Don’t take our word for it, check out what our happy clients have said about us!
Team Coaching
Senior team development
Jo delivered an excellent workshop for five team members at SCUK. I was thoroughly impressed by the planning and organisation of the workshop and also how Jo tailored the workshop and ensured the engagement of the team. The workshop helped us to understand how building upon the skills of team members will help us to build the cohesiveness of the team.
I have no doubt in recommending Jo as a facilitator for similar exercises.
Team Development
I just wanted to say thank you very much for all you did last Tuesday at our away day. I could write realms about how you really listened to what I wanted to get out of the day and nailed it, but I thought you’d much prefer to hear from the team on what they thought so here’s a couple of emails people sent me after the day.
“I found the training really interesting and it was quite liberating to feel like others understand the way you work better, and vice versa. I thought the activities Jo put together were really thought provoking and fun, too.”
“It was really interesting to build on my previous work with Insights in a much deeper, more applicable way. I really enjoyed how passionate Jo was about her work, and that fed through into my enjoyment of the session. I found the ways to identify other colour energies so interesting and useful, and it’ll really inform my work going forwards.”
Thank you from us all in the Philanthropy & Corporate Partnerships Team at Dogs Trust.
Team development
Jo and Tara provided excellent support in helping define what we wanted to achieve in a two-day session. They then worked to provide a programme that responded to the needs of our team exceptionally well, using the ‘Insights’ tool and a range of other highly participatory and engaging games and conversations about providing feedback, negotiating skills, managing conflict and so on. The feedback from the team on both days was nothing short of effusive. We’re already planning a follow up session later in the year.
Richard Graham
The session was exceptionally well prepared and allowed us to get through a remarkable amount of work and discussion in just half a day. What impressed me most was Jo and Adrian’s ability to move seamlessly and swiftly from each topic area, allowing for sufficient reflection and discussion, but without ever making a session feel rushed. They found an excellent balance between introducing concepts, individual or paired discussion with group work so the team were completely engaged throughout. I couldn’t recommend them highly enough.
Catriona Bryden
Phoenix were excellent! They really took time out to understand the nuances of what we were trying to achieve, and produced a workshop that met our objectives exactly. The trainer was highly knowledgeable and made the session interactive and fun – most importantly the team learned new relationship building and communication skills that they are applying to their work on a daily basis. Catriona Bryden
Team awayday development“
From our first discussions through to the end of the session, it really felt that Jo understood what I wanted to achieve with the team and created a bespoke session to facilitate this.
I was anxious that, in advance of a particularly busy time for the team and having had a few personnel additions, we engaged with the vital components of a high performing team by building trust, understanding how we (as individuals) work under pressure and encouraging feedback to create a stronger, more open team.
Since the session, the feedback I have had from the team has been very positive. We all agree that the exercises were constructed in an imaginative and fun way, with the day structured in a way that meant the more ‘difficult’ activities took place once an open and supportive atmosphere had been created.
I can’t thank Jo enough for her time and effort in creating such a worthwhile day, alongside her infectious and motivating energy while she was with us. We are already putting what we’ve learnt into practice and I am excited to see how the results benefit our team in the coming months.”
Michelle Audette, Global Category Director, Britvic Soft Drinks
We were running a first team day for the newly formed Strategic Marketing team, so asked Phoenix to run a 90 minute team building session using Insights discovery. They delivered a fast paced, fun session which helped us appreciate the different colour energies, and understand the impact we can have on others. We realised the importance of adapting our behaviours to improve communication and team effectiveness. Each colour energy came up with ways they could help the group be “One Team.” Those with dominant Red or Yellow energy really noticed how they need to listen more to their dominant Green and Blue energy colleagues. It has given us a language we can use back at the office. A great way to kick off our team journey.
Melanie Allen
One to One Coaching
One to one coaching - Manchester professional independent dancer
I travelled to Leeds from Greater Manchester over one year for three DCD* coaching sessions with Jo. The opportunity of these sessions came as I was recovering from what was a life changing injury and beginning to care more for my Dad who has Alzheimer’s. I remember enjoying making my way, firstly with a walking stick to sessions that gave me the opportunity to reflect positively on my situation. I could talk through the challenging experience of being a dancer who had to stop, suddenly a busy working life in dance and health and whose growing responsibilities meant that a rethink about this was needed. As my injury took its time to heal, this transition also took its time and during that I had the opportunity to discover new interests. Jo actively supported me in this which was a huge thing for someone who has worked for over twenty five years in dance and whose body and self belief had taken a knock.
I’m now teacher training in Mindfulness for Health. I run an informal Mindfulness Group and creative activities outdoors in my local area. I work as a movement and visual artist and am finding my dancing body again. All this I plan carefully around my caring role.
Thank you Jo, in a stormy time you helped set me off on a new exciting journey.
