Don’t take our word for it, check out what our happy clients have said about us!
Team Coaching
One to One Coaching
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.
Team coaching and capability development
I invited Jo to support my efforts to improve my team’s ways of working as part of our transformation journey into a high performing team. one. Jo came in initially and explored what the end outcome would look like. She processed this information into a program which met my needs and was endorsed by the team. Working with Jo has been great as she’s taken a coaching style to draw out the best in all of us through out the program. She’s provided some stretch tasks and have the ability to help you develop your own solutions rather than text book type ones. Jo took a holistic approach to addressing our needs and was flexible with the plan – really ensuring in was customized to address our concerns. Jo is great facilitator, coach and trainer all packaged in one.
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.
Coaching success
I found Jo through recommendation – I was looking for a coach to accompany a trainee in my organisation to find more focus and perspective on the work he does with us. Jo was great to work with, very approachable, I could speak frankly with her about the context and the employee in question, and completely trusted her when I handed over the conversation to remain with the person she was coaching.
We had agreed on doing a minimum of 3 sessions, followed by 2 more if needed, but Jo’s coaching combined with my colleague’s motivation and astuteness meant we reached results faster than expected so only 3 sessions were needed.
Jo has a really good personal understanding of people, and an effective way of guiding them through learning which can then be applied in the workplace. She has a great professional approach and it was a pleasure to work with her – I hope to do so again!
High Performing Teams: Exec Team Coaching
Jo recently designed and led a series of four workshops with UnLtd’s Exec team with her colleague Isabel.
Both Jo and Isabel were brilliant throughout – understanding our needs and aspirations, keeping in close contact with me – including guiding and flexing plans as needed. They provided outstanding design, facilitation and support. They offered a depth and range of expertise and tools that have enabled us to flow with whatever was most needed at each particular phase of our development and progress as we sought to become a high performing team. They held our feet to the fire and kept us honest on process, content and values.
Jo and Isabel celebrated with us and inspired us – as well as enabling us to fully appreciate each other. Jo is truly a master of her art.
Team coaching - Senior management team
Save the Children UK’s Global Programmes Management Team (responsible for £300m of annual programming) spent six months working closely with Phoenix to improve our team working, communications and mutual accountability. We benefited greatly from having two well matched facilitators who took us through a structured but flexible journey of self-analysis, trust and risk taking. The positive feedback from the wider senior leadership team is testament to the distance we have travelled and the strengthened relationships we have to go even further. Many thanks Phoenix!
Coaching for professional dancers with the DCD
Testimonials from my dancer clients, working the DCD:
“My session with Jo was life changing. It helped me in my development but also helped find a new enjoyment in dancing.” Scotland
“Had a fantastic coaching session with Jo Wright from DCD Dancers at BRB this week.” Birmingham
Senior Leadership team development
Phoenix helped us translate a number of areas we wanted to explore as a senior team, into a focused agenda. They helped create and shape an agenda that gave us the time and space to focus on us as a team, to have open and honest discussions about key topics, and provide creative solutions and activities to help move us forward as a team as part of a 2 day team development session. This led to us having a series of open, honest and engaging conversations where we collectively reached alignment on a number of things which we solved / resolved in the team development session, or gave us the space and stimulus to move things forward back in the office environment.
For our size of group, we really benefited from having 2 facilitators, both of which brought different things to the group dynamic. Having independent facilitators also meant they could push us where they felt we were holding back, and offer suggestions from their breadth of experiences.
We found the session hugely beneficial and would highly recommend Jo and her colleagues.
High Performing Teams - Executive Board
UnLtd is the foundation for social entrepreneurs, finding and supporting the best talent in the UK to tackle the most pressing social challenges in the country and doing so in ways which are sustainable and impactful. We are a highly ambitious organisation, innovating new models, and building an ecosystem of support capable of tapping the full potential of social entrepreneurs.
Our top team has worked brilliantly on their individual functions. But we wanted to go further, with fluid teamwork, bringing all the skills and styles to bear on the whole of our mission.
Jo and Isabel from Phoenix Training and Coaching had an immediate grasp of our challenge, asking the acute questions which got to the heart of our starting point and goals. Their session design rapidly built from the fundamentals of personal communication styles, to trust building, and on to using specific, real projects to identify the behaviours and approaches that would work for us.
