FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- What are the benefits of using battlefields as management development tools?
- Are you saying that the military has all the answers?
- How long do the workshops last?
- Do you have a set programme for your tours?
- Do you only cater for corporate clients?
- What format do the workshops take?
- What is different about your teambuilding events?
- Can spouses/partners come? What would they do?
- Do you do the ‘traditional’ battlefield tours?
- What is different about your battlefield tours?
- Do you do other types of management consultancy?
What are the benefits of using battlefields as management development tools?
In many respects battles provide a finite, short-term, concentrated illustration of many challenges facing organisations today. Dealing with fast-moving, chaotic events which require clear thinking and decision making, coping with ambiguity and stress, setting strong direction and leadership, motivating and inspiring, are common to the boardroom and the battlefield. Battlefields provide a living laboratory where large and complex organisations seek to assert their will in the most demanding of circumstances. As armies strive for supremacy, they employ many of the processes that private organisations use as they fight for commercial advantage.
Taking executives and senior managers out of the boardroom gives them the
opportunity to reflect on
their activities in the light of different experiences, to stand back from the
daily pressures of work and
to take a detached view which enables them to see things from a new perspective.
Fresh ideas on
meeting the challenges and opportunities relevant to both their organisations
and their personal styles
are brought to life through studying common problems through an uncommon
magnifying
glass.Are you saying that the military has all the answers?
Far from it. Apart from anything else, there is usually both a winner and a loser on the battlefield, so some military men don’t have the right answers anyway! What the battlefield offers is a highly focussed set of examples of practices relevant to modern management, such as decision making, planning, and so on. Because these events usually took place in a short time span, where the players were competing for the greatest prizes, the lessons are thrown into sharp relief and make a dramatic impact on the delegates. It is also true that there is as much to be learnt from the mistakes that were made as from the successes. In some areas, the military has as much, if not more, to learn from their commercial counterparts as the reverse. In this case, it is worthwhile examining the advantages of commercial practice and refining them.
How long do the workshops last?
How long does the client need to achieve the aim? We can provide a single-day event designed to usefully occupy a space during another programme (for example, a day out from a conference week which can highlight agenda topics by introducing another dimension, or provide a change of pace and subject matter). Or we can run a multi-day workshop or workshops to address a series of issues or an in-depth study of a particular subject. These do not all have to be done on location; preparatory or follow-up work could be done elsewhere, for example as a series of seminars or exercises to set the scene or to draw out relevant lessons from the actual battlefield.
Do you have a set programme for your tours?
Our programmes are developed to meet individual clients’ requirements, so in most cases they will differ. We are able to make suggestions as to the most appropriate venues and the length of time necessary to explore a variety of subjects such as leadership, motivation, and so on. We prefer to work with clients as a partnership to ensure that the best solutions are found, and recommend an early meeting to start detailed planning.
Do you only cater for corporate clients?
While much of our work is with corporate, as opposed to individual clients, we can and do work with both. The advantage to the corporate client is that the workshops can be closely tailored to their organisational needs; but the downside is that there is sometimes less ‘outside’, wider experience to bring to the workshop sessions. With individual clients it is sometimes possible to bring together a group of delegates who share similar interests. We can also provide one-to-one tutoring or mentoring visits which are the ultimate in tailored workshops, catering for just one executive or senior manager.
What format do the workshops take?
After an initial briefing to set the historical context, the delegates move to the area in which the battle took place. Part of the time there will be spent on the field and in seminars gaining an understanding of the events that took place, with particular emphasis on a facet of managerial competence. The topic is then pursued in open discussion and debate to explore the lessons that apply to the delegates’ organisations and work circumstances. For example, the issues around operational leadership during a particular battlefield event will be discussed on the site, before transferring them to the active learning environment of the seminar room to establish their relevance to today’s corporate environment. Carrying out the first part of this experience on the battlefield provides an in-depth understanding in a way that cannot be emulated elsewhere, and establishes a foundation of knowledge which can then be built upon to enhance delegates’ personal and professional competencies. As another example, amongst other areas of management concern, battlefield workshops lend themselves to teambuilding.
What is different about your teambuilding events?
Battlefield workshops can be a teambuilding event in their own right. Bringing a group of individuals together under novel circumstances often contributes to moulding them into a team, particularly if the experience is a memorable and moving one. We do not subscribe to the view that it is always necessary to make people cold, tired and wet (unless, of course, they will be expected to operate under these conditions thereafter), but the more memorable the event, the stronger it is for teambuilding. Few, if any, visitors to the battlefields are not moved by the experience, which gives them the opportunity for a moment of quiet introspection and contemplation of wider issues than those we face in daily life. This shared experience, together with being away from the work environment in the company of their colleagues, helps bring them together.
We can, however, go further than this by using the opportunity should the client wish it to use the
tour to highlight issues about teambuilding and team operating when preparing for, and fighting in,
battle. Consideration of what actions formed large groups of individuals into highly functional teams
before and during the fighting can enhance the lessons and experience of the visit, and can be
transferred back to the office or workplace.Can spouses/partners come? What would they do?
Of course. Some companies value integrating spouses and partners into company activities by giving them the opportunity to see and share the issues that their employees deal with. However, including spouses and partners may mean that the programme has to be adjusted to ensure that they are not over- involved and have some time off; after all, they are not the ones who are being developed. This type of event is usually less intensive than an unaccompanied workshop. It is possible to suggest a parallel programme for some of their time, for example to allow them sightseeing or shopping excursions while the delegates are working.
Do you do the ‘traditional’ battlefield tours?
Yes. With long experience of running the historical review battlefield tour, we can and do run this type of tour.
What is different about your battlefield tours?
With our background as professional military historians you are certain to get a thoroughly researched and authoritative view, both of the detail of the battle being studied and of its place in political, social and military history.
Do you do other types of management consultancy?
Mars Minerva concentrates on those aspects of management development that makes best use of the battlefield as a tool. Other areas, such as training needs analysis and course design, are dealt with by our associated company, Action in Business International Limited (www.axnbiz.com), through which we maintain our perspective on management issues.