A different tack in management training

Heather Girling, director of LifeCraft, has just returned from her latest trip to Marmaris, Turkey, to secure the services of a yacht to run the first "Sail into Management" programme in September this year.

The development of the 4 month programme for up to 12 delegates at a time is well underway and includes;
• pre departure profiling to provide delegates with a thorough understanding of themselves, their behaviour, management and learning styles.
• one week all inclusive residential series of workshops aboard a Turkish Gulet that allows delegates to experience the thrill of sailing a large yacht combined with workshops, coaching and facilitation on management principles, and
• three months management coaching to support the implementation of the learning when back in the working environment.

The concept behind this experiential and active learning idea is to match the management and running of the charter vessel against conventional management tasks such as planning, communications and delegation but at a heightened level of awareness.

The inspiration for this innovative programme has come from Heather's experience at running accredited manager development programmes for the past 5 years and a growing interest from the business community in the creation of novel environments where learning happens. Heather commented "We have spoken to many people in the training industry to seek their thoughts on the concept and all believe that it will work". She went on to say "I am so convinced that this programme will benefit organisations that I will guarantee all realistic objectives will be met". Adding "Our personal development programme 'The Experience' which was launched last year on the Gulets, is a huge success and is changing peoples lives, I see no reason why this programme for the business market should be any different".

The framework for the programme is in place with a selection of module concepts available for commissioning managers to select from, depending on individual organisational need. Heather went on to say "This new programme will be similar in format to our successful ILM endorsed Certificate in Manager Development, where each programme is different and customised based on delegate profiling and learning needs analysis". The potential to use other vessels is also available depending on client requirement and options that have already been considered include UK based narrow boats, a Baltic Trader and an 80ft ex-ocean racer. The most important aspect is to satisfy client requirements whilst guaranteeing the creation of an environment where learning happens.

For further information on this and other management and well-being services from LifeCraft, please contact Heather Girling on 01239 711799 or email at heatherg@lifecraft.co.uk.