The Grid helps raise productivity and wellbeing at Network Rail

Grid Network Rail Mini Case Study*

The Internal Academy Coach

Ivan Beaumont, Coaching Academy Director at Network Rail

“We support anyone motivated to discover, unlock and realise their potential. We do this professionally, mindfully and with kindness. We just happen to do this as an internal coaching service over and above our contracted roles.

The ‘over and above’ aspect and our strategy to be professional, develop our capability and ethical maturity led me to a tool that could help maintain or enhance the well-being of our team and performance.

It needed to be simple to use, visual and able to integrate the things that typically led to anxiety, stress and conflict, for example, work and life balance, things that you need to do versus things you (often unconsciously) want to do, the activities that give you energy versus those that deplete it.

The Grid™ allowed us to integrate heart, mind and spirit

Therefore, it needed to be holistic, allow us to distinguish the wood from the trees and both hold our attention and bring attention. I introduced the Grid™ to the team via a masterclass. The Grid™ was integral to the process of bringing thinking and discovering wisdom together into one place.

From both a coaching and humanistic perspective the Grid™ allowed us to integrate heart, mind and spirit. It showed us the way and at the same time mapped our progress which is truly motivational. It transpired that it is also a fantastic map for use in supervision, encouraging reflective practice and leads to a kind, compassionate way of being. “

Network Rail Employee

Jeremmy Bullock, Programme Manager at Network Rail

“I was recommended the Get Productive Grid™ book by my coach at Network Rail. I’ve really enjoyed using the Grid™ system. It is deceptively simple and it’s only when you put it into practice that you realise how powerful it is.

One of the things it’s allowed me to do is ‘give myself permission’ to do things. I love finding those 10 or 15 minutes when I don’t want to start something new, but I’m not quite sure what to do.

I look at the Grid and identify a task I can complete which is usually a step toward a bigger goal. It gives a sense of satisfaction in a way that I don’t have to give a lot of time to, but allows me to continue moving forward on multiple fronts.

It gives a sense of satisfaction

Another thing I’ve really appreciated is the principle of breaking bigger goals down into their constituent parts. For example, on my first Grid™ there were two boxes which resolutely didn’t change status – i.e. I wasn’t doing them.

After a while I took a closer look and ended up breaking the individual tasks into 6 or 7 component parts each. I was then able to complete the activity by tackling each of the components one by one. One of my main successes, from that learning, was the recruitment of an individual into our team.

This is something that would normally have taken me a long time as I wouldn’t have prioritised the activity. However, because I had broken it down into easy to complete steps I had the whole thing done, from start to offer, within 2 weeks.

I’ve never done this before and was amazed at how quickly this helped me to do something that could otherwise have dragged on beyond a month / 6 weeks.”

A Note from Dr. Magdalena Bak-Maier, Grid™ Inventor and MTC Founder

The Network Rail story is very exciting for us because it shows the Grid’s potential to link and directly underpin a forward-thinking HR strategy.

Starting small, Ivan Beaumont first introduced the Grid™ using the book and training. Grid™ was then embedded with coaching. This low-cost, creative solution was low risk while quickly building internal champions for the method that can be quickly scaled up.

The immediate impact is evident from the coach who himself uses the Grid™, and Network Rail staff being coached.

We look forward to working with Network Rail in the future and can help you get started with: