Team building Archives - AKD Solutions

Sports · Team building

Our first time at the London Marathon

Sunday 4:45am my alarm goes off, yes it was my wake up call! Why was I awake at this time you ask? I was getting ready to participate in the London Marathon, I hadn’t trained for the marathon at all so you can imagine how I was feeling… thank goodness I was only volunteering as part of the AKD Sport division and NOT actually running.

This was my first time at the London Marathon, I was excited to be part of this historical event which I had watched a few times on TV. I couldn’t believe I was going to be there, live. I arrived at the Start location in South East London at 6:45am and instantly appreciated the magnitude of being part of this amazing event. Even my taxi driver wow-ed and oo-ed as we drove into the location. The signage set, the number of people stationed at entries, security, multimedia equipment set up, lavish decorations at the Start line – everything was spectacular.

Once I finally located my team (I got lost, as the grounds were huge!) I was given a London Marathon: badge, T-shirt, light jacket and a New Balance hat along with some much-needed chocolate and water.

Team AKD getting ready to welcome London Marathon participants

It was great to meet the other volunteers who were from all walks of life, which inherently is a reflection of the London Marathon. The volunteers we met shared their stories, from those who had been volunteering for the past 10 years to a gentleman who shared how he took part in his first marathon at 52 (with a pacemaker) and now is 66! We also met a young 19-year-old woman who was so happy to have started volunteering at the London Marathon last year and chose to do so again this year.

At around 8:55am we were briefed again by our team leader and stationed at our post to direct the participants around the course. As we waited for the runners to begin we met some locals who shared their excitement about having the marathon at their doorstep. We also got to hear the stories of friends and family of runners who shared their stories, a lady shared how she had lost her husband last year and was motivated to begin running, we listened to stories of a man who was simply looking for a new challenge and decided to run and was now on his 10^th marathon, to a friend of a runner who shared the story of her friend running after having long-Covid albeit this was her second marathon.

Akin Thomas (AKD CEO) directing runners around the course during the London Marathon

As the marathon began we knew our role was important, even though it felt small. My colleague Shola and I worked together as volunteers on the day, she adds: “Though it may not have been the biggest role, directing people through the course and cheering them along made me feel a part of something big. Seeing the joy on people’s faces when you called out their names was heartwarming”.

One of the many exciting activities for the local residents was spotting the creative outfits.

The great thing about the London Marathon is that it is truly accommodating to all, we saw Paralympians, elite runners to those simply walking, lest we forget those attempting to break world records. We saw young and those older, black, white, abled and disabled.

“…no matter how small you feel the role you are playing, do it with excellence and passion as it is truly adding value.”
Faith.A , Marketing and Comms Manager, AKD.

What stood out to me is a life lesson – we all start this race in life, each person’s race will look different however all we have to do is to show up and take part. And no matter how small you feel the role you are playing do it with excellence with passion as it is truly adding value. Shola adds; “This was the first time I had interacted with the London Marathon and it was such an amazing experience. Knowing I was giving someone that extra push they needed because someone was rooting for them was an amazing feeling and I will definitely be volunteering again!” I too echo this sentiment.

Thank you to the amazing London Marathon Events team.

Written by Faith.A and Shola Thomas.

AKD Solutions has worked with London Marathon Events and other Sport organisations helping them maintain a competitive edge in areas of; research, a vision of inclusivity, ACE and much more. We’d love to spark brilliance with you, contact us to discuss how we can disrupt to create something greater.

Equally Yours · Organisation Development · Team building

Equality diversity and inclusion (EDI) is not a FAD!

“When I was a Police Officer I beat up a group of black boys during the riots in an unprovoked attack.” “He called me and told me he was touching himself whilst on the phone to me”. “I feel I have nPot progressed in the company because of my race not because of ability.”

These are some of the shocking revelations that are born out of our Equally Yours workshops, which focuses on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). Shocking yes, but liberating for those who feel they have finally found a safe space to unearth some of their horrifying experiences without judgement.

A national newspaper recently tried to smear us by undermining the need for organisations to have Equality, Diversity and Inclusion workshops, they mocked what we do and even described it as “woke”, not sure what that means and we do not care to find out! What cannot be denied is in the past 10years the landscape of our communities has changed and inadvertently it is impacting organisations, with 8.3million more people living in Britain the population has become older and international. However little progress has been made in the workplace as in 2018 less than 1% of CEO’s in the Fortune 500 list were black and women made up less than 5% of the list. Within the workplace employees see and feel this bias with 35% of LGBTQ+ individuals feeling the need to hide their sexuality for fear of discrimination according to the Equality Group.

