Centre for Leadership Advantage: leadership development critical as remote working becomes the norm

About 12 months ago the CLA team embarked on a business process transformation and spent a lot of energy looking at how they wanted to run their business. After rapidly growing organically,  the time came to refine their structure and create some clear operational guidelines in order to keep scaling. In addition, the impacts of COVID-19 meant CLA needed to offer consulting services remotely and flexibly, including from home.

By implementing cloud apps like WorkflowMax and Xero, and investing the time to set the team up for success when working remotely, CLA were able to adapt quickly to the rapid changes brought on by the pandemic. With everyone flourishing in their home office environments by being supported by the right tech stack, the key focus was on shifting gears and approaching collaboration a little differently. “We've become masters of Zoom and Hangouts, daily check-ins and touching base. We’re totally virtual - 100 percent,” says Celeste.

For example, CLA’s normal wine time on a Friday afternoon at four o'clock still happens, just now over Zoom. In the beginning there were some strict guidelines at these sessions: no talking about the virus, no talk of politics and no work talk. They were really aiming to keep the social side of work alive because it's such an ingrained part of their culture.

Whilst CLA have always leveraged cloud-based platforms since inception, they began to see a clear need to implement more rigorous project tracking and management processes. When they decided to become a cloud business they reached out and sought advice from an expert. Being Melbourne based, they found BlueRock Digital who specialise in change management, digital transformation and regularly implement job and project management solutions like WorkflowMax.

“The team at BlueRock were incredibly helpful. We ran a discovery session and mapped out all our processes and procedures and they taught me how to use the software and set everything up. Now there’s nothing we don’t know about WorkflowMax! The whole team uses it everyday,” says Celeste.

CLA are connected seamlessly and can keep their finger on the pulse, no matter where all their teams are based. Celeste says, “WorkflowMax has been a huge revelation for our team in the sense of just being aware of the project planning process. It's been really beneficial, specifically during this time. The lead manager and reporting features have allowed us to easily see how we're tracking against milestones, what’s coming up in the pipeline and just how efficient and productive our people are on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. I love that I can log in from anywhere and instantly see the time and progress of all our projects and the actual work that my colleagues are doing in real time. The software keeps us all connected.”

COVID-19 has created space for fresh ideas

Another really interesting initiative that CLA has rolled out as a result of COVID-19 is their Leader Assist Program, where the business offers pro bono support to key clients to help them through this tough time. This includes 1:1 support by way of brief phone calls to help clients work through any leadership and engagement challenges they're having. This genuinely heartfelt program was dreamt up by the team of psychologists, is based on empathy, and is a way for them to give back to their clients and the broader community.

CLA has done a whole lot of rethinking themselves around their remote offerings for clients, and have recently built out a new leadership series and now offer masterclasses online. Key topics cover issues that people managers are facing right now. It’s a real value-add in the current environment. 

Rather than focusing on courses that cover a whole range of topics, CLA will custom design and package training programs to help leaders focus on key areas that need addressing, now.

CLA and Business Chicks in Australia have recently embarked on the creation of an open program specifically designed for women to build leadership skills, capabilities and connections. The LEAD program is committed to helping women on their leadership journeys. Xero has also supported Business Chicks and provides members with a host of informative and inspiring content on everything from tax and cash flow to mental health and wellbeing (and all that lies in between). 

CLA has made a concerted effort over the past two years to open up their leadership programs, not just to organisations, but to individuals who want to develop themselves, to better their understanding of self and create pathways for success.

In addition to designing and delivering leadership solutions, CLA is also active in conducting research with industry. In a recent research piece, they surveyed leaders and managers across Australia on how they are navigating leading during COVID-19. These leaders shared the lessons they have learned during this challenging time: