their potential and help UK defence and security departments identify and solve challenges in order to gain strategic advantage over adversaries.
CHALLENGE
Connecting three teams to become one efficient process driven collaborative business unit.
Here the Partnerships and Impact Leadership Team share how coaching from Stefan enabled them to overcome barriers and build understanding of others to maximise their impact.
Meeting Stefan was a transformational moment for us. A change programme had been ongoing across the Leadership Team for two years, small gains had been made but the most significant behavioural changes were yet to come. We realised that we needed someone with a fresh perspective who we could have a professional relationship, ask difficult questions, and help us address our challenges head on.
The team had grown organically over a number of years, including during lockdown and the scope of work was, - and still is - evolving. The growth and diversification of the team had led to silo’ed working and broken channels of communication.
Our goal was to help reconnect all the disparate parts of the team. Create an open and trusting workplace. Unite us in a shared ambition with a common vision whilst playing to the strengths which already created a number of successes.
SOLUTION
Overview of the programme
Our bespoke programme included a variety of activities to address three areas for improvement:
Process improvements
Identifying and embedding behaviours we value
Developing as leaders
The programme started with co-ordination meetings to define the desired outcome, followed by planning sessions to ensure activities met the end goal. These led to a variety of sessions including one-to-ones with Stefan, small group work and whole leadership team collaboration sessions.
The sessions culminated in a whole team extended progression of sessions followed by an evaluation a few weeks later.
“After the first session the whole leadership team were excited and optimistic for what could be achieved”
L J Piercy
Outcome based quote
“I am amazed at how we are still talking about and using the strategies that were introduced to us in the sessions.”
E Rice
“I had lost count of how many of this type of workshop I have done. NONE of them have ever had the depth of impact working with Stefan has had.”
A Mourad
“6 months on and we are still building upon the work that was started in the sessions with Stefan.”
T North
“Before our work with Stefan we felt disconnected with some fo the team feeling like they lacked purpose. Now when asked to describe how the team feels they are optimistic, happy and connected. Within 3 weeks we had begun to trust each other and started to lean on each other for support. We had stopped asking, what’s in it for me? And started asking, what can I do? How can I help?”
D Sewell
RESULTS; in the words and reflections of Stacey Crump - Partnership & Impact Lead - Defence and Security Accelerator
“We knew early on what we wanted to achieve but Stefan’s support gave us the chance to have conversations we hadn’t in the past and created the foundations to build on our aspirations. We now have an appreciation for each other, why we fit together and more importantly our teams know they are heard and valued. The greatest change is how others perceive the teams, we are confident in our message, we share what we’ve learnt and make time to support others on their journey. The effects of our team using the strategies and techniques introduced to us by working with Stefan are having ripple effects with other teams we work with”.
The most important transformation.
The most important transformation? Letting us see each other as people again instead of obstacles or problems.
The best thing about working with Stefan is his flexibility. Stefan is very skilled at creating bespoke content in a very short time frame that suited our organisational need.
He fully immersed us in the process and gave us the tools to help ourselves moving forward.
Conditions which made this successful
From working with Stefan, it was apparent that he brings a high level of openness and honesty. In order to make this a success we also needed to match this approach and open ourselves up to trust in his process and also trust in each other.
Stefan helped us to do this by modelling this behaviour. Never judging or criticising.
Our next steps
We are learning to develop using the training wheels provided by Stefan. We are frequently revisiting the outcomes of our sessions and the ways we arrived at them so that we can replicate, revise or adapt as we move forward. Stefan is coming back to work with the whole team to help ensure we have not wandered too far off the track.
What we would say to others about using Stefan
“To anyone wondering whether they should ask Stefan to work with them, we would say just do it. No one in our team has ever worked with a leader like Stefan. It was a true collaboration that empowered us to grow our success.”
Stacey Crump
Stefan - Working with Stacey, hear leadership team and the wider organisation
“I adored working with Stacey and the DASA team; why? - quite simply Stacey focus on being the best she could be for her team and the cause struck a chord with me. A truly good person, leading good people to deliver great things with an openness to strength their comfort zone. the speed with which we were able to pout this together and the intact we were able to have is a testament to Stacey vision, Diana Sewell’s energy and drive to collaborate on the development soktiuons and the wider teams embracing of, what were on occasions, pretty tough conversations. they didn’t baulk them’”
Team Coaching
team coaching is more than an away day, a set of post it notes and an actions list; it’s a full blown travers of the dysfunction mountain. All teams have them, but few are open enough to face into them.
Stacey and her team are proof that some are.
You can read more about the G.R.O.W.T.H team coaching model stefan has created and used; Here
If this resonated with you…
If this message resonates with you, and you’re one of the good people leading great things, let’s talk.
Get in touch and Book an inquisitive call here.- If any of this topic resonated with you and you have something you’d like to share with me or if you’d like to discuss working with me on this topic - stefan@stefanpowell.co.uk works really well for me.
Connect with me on linked in and read my long form posts on the rotating topics of Work, Rest. Play, Sustenance and Love every Thursday
Sign up to my newsletter ‘Be The Waves” here - which collates each weeks long form post on a monthly basis and you’ll get to read it later in the month
I’ll continue this in 4 to 5 Thursdays time when I continue the topic of ‘Rest” in my Thursday Journal.
Book an inquisitive session with me to find out more about what I do and how I do it or run a challenge or thought you have passed me.
For now; thank you
Stefan
An executive coach who specialises in helping good people lead great things.
Good people care about others, our planet and beauty. Great things are changes for the betterment of society and all that lives within an around it.
It sounds big and fun - it is.
I'm also an endurance racing cyclist and a go. getter.
You can read more about me and what I do; how I work here