A solution to this is not just a tick box training, nor hyper-focus on equality training as this can have an adverse effect. It is taking a holistic approach to understanding the EDI spectrum and what it entails and having an appropriate learning programme (workshop) that is tailored to the organisations needs, this leads to greater impact on individuals and the organisation at large. Our popular workshop Equally Yours takes this approach, fostering an environment in which participants can learn about the Equality Act, scenario-based EDI training and practical tools given to help deal with an ever evolving EDI topic. What we add to the conversation is widening the lens by sharing lived experiences where possible and allowing participants to ask tough questions without fear of judgment, with the added bonus of playfulness.

Our work has greatly impacted over 150 organisations like the City of London Council who engaged us to provide Equally Yours workshops for their staff. Between 2021 and 2022 we ran the workshop again and saw a 35% increase in participants at the City of London Council. The reality is, this matters to staff and it should matter to organisations. A participant shares their experience of attending the Equally Yours workshop, “Really enjoyed learning…learnt how to respond, extremely insightful!”

As organisations take this leap into the EDI space it can be scary, some may even be criticised for desiring to educate and equip their staff on the subject of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. It is not good enough for organisations to have their eyes wide shut, the reality is this is a topic which needs to be addressed and addressed openly. We must not wait for another George Floyd, Child Q incident to happen before organisations act. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion should be at the forefront of each organisations agenda. This is why we stand apologetic and remain resolute in what we do. We will not apologise for supporting people and organisations to become more diverse and inclusive. If any national newspapers ever feel the need to have a session on how to become more diverse and inclusive, we are here ready to support.

Faith Anyanwu

Conflict Resolution · Equally Yours · Team building

Stop Racism in Sport: Why Intentional Cultural Shifts are the only way

Gratitude – a strong feeling of appreciation to someone or something for what the person has done to help you.

When we’re children, we’re taught to say thank you relentlessly, all of the time. As adults and in business, we probably don’t say it as much as we should. However, for 10 weeks last year, in a blue wave of gratitude, the nation came together every Thursday evening to show our appreciation of the NHS and all frontline workers. This is the latest of AKD Solutions claps for some of the fantastic organisations we work with.

Everywhere you go, there’s a Holiday Inn. It is part of the InterContinental Hotels Group and is one of the world’s largest hotel chains, so it clearly knows something about keeping guests happy.

Make our guests smile! That was a challenge Holiday Inn gave AKD Solutions as part of a European wide project. We were tasked with developing a learning programme themed around re-imagining hotels, how the space is used, the customer experience, etc. We were responsible for designing materials, which needed to resonate with millions of diverse guests from across Europe.

But let’s rewind first. We were actually latecomers to the project. When we were exhibiting at World of Learning at the NEC in Birmingham, Holiday Inn’s process of identifying a supplier was already underway. Fortuitously we met Liam Burditt and built up a great rapport. Subsequently, we were invited to join the bidding process for the project, and readers, we won!

It was an amazing opportunity. We were given free rein to be creative and try out new ideas, including designing a bespoke learning map and an app.

We would love to say that everything went smoothly. But as an organisation, we believe in transparency and in truth, there were some parts of the project we didn’t get right. And it is here that Holiday Inn stayed with us. Rather than walking away, they trusted us to turn things around. They maintained their faith in us, which enabled us to deliver.

That belief was really important and part of a vital learning experience for us as a company in terms of some of our systems, which are now far more robust. The fact that the client was gracious enough to work with us to turn it around was key. We thank you, Holiday Inn. 🙏🏽

We are always adding to our free leadership and management courses and demos, to spark brilliance by designing and delivering stimulating, challenging and fun learning experiences and training programs. Our ACE free online Leadership Workshops can be found here. Contact Us for a FREE demo on 0345 034 1105 or email info@akdsolutions.com

Conflict Resolution · Equally Yours · Organisation Development · Team building

Akin’s Marathon journey

We’ve been working with London Marathon Events (LME) for around 18 months, and it’s one of the most engaging and rewarding partnerships.

At AKD Solutions, we believe in developing deep relationships with our clients to understand what they do. So, our CEO, Akin Thomas, cheekily asked if he could come along on the day of the iconic race and get a sense of how things worked in the engine room. LME responded with a “yes,” but with a twist. “If you want to really understand, we’ll give you the unenviable role of being Hugh Brasher’s runner”.

This didn’t mean that Akin would be running the marathon; he would be there to support Race Director Hugh, throughout the process. Akin was literally bouncing off the walls with excitement when he heard the news, whilst colleagues were praying for him.

The day started in the pitch dark, at 5:30 AM, as Akin headed to the start line in Lewisham. Normally, the race is in April, so the ambience of those first hours was different from the usual experience.

