For Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank I facilitated a two day workshop with the Finance Leadership Team.  The bank was preparing to de-merge from its parent company, National Australia Bank, and list on the London Stock Exchange.

Being involved in a complex market transaction is an exhausting process. The team needed time away from the office to reflect on the past year and strengthen relationships. As part of the work I did a resilience assessment with everyone, to measure their levels of stress and recovery, and identify strategies for bouncing back at work.

We travelled to a National Park in Scotland and used part of our time walking in the hills to inspire new ideas and enable meaningful conversations as a team.

During the last day we updated the finance strategy and articulated a vision for leading the division as part of a standalone business.

I asked Deputy CFO and Chief Data Officer, Richard Ellison, about the outcomes of our workshop:

Rowan has a high degree of emotional intelligence and this allowed him to vary his style as a facilitator effectively. He challenged us hard too. When we were walking up a steep hill he noticed us less as a coherent team and more as competitive individuals which opened up an unexpectedly frank dialogue about team dynamics back at the venue. 

We came away from our two days feeling refreshed, with a clear strategy for the year ahead and a more positive team dynamic. We achieved a lot and the strategy was successfully implemented, but above all the event was enjoyable. 

I delivered this project representing Relume where I work as an Associate.