Laramy Starbuck has discovered powerful management tools thanks to SACAP’s online short course.
Laramy Starbuck, 37, loves to surf. While he dreamt of becoming an astronaut when he was a kid, he currently wishes he could become a beach bum. In his spare time of course! His real job as Systems Manager at 4C Group Of Companies keeps him very busy. “I manage an operational team and ensure all client service-level agreement obligations are met,” he explains. “I see that team members further their technical knowledge and reach their deadlines as well as monitor and implement change management, assist on technical escalations, grow client relationships and build architectural roadmaps for them.”
The IT firm’s wide technical scope – “We do it differently to other companies,” says Laramy – results in a faster solutions-driven experience, which ultimately makes clients happy. This upshot gives Laramy a deep regard for his job. “And the fact that employees aren’t just a number,” he adds.
Team targets
“I’ve been with the company for 13 years and I’ve watched it grow. I’d like to see my team get to a point where they work from 8am to 5pm and overtime hours are brought down to a minimum,” says Laramy. The knowledge he gleaned from SACAP’s Coaching in the Workplace online short course could be a valuable contribution towards achieving this goal. “Our HR department recommended I take the three-month course, which I completed in October last year.”
Laramy admits it was a bit of a juggle fitting the programme into his already busy schedule, but says the instructors made the learning experience very pleasant. “They really accommodated each student’s individual needs,” he says.
Group communication stands out as one of the course’s highlights for him. “Social interaction, which having now completed the course actually seems obvious, was explained in an easy-to-understand way,” he says. “The course’s practical component enabled us to apply and practice our new coaching conversation skills – this was extremely helpful, too.”
Consequently, Laramy feels the course continues to have an impact on what he is doing in the workplace today. “I gained skills in coaching rather than just managing, which brings great benefits especially when working with different personalities,” he says. “I supervise my manager better now and identify coaching opportunities when managing my team.”
Laramy believes the course provided loads of other team takeaways that he’s sure will go a long way towards nurturing an efficient team culture. “For example, I’ve always been good at knowledge sharing, this course taught me how to enable my employees to find solutions themselves rather than me simply giving them the answers.”
Future freedom
Five years from now Laramy hopes to build on the foundations he learnt on the course and focus on firming up the structure of his team. “Ideally the front leaders will be in manager positions themselves with me overseeing and guiding where applicable,” he says. This kind of streamlining supports Laramy’s vision of creating a highly effective performance-driven team with the delicious prospect of more free (surf) time.
How about you? Is work keeping you from doing the things you really love? Like Laramy you too can develop skills that will enable your employees to reach a higher level of performance and ultimately usher in more ‘me’ time. SACAP’s Coaching in the Workplace online short course is a 12-week programme that covers a range of coaching modules that will empower you – and others – to maximise potential. Small team tweaks really can make all difference. Want to know how? Enquire here now.