Many team development approaches feel great on the day but rapidly lose impact afterwards. Phoenix were different – they changed our “normal”. They left us with commitments, tools and gut level understanding to make our team truly high performing. If you want real, lasting results, I thoroughly recommend them.
Team Development and flexibility
I’ve been delighted to work with Jo over the last couple of years in two very different organisations, with different cultures and priorities.
Her experience, care, insight and flexibility make her an ideal partner to help explore challenges and build a team.
Everyone will come away from a session with Jo having learnt something – about themselves or others – that will stay with them for a long time
Facilitation
International girls' education seminar planning & facilitation
Board of Trustees effective communication
I am confident that our investment in Jo and Insights will reap rewards in how we communicate with each other better, consider more fully the needs of other team members and give due consideration to how each of us can improve our impact by understanding better the communication preferences of others.
I’m very happy to highly recommend Jo and the Insights methodology.
Insights Discovery workshop
“Jo ran an Insights Discovery workshop for a group of new senior managers recently. The event was fantastic. All attendees have commented afterwards how great it was and how much they have learnt and are already putting it into practice.
Its always such a pleasure working with Jo. Thank you”
Team awayday with Insights Discovery
We asked Jo to run a team-building workshop with the new Artist Liaison team – a group of nine eager and energetic people of mixed ages and varying experience including the Head, Manager, Officers and assistants. Having identified key areas of development, the aim was to help the team communicate effectively, build a sense of self and pride in achievement and ability, and to encourage effective problem- solving. This was set against the background of the values and principles of behaviour that underpin the business.
Jo worked to this brief and facilitated a four hour workshop that was fun, active and highly productive. She used a mixture of Jung’s analytical psychology, emotional intelligence and her wealth of experience to help us understand basic differences in working and communication styles; how to build trust and work in an open and honest way and how to develop strategies to build a creative, high performing team.
Jo quickly gained the confidence and trust of the group and encouraged equal participation throughout the workshop. She encouraged self-awareness through discovering individual strengths and weaknesses and how both opposite and complementing traits can be made to work in a group with shared objectives. As the workshop progressed, so did the group’s co-operation, participation and understanding.
There is no doubt the team came away motivated, purposeful and determined to perform both individually and as a collective. They felt positive in their own personal development and in the commitment of the business to help them perform to their best ability.
Technology team development - awayday
On the day Jo worked with Adrian and Isabel to facilitate an energising and thought provoking session. They worked hard to ensure all my staff remained engaged, focused and importantly had fun. There was a palpable buzz during the session which remained when we returned to the office.The day was extremely successful with many of the team telling me how it changed the way they thought not only about the way they worked together as a team but also how to be more effective in their communication with their stakeholders. I could not have asked for more and the ideas and areas of focus that we concentrated on during the session are still being referenced by members of my team.In conclusion I would heartily recommend Jo and her team.
Mark Hoult-Allen
Phoenix Training & Coaching delivered a session for Comic Relief’s Grants Operations Team – it was extremely positive and productive. The focus of our session was to develop the Grants Operations Team’s understanding of the team members’ own preferred working styles and how others may be similar or different, with the intention of helping the team communicate and work more effectively with each other and with key stakeholders or internal clients.
Feedback from the team, after the session, has been very positive and team members have been actively using their understanding of insights to engage with colleagues in a different way – and this has already delivered benefits. We are committed to placing our Insights understanding at the heart of how we engage with others (both internal and external) to ensure that we get the best from our interactions.
Jo Wright, our facilitator, was excellent and delivered a well devised session that enabled the Grants Operations Team to engage and feel comfortable throughout. I would have no hesitation in recommending Jo (as a facilitator) of Insights to another organisation.
Team development
Macmillan Cancer Support
Our team really enjoyed taking part in the session prepared and delivered by Jo around individual behavioural preferences and their impact in the workplace. It was highly interactive, engaging and thought-provoking. Jo’s enthusiasm and facilitation style helped everyone feel relaxed and open up.
N Dickinson
Jo ran a dynamic, interactive and practical ‘Insights’ training session for FOCUS. Her enthusiasm and skill at dealing with multiple personality types with varying cultural backgrounds was superb. We were each left with a better understanding of our own working style and preferences as well as that of our colleagues. With this understanding Jo taught us how we can recognise when to adapt our style and therefore work more effectively both individually and as a team. I would highly recommend this ‘Insights’ workshop to any team.
Melanie Allen