*DCD = Dancers Career Development
One to one coaching
Jo’s coaching sessions have been a wonderful help to me, by setting up the tools and skills I needed for future and current plans. She was brilliant in being efficient with the time we were given and making sure I achieved all my priorities for the sessions. Jo’s great with keeping communication and always there if you need to discuss things. Her positivity and enthusiasm is inspiring and motivating to help push myself for future endeavours.
One to one coaching - Leeds independent dancer
I was one of the first dancers at the new NHS dance injury clinic in London in 2012 with an injury which unfortunately worsened with complications, although symptoms eased after my year of treatment with the clinic, with the hope of performing again, it was not to be so with extra medical complications occurring later that year. I met Jo at a DCD Evolve event at Scottish Ballet in 2017 and went on to receive coaching from her at Northern Ballet. After one session I had, through her facilitation, turned around my perceived wasted years into consolidated learning and applied to do my masters degree in occupational therapy with a view to engage others in achieving what they are able to through healthcare education despite their disabilities.
Jo is an expert at facilitating change in perception of “inability” to “ability” and “can’t do” to “will do.” By the second session, I had actioned the confidence, problem-solving skills and positive thinking Jo had instigated in me through the previous session and am currently well on my way to my new career, supported by DCD.
Coaching with Jo was an indispensable part in this, providing the final push to achieve my transition by providing the none judgemental active listening and providing me with the reflective ability to recognise and action the skills I did not realise I had. Working with Jo took away the final barrier of fear to allow my next move in life and I recommend her for any coaching needs you may have.
One to one coaching
I thoroughly enjoyed and looked forward to my meetings with Jo she made me feel at ease, gave me confidence when I really needed it and brought clarity and order to my chaotic regime and life. On reflection the sessions were stretched over a massive developmental period of my life therefore I grew in experience which has taught me about prioritising my administrative duties, recognise my own strengths and delegate to others who are more suited to that role. Overall I have learnt to create awareness and take action to finding balance in my work and family life. Thank you.
One to one coaching
Thank you so much for the amazing session! It really brought to light the issues that were blocking me and catapulted me to a really great place. You’re amazing! May 2019
One to one coaching - Scottish Ballet Soloist
“When I first started working with Jo, I found myself in the place of knowing what I wanted to do, but without the ability to clearly identify the pathways in front of me that could take me there. Working with Jo provided me not only with the tools to learn to listen out for to those opportunities but to also learn to listen to myself. Coaching with Jo was not a hand holding experience where I was being blindly led, but a journey through which I was able to create options and ideas and furthermore access the tools needed to then navigate future journeys on my own. This ultimately gives value to the time spent together, and the coaching priceless.”
One to one coaching - Leeds dance industry
Jo’s coaching style is professional, engaged, energised, compassionate and supportive and I left each session feeling utterly validated………and empowered.
She is utterly committed to you as a client and whilst she never influenced my thinking, I felt expertly guided and supported by her. The sessions with Jo helped me to (re)define myself, to find strengths that I didn’t realise I had, and to let go of focussing on the things that are no longer either relevant or out of my power to change.
Thank you, Jo!
Team coaching
Jo recently facilitated a team session with us so that we could work closer and better as a team and to really challenge any team elements that weren’t working. The session was great, it enabled us to get to the root problem of what wasn’t working and to create a cohesive plan of how to integrate small changes into the team to fix some of the problems, and also to celebrate what is going well. The honesty and input was highly appreciated by all. I highly recommend Jo and found the session invaluable
Team, event and business facilitation
I have worked with Phoenix over the last 2 years on 3 separate occasions with 3 very different briefs: Team & Business facilitation; Event Facilitation and Team Development.
They have consistently exceeded expectations helping to shape the brief, challenge the individuals involved in a productive manner and provided a constructive and effective environment that delivered the desired results. They are also a pleasure to work with! I would recommend them for any type of event design and facilitation that you need to do.
Multiple partner organisations reflective session
Jo was brilliant from day one. Her thoughtful and methodological approach in engaging with each partner prior to the session was invaluable in the formation of the day.
The day itself was run with the right balance between collaboration and ensuring each partner was able to speak openly and honestly about the challenges they face. At the heart of this was the session that enabled each partner to reflect on the programme from each other’s perspective. There are clear actions that have come from the day and I believe the partnership is in a far better position as a result.
Facilitation
Team 3 day retreat
I hired Jo to facilitate a three day retreat for our team focused on team and trust building.
In the run up to the retreat, I found Jo efficient and responsive in her design of the agenda and enjoyed working with her to ensure it was relevant for all participants. Over the course of the three days, Jo demonstrated expert facilitation skills, adapting quickly to the needs of the group (and some adverse weather conditions).
Since the retreat, I have already seen the team using the frameworks and tools shared by Jo as well as actively considering theirs and others’ working styles. I would definitely recommend Jo.
Embedding values into the heart of our organisation
Jo’s approach was thoughtful and measured. She listens to the client brief then develops a proposal that delivers your objectives using your brief but her expertise, tested framework and her vast experience. The result is more than you thought you could achieve. At the same time, Jo is thoughtful about budgets, time and resource and never pushes the client beyond their capacity or resource.
