SPG Blog

To thrive in a rapidly changing global environment, organizations must be creative, nimble, adaptable, open-minded and results-oriented. Teams are a key to success. Innovation, flexibility, speed, collective wisdom, collaboration, securing of resources and support—all the things necessary for an organization to thrive in the 21st century—are fostered within an effective team setting. When teams are performing at their best, the organization as a whole will experience greater productivity, employee satisfaction and growth. The team itself will be able to sustain its success—and thus its positive impact—over the long term. (more…)

OUR QUESTIONS
As a company that develops leadership and team solutions for other companies, we realize we also need to do the same sort of development for our own leaders and teams. We know that what we do in other organizations works for them, but we wonder about best practices for our own Sage Portfolio Group teams. We have very skilled facilitators and Team Systems workers in-house: can we use them or do we need to bring someone into our organization from outside? There are a myriad of assessments out there: which do we use? Should we do different ones each year? Should we do the one our facilitator prefers? As we reflect on these questions, we realize that they are the same ones every organization considers. (more…)

Buying local organic produce is the best recommendation I can make for the summer months as a culinary coach. Our family subscribes to a local farm and has fresh-picked produce delivered to our door every Tuesday. We became fans of community supported agriculture (sometimes referred to as ‘CSA’) years ago and we feel good about buying a “share” in each year’s crop. We take some risk along with the farmer, eliminate the middle man, and get to eat the best tasting fresh vegetables and fruit imaginable.  This is one of the ways that we “measure up” in our family meals for the summer.

Coach recommendation:  find a CSA farm in your area and start buying locally.

More about CSAs?  Here’s a definition from the USDA website:
“Community Supported Agriculture consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community’s farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Typically, members or “share-holders” of the farm or garden pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer’s salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm’s bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and participating directly in food production. Members also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. By direct sales to community members, who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.”
To find a CSA near you, try google or visit these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_community-supported_agriculture_farms_and_organizations
http://www.biodynamics.com/canada.html

YUM!

We’re a naturally curious bunch, and as we were looking around to see who is measuring what, we came across this online tool that recommends performance improvement approaches for organizations. The site is designed to assist non-profit organizations, but we feel the tool has value for business as well. Check it out and see what you think:
http://www.performancehub.org.uk/page.asp?id=338