Rubicon Associates offers consultancy, facilitation and education in the following areas of management. Please get in touch to discuss your own requirements!

Lean Thinking for Work Process Transformation

"Lean thinking" is the name which was given by researchers to the radically different approach to production which achieved dramatic improvements in productivity, quality and responsiveness in the Japanese auto industry, and has since been extended into large areas of manufacturing and beyond. It has been described as "the business model for the 21st Century". Lean production is fundamentally distinct from conventional 20th-century mass production, just as mass production was distinct from its earlier craft-based predecessors.

For much more on our work with Lean, please click on the Lean button on the left of the screen.

Organisation Design for Optimum Performance

All too often, organisational structures are designed without any clear methodology or rationale, on the basis of historical, functional or "political" considerations. This rarely produces a design which optimally supports the work process itself. Rubicon uses a powerful and consistent approach based on the clear principles of P.C.Schumacher's Work Structuring, which identifies "Whole Tasks" within the process and matches these to integrated, multi-skilled teams which are then empowered through devolved planning and evaluation to pursue continuous improvement. At the same time, the management, support and informational structures are matched to the core process in the most effective way. 

A range of simple but effective tools and techniques are here employed in:

To read more about this approach, click here.

Integrated Learning for Management Development

Conventional training courses frequently fail to produce the intended benefits because they cannot bridge the "Learning Gap" between what is learned and what is actually applied back in the workplace. Rubicon's answer to this is "Integrated Learning" in which the work system itself - in all its various aspects - becomes the context and content of the learning process. This approach leads us to design and deliver work-based and project-based management development programmes which ensure that the benefits of new skills and behaviours flow directly into the participants' daily practice.

The areas covered by such programmes include:

If you would like to know more, read the article on Integrated Learning by Steve Briault.

Relationship Building for Mutual Value Creation

The value streams which Lean thinking identifies, almost always cross a large number of intra- and inter-company boundaries in order to deliver a product or service to the final customer. On the way, many transactions and hand-offs take place. The effectiveness of these and the relationships surrounding them will always affect the customer experience and the profitability of the supply chain. Therefore Rubicon is concerned to help clients build the right quality of relationships both within and between organisations. This involves us in coaching and facilitating in the areas of:

To read more about what we offer in these areas, click here.

Career Counselling for Dynamic Development

Rubicon consultants have worked in the field of career development for over 15 years. We offer the following services:

The career development services we offer are not only for those wanting to change their job or career field, but also for those who have found their vocation and who are looking for ways to develop themselves and identify new goals within their field of work.

In the one-to-one career counselling we address a whole range of issues: from assisting you to identify your values, mission and life goals to practical issues such as researching the options, tackling obstacles and improving your interview skills.

Our services can be customized to suit your situation and needs. We use a wide range of approaches and exercises, including, on occasion, the arts and movement, to encourage creativity and to view the future from unusual angles.

Our approach is a developmental and non-directive one where rather than making suggestions or pointing the way, we strive to ask helpful questions, to act as a sounding board, encourage you to look at things in new ways, and challenge you to become the best you can be.

To read Steve Briault's article on Finding One's Place, click here.

Passion Based Hiring for Optimised Recruitment

Passion Based Hiring is an approach to recruitment and selection that focuses on motivation as much as skill. Employee selection procedures typically focus on skills, knowledge, attitudes (usually assessed implicitly rather than directly) and credentials. Although these criteria are important, it makes sense to put equal effort into analyzing potential employees’ values, beliefs and interests, and to place more emphasis on the direct assessment of attitude. Two of the main reasons why these shifts in emphases are advantageous:

The Passion Based Approach can be used to:

The bare bones of the Passion Based Hiring process are as follows:

During the last couple of years Rubicon has pioneered the introduction of Passion Based Hiring in the UK. We have been trained by and work closely with Dr Dave Redekopp, the Canadian developer of this approach.

Developmental Coaching for Optimal Performance

Coaching plays a key role in the majority of the settings in which we are asked to work. As Rubicon consultants we are continuously upgrading our coaching skills and knowledge of the field, as part of our ongoing professional development.

The coaching we offer falls into the following areas:

                        Negotiation

                        Relationship Building

                        Partnership Building

                        Mediation & Conflict Resolution

                        Time Management

                        Management & leadership skills

                        Change Management

Coaching for performance improvement is suitable for people who are struggling with aspects of their current role, or for example find themselves somewhat out of their depth in a new role. The issues addressed in a coaching session can be diverse: for instance preparing for a difficult meeting with a client, or improving one’s skills in organising one’s work.

The coaching sessions that we offer as part of a management development training programme are aimed at assisting individual managers and senior executives to implement new learning, and at encouraging them to identify and work on specific areas for development.

We offer 360 degree feedback as a specific coaching tool. This involves collecting feedback on a range of management skills and behaviours from the manager’s staff, clients, colleagues and their boss which we collate and feed back and work on with the individual recipient. (The feedback given is confidential and is delivered in a way that specific feedback cannot be attributed to specific individuals) The results of 360 degree feedback offer excellent material for fast-track professional development.

Coaching in Specific Skills: The Rubicon team have a wealth of specialist knowledge and skills which we can draw on for those who wish to be coached in a specific area of skill, such as negotiation.