01  What is Mindfulness?  How does it help in the workplace?

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The most common definitions of Mindfulness refer to an increased ability to pay attention to the present moment, without judgment, through specific training techniques for the mind.  Mindfulness creates awareness and space, and it can become easier to make conscious and thoughtful decisions on a day-to-day basis.  Working more mindfully helps counteract some of the challenging aspects of business realities such as information overload, dynamic environments, continuous change, and stress.

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Research is showing that mindfulness can help with:

• Focus & regulating attention

• Communication skills & better listening

• Better reactions to stress & conflict

• Productivity

• Innovative thinking

• Quality of relationships

• Effectiveness of meetings, projects, and team efforts

• Employee health and wellbeing

 

Working Mindfully includes learning exercises for the mind that help us to become more efficient, more productive, more aware, and less stressed. The practices are simple, but the effects are quite significant. 

 

We are passionate about helping organizations and leaders work more mindfully. 

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 02  I'm not sure if executive coaching is right for me.  How can I learn more?

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"Executive Coaching" is a term that refers to coaching in a corporate setting, aimed at managers and leaders.  

We work with all leadership levels, from managers to CEOs, to identify and support the kind of change that really moves the needle, and that is sustainable. We specialize in the kind of change that our clients refer to as "transformational".

 

SwiftRiver coaching engagements generally follow six stages (they are not necessarily linear):

 

1. Envision - What is most important for continued success?  What would you like the future to hold?

2. Assess - What is your "current state" situation, strengths, values, preferences, etc.?  Self-awareness is the gateway to change.

3. Focus - What are the goals you would set for yourself in this engagement, based on the future you have envisioned and the new awareness you may now have?  We work together to ensure out-of-the-box thinking and the right amount of stretch.

4. Practice - We jointly devise experiments along with practicing new behaviors, thoughts, patterns, and ways of looking at things.  The idea is to create new ways to remove barriers and capitalize on your strengths and "what's going well".

5. Reflect & Learn - It's essential to pause and take the time to reflect on the outcomes of new behaviors, learn from the experiments, and decide what's important in your new insights.

6. Apply & Reinforce - We create techniques to reinforce the new ways, and create lasting positive change in your leadership and contributions.

 

Whatever feels most important to your ongoing growth and success, that's where we will support you.  SwiftRiver coaching engagements are generally six or nine months long.  It's our experience that lasting change doesn't happen in less than six months.

 

We generally work with very high-performing and high-potential individuals looking to maximize their strengths and success while also watching out for any barriers to their ongoing growth and success. Coaching is also particularly helpful when leaders are going through a specific change -- new role, new company, expansion of responsibilities, etc.  What got you here doesn't always work at the next level.   

 

If you're not sure about committing to a full coaching engagement, we can either talk it through (no charge for some initial discussions, of course), or we could start with just the assessment and feeback gathering piece, and co-create a leadership development action plan with you.  You can then take the next steps in your development on your own, or decide at that point whether executive coaching is right for you.

 

If you also have an interest in becoming a more mindful leader, we have a specific track that can be included in the executive coaching engagement that focuses on increasing your individual mindfulness and applying that in your work and leadership. Clients often find that mindfulness techniques act as an accelerator to achieving the lasting change and results they are looking for.

 

Finally, we find that most organizations will pay for coaching engagements for their leaders. You may just have to inquire with your manager, or perhaps the talent management or human resources function.

 

Here's a full view of SwiftRiver's approach to a coaching engagement.

 

 

 

 03  We have a large-scale change initiative (e.g., a technology implementation, process change, or new product launch).  What kinds of resources can SwiftRiver bring to a project like that?

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Large scale OD and change is an area of specialty for us.  We can either supplement an existing program team, or can bring several consultants to bear to create a program team.  

We understand "change management" as a series of activities at both the macro and micro levels.  At the macro level, the changes must be connected to a beneficial strategy or visible gain for the organization.  Strategic communication with compelling core messaging delivered through various channels must reach employees affected by the change, and support them in feeling involved and invested. In addition, cross-functional or core business processes touched by the change must be analyzed so that everything still fits together and the hand-offs are clear.  At the micro level, there's process documentation to be updated, training to be built and delivered, technology to be adjusted, and other necessary tactical changes that support the change in action.  Without focus on both the macro and micro, we've seen less success across the change initiative.