Akin worked with Hugh throughout the day, sometimes struggling to keep up as Hugh can walk quickly! Akin tried hard not to lose him, though once or twice Hugh managed to give him the slip! But it was an incredibly moving day, feeling the anticipation of thousands and thousands of runners and seeing the support of hundreds of thousands of people along the route.

The complexity of the day cannot be overstated. What London Marathon Events do is truly incredible. The level of detail, the innumerable moving costs, the never-ending risks that are being managed. Enabling over 36,000 runners to take part in a COVID safe, mass participation event is truly mind blowing.

The THREE things Akin took away from this are:

1) The fact that a small core team can undertake such an iconic event is truly amazing. Very few organisations could successfully achieve what these guys do.

2) The London Marathon unifies people in a very special way. Millions of people have a personal connection with the marathon, whether you ran, you donated, you supported or you benefited from the efforts of a partcipant.

3) Akin stood just behind the finish and watched people crawling, falling and limping across that line. What struck him was the pain that people are willing to endure for something they believe in. He said, “That will never leave me”.

To the team at London Marathon Events, we salute and thank you for the privilege of enabling AKD Solutions to be part of the day. We know the plan is to make the marathon more diverse and a true reflection of London, and we look forward to partnering with you on this journey.

Photo by Akin Thomas

Conflict Resolution · Diversity and Inclusion · Team building

Stop Complaining!

Gratitude – a strong feeling of appreciation to someone or something for what the person has done to help you.

We all hope we have significant relationships, and one of AKD Solutions is with Leeds City Council. Today we are giving a shout out to the organisation as a whole but to one person in particular. So, stand up Judith Kasolo.

We have worked with Judith for around 13 years. During this time, we have designed and delivered complaints training for the City Council, Adult Social Care, and the independent sector.

We have a fantastic partnership with Leeds City Council, which, in our opinion, have one of the best approaches to complaints in their sector. Their approach to complaints is extraordinary because they have been real pioneers. They have worked with their partners in the NHS, creating joint information and a “one door” approach that makes it easier for people to complain.

The fact that they extend the training to their suppliers from the independent sector is also unique. Leeds City Council invests in training in a way we have not seen in any other organisation. But above all they have the most amazing mindset, which is infectious.

We have been doing a whole series of complaints based training, working with senior management and frontline staff. It is a great, long term, ongoing relationship. Leeds City Council’s commitment to the work and our partnership has been brilliant.

Alongside Judith, Sarah, Tina, and Dominic have been highly and consistently supportive. AKD Solutions relishes working with such a great bunch of people.

Leadership · Organisation Development · Team building

What does ‘Freedom Day’ say about leadership?

The government has dropped most of the measures which have reduced the spread of COVID-19 in England. This is happening despite a steep rise in the infection rate due to the Delta variant, particularly amongst the unvaccinated.

The UK has rightly received global praise for its vaccination rollout, but is “freedom day” a masterstroke or a mistake?. Risk taking is part of leadership, but learning from previous errors is also integral to future success.

From 19th July, businesses in England can open ‘as normal’, with no social-distancing requirements, and mask-wearing is no longer necessary in public spaces. Indeed, on the stroke of midnight, some nightclubs threw open their doors, and for the first time in 16 months welcomed exhilarated ravers. The lifting of restrictions is undoubtedly a much needed boost for business generally but particularly for the entertainment industry,

In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has taken a more cautious approach. She is maintaining “sensible precautions” while the vaccine programme continues. Scotland has moved to level zero, but mandatory use of face coverings will remain in place for “some time”; limits on outdoor meetings are maintained, and workers’ return to offices is delayed.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has said that face coverings remain mandatory on the capital’s public transport systems. Other regional mayors are backing the move, whilst Uber, Ryanair and easyJet will also continue to enforce mask wearing.

Infections in the United Kingdom are now at similar levels to those of last winter’s devastating second wave of the pandemic, and rising. Deaths are far lower due to the success of the vaccination rollout, but they too are on the increase.

The loosening of restrictions is “a recipe for disaster”, says Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist and associate professor at the University of Leeds school of medicine. He said: “For a government to abdicate itself from responsibility in terms of guiding people, I think that’s just wrong. Because even if the vast majority of people are sensible as they suggest, it only takes a minority to undo that altruism because masks prevent us from spreading the virus primarily.”

Has England’s population become Guinea pigs in an unprecedented public-health experiment that could result in large numbers of hospitalisations and deaths? Or is this a brave calculated move that will be an example for others to follow?

Only time will tell. The world has its eyes on the UK.

Team building