Friday Footnote #25

Each week we share loads of content amongst Team ION and with our network. Content which inspires us, which we find helpful or that just makes us smile. We thought we would start sharing these insights every Friday. Welcome to Friday footnote!

Have ION Got News for You

This week saw the inaugural ION Zoom quiz take place. With questions covering everything from ION life to music, geography and science, quizmaster Adam put the team through their paces over 30 questions. Charlotte, with a little bit of help from her daughter, was the eventual winner. Well done Charlotte!

Keeping teams engaged in a virtual world is a hot topic at the moment. After the fun of the Zoom quiz, we are looking for our next ION virtual social. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Let us know in the comments or on social media.

Inspiration

• To foster innovation, cultivate a culture of intellectual bravery (Harvard Business Review)
• The 3 things that great teams have in common (TED)
• What is reflective learning? (ION)
• Multi-million pound digital boost in pipeline for South West Wales (Business News Wales)
• What it takes to give a great presentation (Harvard Business Review)
• How booting the commute could transform the Welsh economy (Business Live)
• How might organisations use storytelling to improve outcomes for both their customers and their business (Bromford Lab)

#WorkLifeBalance Week

This week is #WorkLifeBalance week. A healthy work-life balance is more important now than ever.

The importance of work-life balance was discussed during this week's ION Open Doors session with some really interesting insights from those on-screen about how they manage their work-life balance. Working from home has made the situation even more difficult for some, with it becoming increasingly difficult to separate work and home life when you are working in your dining room!  Walking the dogs, spending time with family, exercise and spending time in the beautiful Welsh countryside were all recurring themes of how people 'switched off' from work.  

This is something we have blogged about many times over the course of 2021:

• The Great Outdoors
• An Anglesey girls life in lockdown
• #WednesdayWalks
• Gwenllian's Walks

Support & Advice

• Join Business Wales (and us!) at the Mid & South West Regional Roadshow on 22 October to hear from keynote speakers, take part in workshops and explore and network in the virtual exhibition hall
• Focus Carmarthen Enterprise Hub has teamed up with BUCANIER and Web Adept to help you better understand the world of online trading and e-commerce on their Build a successful business online webinar
• Business Wales are running a series of interactive supply chain platform events with Transport Wales to help deliver and grow a diverse and sustainable supply chain.

Become an extraordinary leader

Due to popular demand, this week we announced our next ILM Level 5 Leading Growth programme which will start in July 2021. Places are expected to book up fast so we'd encourage you to check it out ASAP. 

Spaces continue to book up quickly on our upcoming leadership programmes, which due to the current coronavirus pandemic are currently taking place online until we are able to deliver face-to-face.

Don't forget, we can now offer our leadership programmes fully-funded until the end of August 2021. Check out our courses page to find out more about upcoming courses and get in touch with us if you have any questions.

Stay Safe

Team ION

PS - Missed previous #FridayFootnotes?