 

 

 

 04  Do you work with smaller businesses to help us with "human resources"?  How does that work?

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There are two ways we assist our small- and medium-sized business clients with their ongoing human resources needs. One is that can spend a day or more a week sitting on site either serving as your HR department, or supplementing your exisiting HR team. This gives you access to HR knowledge and the hands to do the work.  

 

When working in this capacity, we find there are often two different "tiers" of work:

 

Human Resources Administration (Tier 1) examples

• Medical insurance, benefits, and 401k plan administration

• New hire orientation & onboarding

• Personnel file and database maintenance

• Termination or leave of absence letters and processing

• Day-to-day employee inquiries regarding HR programs

• Employment verifications

• Employee event coordination

• Report generation

 

Human Resources Generalist (Tier 2) examples

• Policy creation

• Recruiting and staffing

• Employee relations counseling and support

• Manager support, coaching, and advice

• Policy creation and maintenance

• Open enrollment and benefit/wellness fairs

• Current trends and assessment of existing programs

• Workforce analytics

• Job description creation and maintenance

• Vendor and broker relations

• Salary surveys and benchmarking

• Oversight of performance management cycle

• HR systems and intranet

• Employee exit interviews

• Employee and customer surveys

• Community outreach and “giving back” programs

• Training and “Lunch & Learn” facilitation

 

The second way we support our small- and medium-sized clients is to offer interim HR leadership presence, or sit on the executive team in the role of Head of HR, in order to provide additional strategic support and a deeper level of expertise for more complex business and people-related situations.

 

Please also see our full description of Organizational Consulting Services for more information.

 

 

 05  We need help with designing our performance management process (or training program....or employee engagement survey....)?

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Designing people-related programs and solutions is part of our Organizational Consulting practice.  We have siginificant expertise designing programs that are of the right size, scope, and budget for our clients.  We've done this across all sizes of companies, and many industries (e.g., financial services, pharmaceutical, professional services, advertising, etc.)

 

We seek first to understand your unique culture and values, the other programs or processes you already have in place, and what has worked or not worked well in the past.  We want to make sure the program fits into the larger picture and the strategy of the organization.  Often we suggest we conduct interviews or facilitate focus groups to deepen our understanding of the current state and what program features are most needed.

 

Co-creation is our preferred method of working.  We love to have an integrated client team working with us, and often prefer to work behind the scenes where that makes sense.  We leverage the team's time by managing the project, and serving up well-informed design ideas for discussion and decision.  Then we build out all the details -- the forms, process flows, documentation, communication, success measures, and training -- and create the appropriate implementation plan.  We stay involved through implementation and beyond -- sometimes for up to a year or more after implementation in order to make sure the program or process is working as expected. 

 

We strive to deliver custom solutions that reflect both your culture AND industry best practice across areas such as performance management, management development, employee engagement, talent management, succession planning, and onboarding.

 

Please also see our full description of Organizational Consulting Services for more information on types of programs and our approach.

 

 06  I need a facilitator for an upcoming offsite, can you do that?

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We offer highly skilled facilitation and can help your leadership team accomplish more together -- from strategic planning to new product development to Board Retreats.  The only caveat is that we want to be pretty involved in order to do our best to set the session up for success. We'll consult with you to create the working session objectives, agenda, approach, pre-work, analysis, etc.  In the meeting itself, we'll manage team dynamics, flexibly keep the team on task to meet intended objectives, ask the provocative questions to drive new thinking, and capture and synthesize results to make sure there are tangible next steps to move the work forward after the session. 

 

So, yes, please call us when you have an upcoming offsite, retreat, or team session....but, if possible, call us early so we can best support you and achieve the outcomes you need!

 

 

 07  We are looking for a presenter/workshop leader for our Women's Group (or other audience) -- what does SwiftRiver offer in that area?

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Our organizational consulting practice also covers interactive workshops, keynotes, and presentations on various topics tailored for your audience.  

 

Recent topics that Andrea has covered for clients have included:

• Becoming a More Grounded Leader (keynote or interactive workshop, any size group, 1-4 hours in length)

• Working More Mindfully (keynote, which can also be done as an interactive workshop, 1-3 hours in length)

• Maximizing Your Strengths (any size group presentation/interactive workshop, 1-3 hours in length)

• Accelerating Team Effectiveness (interactive 1/2 day workshop, 5-40 participants with team connections)

 

We also design custom sessions for any size group and session length.

 

Contact us to discuss in more detail.