A Blog by Senior Proposals Manager Claire Riseley
An established senior proposals manager in the North West region, and finalist in the upcoming Inspiring Women in Construction & Engineering Awards 2023, Claire Riseley is constantly striving to make a difference by raising the profile of women in our industry and managing effective teams to achieve successful outcomes.
To equip herself for this exciting journey, Claire embarked on Morgan Sindall's transformative leadership programme, 'Stepping into Management,' and her experiences and insights are now chronicled in our latest blog. Discover how Claire's dedication to growth and leadership has not only shaped her career but is also paving the way for an empowered and thriving workforce at Morgan Sindall.
As a manager with a responsibility to empower and develop others, I jumped at the opportunity to join Cohort 7 of the 'Stepping into Management' programme when it was offered to me. I was keen to learn more about myself and about how others perceive me within the workplace, as well as improving and moving forwards in my role.
What both employees and employers expect of managers has changed, combined with unprecedented new challenges faced during the pandemic, the new flexibility of remote working and the need for empathy, understanding and staff support during times of crisis. We must respond on both a human level and as ambassadors of Morgan Sindall, upholding company values and the ethos of protecting our people. Any new skill, insight or technique on how to achieve this was therefore invaluable to me throughout this process.
From the first online introductory session, meeting new people from around the business to standing and presenting our findings to Senior Management, the course has developed my confidence immeasurably on both a personal and professional level. It has allowed me to show to others a side of me that is not always obvious during times of extreme pressure in preconstruction and bidding. Working in an environment where we need the support and motivation within our teams to meet deadlines and satisfy the needs of our customers, a time to drive exceptionally high standards and be competitive, allowing us to set ourselves apart within our industry.
The Stepping into Management programme is designed to help us to understand ourselves better.
Before learning to empower others, we participated in an initial profiling exercise, the first step in understanding the value I bring to Morgan Sindall. Each person brings a unique set of gifts, attributes, and expectations in the environment in which they operate and its the ability to utilise those skills and attributes that magnifies our leadership. A 360-feedback session and hearing what others think about you is quite daunting but I found it to be pleasantly surprising and an uplifting experience.
As you begin to understand yourself better by analysing what motivates and drives your own thoughts and feelings, your attention is then shifted to the Role of a Manager. How do we adapt to others, the variety of situational leadership skills we could adopt and the skill to bring teams together to achieve a common goal.
No one size fits all solutions
Leadership encompasses language, tone, the ability to listen and give feedback, be it good or bad. It is challenging enough to manage yourself, but we must remember as managers we have responsibilities to others. Our actions can have far reaching consequences and this programme is delivered in such a way that we become open to the need to step back and create thinking time. Simple things we might not consider such as:
- The implications of an instruction or a conversation with our teams - did we deliver it in the right manner?
- Did the team respond positively?
- Did we give them enough time to respond?
- Did we push someone within that team to act too quickly or hastily that might not necessarily achieve the right outcome?
It is imperative that our management style is adaptable and part of our ongoing development, no two people are the same and there is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution. We must remind ourselves of circumstances, external influences, and the need for mutual respect between our peers.
Once a team is then successfully established, we then went on to consider how do we maintain peak performance? How do we ensure that we remain busy and productive, engaged and driven? When are our teams performing at their best? And the biggest question of all, when do we let go of that control to empower others – at which point do we stop performing the tasks that we have spent so long perfecting in our own careers and allow others to develop and flourish as the next generation at Morgan Sindall.
So, as we reached the final presentation, we needed to showcase everything we had learnt over the last 9 months, a chance to show senior management that we had understood and listened.
A challenge which together we delivered successfully and for someone who is not used to public speaking, I think I did a pretty good job and was extremely proud of my achievements as I drove home that evening.
Putting these new skills into action
As Senior Proposals Manager in Manchester, it may seem I am far removed from putting these new skills into practice on a live construction project. I won’t experience the thrill of getting a team to deliver a project successfully on time, within budget which exceeds our customers expectations, however this could not be more wrong. Working in Preconstruction is equally challenging, our one shot at getting it right for the customer…. from the start, a time to outshine other bids and show people what Morgan Sindall are about. To do this, we need talented people, people that deserve to be managed in the right way, people who feel motivated to go to the next level, evolve and adapt.
Proposals is not always someone’s first career choice from school, it may be a role that we have transferred into, and skills need to be harnessed and adapted to achieve success and this is where I, as a Manager, can make a difference. By raising the profile on the Stepping into Management programme and utilising my skill and knowledge to support others.
So as a newly graduated cohort member, I am thankful for everything I have learnt and hope that I can become a better manager that can inspire, nurture, and develop the fantastic people we have within our business and the new generations to come."