The benefit of working with Jo for several projects is that she gets to know your organisation and they get to know how she works. This makes for enhanced outputs from any workshops or training Jo is facilitating.
I’d recommend using Jo not only for one off projects, but let her get to know your organisation and you will reap the benefits.
Team awayday with Insights Discovery
Jo recently facilitated an Insights session with my team on our annual away day, which the team found incredibly useful. The team had undergone some recent changes in staff and the session Jo crafted was really helpful in understanding personalities, dynamics and how we can work together better. She was great at the pre-planning and keeping us to clear deadlines for prep.
On the day, Jo was personal, motivating and it was a brilliantly set out session, guiding the team through their personal Insights/colours and how we interact as a team.
They have all come away hugely motivated!
Strategy development facilitation
Jo facilitated the innocent foundation’s five year strategy planning day in 2017. Her support in planning the agenda, pre-read and meeting content, and her appreciation of team dynamics were all invaluable.
It was very clear from our preparatory discussions that Jo has significant experience operating at a senior level in both the charity and commercial sectors, which was crucial to understanding how we operate as the board of a corporate foundation.
On the day, her relaxed but purposeful style worked brilliantly to get the best from everyone in the team and help us reach some major decisions.
Team dynamics
Jo recently facilitated a session for the Learning & Engagement team at Sadler’s Wells, exploring team dynamics as well as looking at tools for managing time and pressure at work.
The whole experience of working with Jo has been incredibly positive, from the first conversation discussing ideas for the session through to her expert facilitation on the day.
The session has led to a better understanding of the working styles across the team and we have already adopted some of the tools for time management that were looked at during the session.
Inspiring Communications team facilitation
Jo recently facilitated an Insights session with the communications department for our annual away day. The department had undergone some changes in staff and new teams joining the department so the away day was really important to bring everyone together to feel like one team and understand everyone’s working preferences.
I have worked with Jo for several years now because not only is she a real pleasure to work with but she delivers outstanding sessions that I always have such positive feedback from. The session Jo ran this time was really helpful in understanding personalities, dynamics and how we can work together as one team. She was great at the pre-planning and ensuring we had clear objectives for the session.
On the day, Jo was personal, motivating and it was a brilliantly set out session, guiding the team through their personal Insights/colours and how we interact as a department. It was a large team of people and Jo’s energy and enthusiasm meant that no one was sitting down for long and she kept the energy going with everyone all afternoon.
I’ve had great feedback from everyone that they really enjoyed the session and came away motivated and inspired.
Team development & Stakeholder influencing
I had worked with Phoenix a few years ago so got in touch with Jo to see if she could help with our team away day brief.
Objectives included getting to know each other better/bond the team, become better communicators, know how to adapt to different styles, and consider how best to influence key stakeholders.
From the moment I made contact with Jo she was proactive, professional and just brilliant to work with. Jo arranged a face to face meeting to really understand more about our requirements and very quickly ascertained how best to respond and what to deliver for us. We confirmed a full day Insights Discovery workshop with Jo and Adrian for our team of 50 people. Jo was in touch regularly in the lead up to the day to ensure that we got the maximum output and the workshop was bespoke and personalised to our team needs.
Our morning session of self diagnosing our own colour energies once we had learnt the key principles was hugely insightful and the afternoon session then allowed for real life scenarios and challenges to be addressed with these new principles in mind. The day was fun, engaging and energetic. Jo and Adrian are really thought provoking with their content and delivery. The feedback from the team has been nothing but positive and they have been sharing with each other how various subsequent conversations and meetings both internal and external have included take outs and learnings from the day.
I would highly recommend Phoenix to facilitate any business improvement session and look forward to working with Jo and Adrian again in the future.
Team development and coaching skills
Jo is a highly insightful and skilled facilitator who came with a multitude of tools with which to work with a group of academics who were all at different stages of their careers. We were focused on high impact team building and introducing coaching skills. The session planning was extremely thorough and Jo’s preparation meant that as a group we achieved so much in a short amount of time enabled by her wide range of skills. It was a really successful day, as a team we left feeling strong and assured. I would highly recommend Jo as both an excellent facilitator and positive insightful human being, we’ll certainly be inviting her to work with us again.
Team Creativity workshop
Jo ran an excellent creativity session with our media team as part of an away day. From the initial discussions right through to the session Jo understood what was needed and provided really insightful comments and additions to the plan for the morning.
I have worked with Jo over several years in a previous role and I’ve always been so impressed with her preparation and attention to detail when preparing for sessions. She interrogates you (in a good way!) to ensure she really understands the objectives and requirements for the day to ensure that the session is as productive and enjoyable as it can be.
The session Jo ran was to look at plans for the team for 2017 and we came away with some really interesting plans that the team feel excited about taking forward. Jo is very good at reading people and can sense when she might need to bring some energy to a session or adapts to ensure she works with the people in the room. My team came away from the session feeling inspired and motivated so I couldn’t be happier.
Team communication, motivation and time managementThe trainin