Thanks to Mark White at Better Business Blogging for his post about my research project. It’s nice to see that he’s picked up on what I’m trying to do with the project in terms of transparency and interactivity.

With all research, there’s a danger of ‘bias blindness’ and missing something important in the methodology or analysis. So I’m publishing my source material so that readers (and listeners) can form their own opinions about the issues.

Mark’s blog is well worth checking out - lots of useful advice for anyone writing a business blog. It’s also refreshing to see someone taking a UK perspective on blogging - both highlighting the good UK blogs that are already being written, and encouraging the vast majority of UK businesses who don’t have a blog to take the plunge. If you’re running a small business, start with his post on Why Small Businesses Should Start a Business Blog.

This morning I had a very enjoyable chat with Mick Rigby, Managing Director of Monkey Communications, as the first interview for my research project on Perceptions of Coaching in the UK Creative Industries.

As a founding director of a creative communications planning agency, Mick had some very interesting things to say about managing and developing people in a business that requires a highly specialised form of creative thinking.

Monkey is a creative communications agency that has extended traditional media planning to include other communications channels, such as sponsorship, event creation, PR and ambient. On 6th August they will make broadcasting history by producing the first ever live TV ads, with Match.com and ITV (Love Island, 10pm).

Talking to Mick, I was fascinated by the way Monkey’s people management strategy has evolved organically from their business and communications strategy. Topics covered in the interview include hybrid managers, the dangers of being a prima donna, and why Van Gogh would have struggled in an agency.

Many thanks to Mick for getting the interviews off to a great start. I’ve got some more interesting interviewees lined up for the project - watch this space…

Listen Now:

 Interview with Mick Rigby: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

[Edit: I am no longer requesting responses to the research questionnaires. This post originally announced the online version of the questionnaires - the research project home page has podcasts of my research interviews.]

Are you an employee in the UK Creative Industries? If so, I’d like to invite you to take part in my research on Perceptions of Coaching in the UK Creative Industries, by completing the questionnaire below.

I’m researching awareness and attitudes to coaching as a style of management in creative businesses, and want to canvas the opinions of employees, as well as managers and educators in this sector. See yesterday’s post for an Introduction to the research project. This is an opportunity for you to contribute to the current debate about management in the Creative Industries.

[Edit: I am no longer requesting responses to the research questionnaires.]
The finished research report will be available for free download from this blog in December. In the meanwhile I’ll be reporting on my progress on this blog - you can keep follow it via my Research Page, or the RSS or E-mail versions of this blog.

If you have any questions about the questionnaire or the project, please ask.

Thanks for your interest in my research - I look forward to hearing from you.

Are you a manager working in the UK Creative Industries? If so, I’d like to invite you to take part in my research on Perceptions of Coaching in the UK Creative Industries, by completing the questionnaire below.

I’m researching awareness and attitudes to coaching as a style of management in creative businesses, and want to canvas the opinions of practising managers, as well as employees and educators in this sector. See yesterday’s post for an Introduction to the research project. This is an opportunity for you to contribute to the current debate about management in the Creative Industries.

[Edit: I am no longer requesting responses to the research questionnaires.]
The finished research report will be available for free download from this blog in December. In the meanwhile I’ll be reporting on my progress on this blog - you can keep follow it via my Research Page, or the RSS or E-mail versions of this blog.

If you have any questions about the questionnaire or the project, please ask.

Finally, I’m looking to conduct individual interviews with a small number of managers from selected industries - please let me know if you might be interested in being interviewed.

Thanks for your interest in my research - I look forward to hearing from you.

To keep my Research Project manageable I’m limiting its scope to the Creative Industries within the UK, in the categories listed below.

A Advertising

B Architecture

C Crafts

D Design

E Designer Fashion

F Film and Video

G Computer Games

H Marketing

I Music

J Performing Arts

K Photography

L Publishing

M Television

N Radio

O Visual arts

P Web development

Having just announced the launch of my Research Project ‘Perceptions of Coaching in the UK Creative Industries’, I’d better begin by defining a couple of terms: this post will deal with the ‘coaching’ bit, the next one will cover the ‘UK Creative Industries’.

Please note - the definition of coaching I’m using for this Research Project is narrower than my usual definition of the term, as I’m deliberately focusing on the role of a manager-coach (see below) rather than a consultant-coach (i.e. someone like me).

COACHING:

‘A collaborative one-to-one process for raising work performance to achieve mutually agreed goals.

‘The coach is responsible for providing a supportive framework and facilitating the coachee’s learning in pursuit of the goal.

‘The coachee (person being coached) is responsible for contributing ideas, taking action, and reporting and reflecting on progress made.’

Typical methods used by a coach include:

• Goal setting
• Active Listening
• Asking open questions
• Action planning
• Delegating responsibility for action
• Delivering feedback
• Evaluating progress

Read the rest of this entry »

Today I’m launching a major new project on this blog - a research study on Perceptions of Coaching in the UK Creative Industries - and I’m inviting contributions from managers, employees and educators in the UK creative industries, in the form of responses to my questionnaires and a limited number of individual interviews. But before I get into that, I’ll give you some background to the research…

Why am I doing this?

1. It’s the final assignment for my part-time MA in Creative and Media Enterprises at the University of Warwick. Given the choice between a purely theoretical paper or a practically-oriented research project, I opted for the latter as I’m only really interested in theories with a real-world application.
2. To deepen my understanding of the issues confronting the sector I consult in - the UK Creative Industries. I have my own views on these issues, and the relevance of coaching, from my work with clients and my studies, but I want to open up the debate and canvass the views of a wide spectrum of managers and employees in different industries. This will help me develop my own services better to meet the requirements of the creative businesses I work with.
3. To contribute to the current debate about management in the Creative Industries. As the Creative Industries develop and become more and more significant players in the UK economy (and elsewhere), there is an intensifying debate about best practices for managers this sector. I want this project to contribute to this debate by listening to the views of managers, employees and educators, and sharing my findings. So once I’ve digested the input from my questionnaires and interviews, the finished report will be available for free download from this blog.

So what’s the basic idea?

This is my research hypothesis:

‘Coaching offers a model for managing and developing employees that is well-suited to the needs of companies in the UK creative industries, yet this approach is currently under-utilised by many creative businesses, with the result that they are missing opportunities to develop and capitalise on their workers’ talents.’

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve just launched new version of the Wishful Thinking Creative Coaching site - have a look and let me know what you think, in the comments or via e-mail.

I’ve got lots of plans for developing the Wishful Thinking site and blog over the next few months - if there are any features you would particularly like to see, please let me know.

As well as rewriting the coaching site I’ve been working behind the scenes on two projects for this blog, one of which is almost ready for launch…

As I’m published in issue 35 of Magma poetry magazine, I’ll be reading a couple of my poems at the launch in London, 8pm tomorrow night 3rd July - details of the launch reading here. It would be great to see you there.

The guest poets will be Wendy Cope and Alicia Stubbersfield; you will also hear many other poets featured in the issue. Be warned, Magma readings are invariably packed out - so arrive early if you want a seat!