UK Enterprise 2020

212 | UK Enterprise Awards 2020 Open Square is on a mission to equip leaders and teams within the IT sector with the skills and knowledge to succeed and scale in a period of change that has been described by the World Economic Forum as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Leading the way is Juliet and Stephen Morris, who founded Open Square in order to help leaders to build adaptable, fearless and engaged teams that truly drive organisations forward. We profiled the firm to discover how they have established a reputation in the industry for being one of the best leadership and agile coaching providers operating today. Best Leadership & Agile Coaching Provider 2020 Jun20535 As leaders in IT find themselves and their teams increasingly challenged by relentless waves of changing technology, complex issues and growing customer demands, the impact for many companies in the industry is operating in high-change environments can be detrimental. Open Square was created to combat this phenomenon, offering the right skills, leadership practices and agility to enable teams to thrive and enjoy success in their respected sector. Based in Hampshire, the leadership and agile consultancy was established in 2018 by Juliet and Stephen Morris, who realised that despite the multitude of delivery frameworks, team practices and management approaches available, they all seemed to lack in different aspects. There was a great deal of wasted time, finger-pointing and reliance on reactive responses, that in turn led to distrust, poor morale and customer disengagement. As such, the mission for Open Square was to make trust, autonomy and openness the default style of leadership in IT, as it is successful organisations that prioritise these elements. By focusing on engagement, environment and potential of their teams, these organisations have been able to thrive through periods of complex change to deliver an exceptional service to their customers. Typically, Open Square meet five challenges facing IT leaders; meeting increasing customer demands, embracing rapid technology changes, building or healing business relationships, attracting expert people and engaging teams in a way that makes them step up and become autonomous. Open Square have cultivated a variety of services to tackle these challenges. For instance, their core solution, the Open Leader MethodTM, combines their services into a structured targeted programme. Designed from the ground up, the programme provides IT leaders with the knowledge and practical tools to help their teams face these challenges with a blend of training, personal coaching and on-site engagement that has been proven to deliver results. Working with IT leaders in both large corporate organisations and tech start-ups or SMEs, as well as non-IT leaders in similarly changeable environments, success at Open Square is measured by the clients’ achievements, rather than the extension of contracts at any cost. Every project’s journey begins with a zero-pressure consultation to discover the client’s current circumstances and goals, followed by an opportunity for the client to see Open Square in action. In this way, the client is able to ensure they are getting exactly what they need out of Open Square, and the firm is able to tailor their solutions to the client. With a guarantee of openness, transparency and respect, Open Square requires that their clients are to be similarly engaged and open to stepping out of their comfort zones. It is through a collaborative effort that Open Square is able to deliver the best results. Even prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, Open Square were helping clients operate in unprecedented and changeable times. The World Economic Forum described the current climate as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, summarising it as “interacting with other socio-economic and demographic factors to create a perfect storm of business model change in all industries, resulting in major disruptions to labour markets”. This has resulted in an increased use of new technology, such as the Cloud, 5G, Artificial Intelligence and much more, combined with some radically different ways of working. Open Square have noted that for the organisations that have already recognised the need to prioritise leadership skills, these changes represent major opportunity. The companies that attempt to meet these changes with stoicism and robust, hierarchical processes may not thrive in the same way. Open Square will remain a vital asset to the UK economy as they help companies face increasingly challenging times ahead, whether it be due to technological advancements or the impact of COVID-19. Ultimately, Open Square will be sure to make the most of these opportunities to thrive and continue in its development. Company: Open Square Limited Name: Juliet & Stephen Morris Telephone: 0333 987 5252 Web Address: https://opensquareconsulting.com/