Client: AC Group
Industry: Travel industry
Challenge: Busy and stressed people manager needs to delegate more, and think bigger picture
Timeline: 6 months
Allison is the Senior Groups Contract Manager at AC Group, balancing leadership of a team of contractors, her own hotel portfolio, and managing a very large client account.
Like many of us in the travel industry, she deals with a heavy workload, unexpected requests and the realities of people management in an industry that doesn’t allow much time for people to “catch up”.
Allison was working late nights (“stupid o’clock,” in her words), feeling stressed, and spending too much time micromanaging rather than leading her team. She was “always available” for them, meaning she had little time to get strategic and plan ahead in her destinations or get out of the weeds of the day-to-day servicing of her key client account.
Her leaders wanted to see more big-picture thinking and better delegation to her team, while supporting their development and increasing their ownership. The company’s goal is to be “a company people want to work with and for”, so upskilling their people while avoiding burnout is key, as those employees are the ones who service the clients and suppliers.
As someone who has managed contracting teams and large accounts, and now as an accredited coach, I was uniquely placed to support Allison.
We worked on four key tracks: Self-Leadership, Slick Communication, Support, and Skill.
Self-Leadership
We first worked on how Allison could manage her own reactions, energy and boundaries, as the leader can be either the bottle-neck of workflow or the source of pressure for a team.
Over several sessions, Allison gained a mindset shift in what it means to lead; whether it means being always available for the team and keeping an eye on what they are doing, or whether it means demonstrating support while communicating clear standards, and empowering the team members to take on more responsibility.
This combination enabled Allison to feel less stressed and have more time for strategic thinking, while giving her team stretch challenges to inspire and upskill them.
Slick Communication
We also worked on her communication approach, both internally (with peers and leaders) and externally (with her key account).
For example, Allison was asked to present the challenges, achievements and goals related to her key account. Together, we shifted the perspective away from ‘defending’ Allison’s work and sharing facts, towards a curious approach of what she could gain from the meeting. As the wider leadership and key account management team would be there, it was a unique opportunity to get their insights and buy-in for further support. This positioned Allison as a collaborative and bigger-picture thinker.
Allison has also overhauled how she communicates with her key account, including creating a booking tracker to delineate clear ownership of tasks, taking a more data-focussed approach to prioritising the workload, and challenging her key contact with a new-found confidence in her own expertise.
Support
AC Group’s aim is to be the company people want to work with and for, which has been demonstrated as they seek external support for their team leaders.
With Allison, we worked to improve both the support she gives her team and peers, and the support she receives from her managers.
Once she was able to delegate more and free up her own time to think ahead, she could clearly see methods to improve the ways of working within the team, including starting regular 1:1s with her direct reports, and finding ways for her team to support each other, according to their strengths and career goals.
She has also invited her own manager to support her and the team in clear and specific ways, creating a wider web of guidance and expertise, while keeping ownership of the team management.
Skill
As Allison’s way of working evolved, I began to share practical tools and frameworks to support her in delegating more and upskilling her team. I’m also a learning magpie so I often back up my sessions with podcasts, blogs and book recommendations to continue the journey.
One example of this was sharing time management and prioritisation frameworks, and how these could be adapted to different situations including for a neuro-diverse team member. Allison left the session with a fully-customised approach to support this team member make the most of her time and stay focussed.
As well as understanding the theory, we got into the nitty gritty of preparing for specific meetings and events, so Allison was prepared and got what she needed while coming across as a senior and strategic leader.
She has also shared her learnings onward with her team, amplifying their impact.
Allison consistently implemented the actions we agreed, and tried out new things with her team, which built momentum and compounded her learning.
As a commercial person myself, it’s important to me to measure our progress and deliver ROI. As part of the key pillar of self-leadership, I give my coachees control to measure their progress and reflect on what they have achieved and what still needs work, by asking them to self-score in key development areas.
Results:
- She’s stopped working excessive hours and deals with unexpected tasks confidently.
- Her team has noticed a major shift, describing her as more focused, confident, and strategic.
- She now checks in with the team in a supportive way instead of micromanaging.
- She feels more like a manager; comfortable questioning things that aren’t right and sharing what she’s learning to help others grow.
- She comes across as a more senior and reliable member of the management team.
- In her self-scored assessment, she went from a 6.8 to 8.7 out of 10 across all topics
- In particular, her satisfaction with her stress levels and work-life balance increased from 4 to 7. And this was during peak summer travel season!
- Her executive presence moved from 6 to 9 within 6 months.
- Her clarity on goals and taking action against them went from 7 to 10.
Coachee’s Words:
“I was pleased with the progress I saw from the very start.
I’m no longer working until stupid o’clock, and my team has noticed a real difference in me. They say I’m more focused, confident, and looking at the bigger picture. Instead of constantly chasing them, I now check in thoughtfully and lead with a more strategic mindset.
I feel more like a manager, rather than the ‘mother of the group.’ The sessions have been helpful and insightful, showing me how to tackle situations in a different way.
It’s a win-win for both me and my team, and I’ve really enjoyed the process.”
– Allison Mann
Manager’s words:
“Allison has become more calm since working with Emily.
In the travel industry, it’s fast-paced and we can all have knee-jerk reactions or feel at our wit’s end. I think what she’s learned during the program is to take a back seat, take a deep breath and understand that it’s not a matter of life and death. We can work around it.
She’s also become more confident in speaking up.
She’s always treated her team with respect, and built a good team atmosphere, and she has actually improved in that area too. I think she has increased the support she gets from her team.”
– Dermot O’Neill, MD AC Group
If you’d like this kind of support for your travel industry team, get in touch.