In 2020 and 2021 and throughout the period of the global pandemic, firms were required to go to extraordinary lengths to keep their teams updated on what was happening across the business, because most team members were required to work from home and therefore not able to arrange their regular business touch points and check ins.
Innovation led the way and new opportunities were created to make sure good, clear and transparent communication took place.
Paradigm Norton initiated Partner Huddles, where we all met online to share updates from across the business.
Huddles have continued and have become an excellent mechanism for bringing the team up to date on what is happening across the business. All team members receive quarterly updates on the company’s finances, executive committee and board meeting outcomes, and news about new team members from The People Team.
We introduced ‘Meet a Partner’ which has become our online opportunity to meet a new team member and understand what really makes them tick. It has become a session of ‘would you rather’? – a somewhat condensed repeat of their interview questions, but this time in front of all of their colleagues!
Team Days
We have always been great believers in the value of team days and have typically arranged an annual team day since 2005.
More recently, and partly because of our growth to a team of 90+ partners, we are regularly reminded of the importance of the whole team meeting more regularly. We therefore now operate three team days a year – in April, July and October.
At Paradigm Norton, we believe that team days and good communication are essential for building a strong and successful team. Team days help us to get to know each other better, build relationships, and have fun.
They also give us a chance to step away from our day-to-day work and focus on our team goals. Good communication helps us to stay informed, feel valued, and make better decisions. It also helps us to resolve conflict and build trust.
The summer Team Day always has a few fun components and this year we held an old-fashioned school sports day. The level of competition was fierce, but there can only be one winning team. Well done to the team leaders Hannah and Dave for guiding the yellow team to a clear victory.
At the end of the day, we enjoyed the opportunity to ride on a mechanical bull. Well done to Steve Watters for his preparedness to stay on at all costs. Think his dizziness cleared up after a few days!
Team days are a wonderful opportunity for meeting new team members, sharing important information and updating the business on how we are tracking against our formal and informal targets.
The theme of the summer team day was based around Will Guidara’s book – Unreasonable Hospitality. In 2017, Eleven Madison Park – the restaurant under Will’s leadership – was named the best restaurant in the world, legendary for its memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality as much as for its food.
Will’s book is the ultimate masterclass on how to thoughtfully improve the lives of those around you and shows us how to lead and to serve at the next level by building a foundation of hospitality and creating a people-first “working together” culture.
The challenge to us as a business is how we deliver unreasonable service to our clients, day in, day out. We are starting to note down client stories of where our team have gone way past what might be expected of them in trying to make a client’s experience and interactions with us truly memorable.
Our 2030 Picture of Success
In October our team day theme was ‘Our 2030 Picture of Success’ – where we shared with the full team our future business strategy. We had previously asked all team members to record a short video on their phones on how they see the future of the firm playing out and what additional services we should consider, to meet the changing needs of our clients.
Our future business strategy is built around the acronym of IMPACT. – Innovation, M&A, Philanthropy, Amplify and Brand Building, Coaching and all supported by our Target Operating Model.
The October 2023 Team Day was the start of the process of unpacking and starting to implement our new strategy, which augments our current change plan and road map.
We will be looking for engagement and involvement across the business. There are a number of areas of delivery and implementation where the team have already indicated a preparedness to help or lead.
