Want capable people managers who lead with impact?
BUILD A
THRIVING TEAM
"Bad managers cost businesses billions each year"
Source: Gallup
Source: * Chartered Management Institute | ** Gallup | *** Society for Human Resource Management
70%
of the difference in why teams thrive or not, is determined by the manager!**
HALF
of people have left jobs because of a bad manager*
(I'm one of them)
25%
more revenue per employee, in teams with great managers**
84%
of workers say poorly trained managers create a lot of unnecessary work and stress***
8 in 10
managers get promoted into a management position without any management training*
great managers, thriving teams
Most managers are promoted because they excel at their job.
But leading a team? That’s an entirely different skillset.
Think about it:
-
How do you motivate someone who just isn’t engaged?
-
What’s the best way to handle performance issues or team conflicts?
-
And how do you inspire accountability, ownership, and growth in your team?
Without the right training, these challenges can feel overwhelming.
Good News: Team Leadership Skills Can Be Learned!
With Spark Unlimited's "Build a Brilliant Team" training program, your managers will develop the practical skills to:
-
Lead with confidence.
-
Handle people challenges effectively.
-
Build high-performing and motivated teams
"We promoted him because he was really good at his job. But now he's struggling. And so is his team."
You hear it all the time: people managers feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and unsure of what to do. And when managers struggle, their teams feel it too—low engagement, rising absenteeism, unresolved conflicts. Before you know it, these problems land squarely on HR’s plate.
Bad managers are expensive. Let’s face it: people leave bad bosses, not jobs.
When managers feel frustrated, teams disengage, performance tanks, and turnover suffers. The cost? Lost talent, lost time, and lost business.
Something’s got to change. It’s time to give managers the tools to thrive.
Skills like delegation, giving feedback, coaching, and team-building aren’t just "nice-to-haves". They’re essentials for creating thriving teams.
The good news? These skills are learnable. Managing people isn’t an innate talent; it’s a trainable craft.
Investing in your managers is investing in your business. Because great managers create thriving teams. And thriving teams drive business growth.
How it just gets worse...
✅ You've got an online learning platform, but no-one is actually completing any courses.
✅ You've tried hiring more experienced managers, but they are difficult to find and expensive. Internal candidates feel missed out and are demotivated.
✅ Reason for leaving: "my line manager".
✅ Grievance procedures are getting more common, with cases that could have easily been avoided if they were managed properly.
✅ Absence is increasing. It's costing money.
✅ There are some unacceptable behaviours that need to be managed. Urgently.
✅ Teams are not functioning well because they are missing proper leadership. It's having an effect on business performance.
BUILD A
THRIVING TEAM
The complete "Team Management Essentials" training programme, for businesses who want effective managers and thriving teams
SO WHAT WILL WE COVER?
👇 CHECK OUT THE COURSE CONTENTS 👇
✅ Why leadership starts with you
✅ Your role as a leader. Your mindset, your mindtraps.
✅Do you really own your role? How do (you want) others to see you?
✅ Get to know yourself: your strengths, pitfalls and values.
✅ Your impact on others
✅ Why it’s normal to worry about difficult conversations
✅ Making a difference between “addressing behaviour” and “giving feedback”
✅ Know how to deal with the reaction of the receiver (that's the tricky bit)
✅ A handy checklist for brain-friendly feedback
✅ Practice, practice, practice
✅ No team leadership without delegation (because why would you need a team?!
✅ Overcome the reasons that stop you from delegating
✅ Different people need different things at different times.
✅How to flex your leadership style?
✅ How to build a team that takes ownership (so it's not all on you)
✅ Be aware the power of a group!
✅ Recognise how teams go through stages and know what is required from you as a leader in each stage
✅ Build a team that's inclusive, where people feel they belong, also when you are remote, or a hybrid team.
✅ Get the tools a team coach uses
✅ Experience the power of coaching
✅ Learn to listen properly: master the most underrated & important communication skill
✅ Ask good questions
✅ Be aware of your Advice Monster
✅ Apply structure to make sure your conversation is an effective one
✅ Giving clear direction and Setting priorities. Ruthlessly!
✅ KPI's and keeping on track
✅ Powerful 1:1's, consistently
✅ Building systems
✅ Clarity on accountability
✅ Performance management (When is it time to let go?)
✅ The power of recognition Celebrate success!
All sessions can be delivered Face to Face or Online on Zoom
recommended OPTIONAL EXTRA'S
✅ Bring your practical day-to-day issues to the group for facilitated group mentoring
✅ 90 minute sessions
✅ Using the wisdom of the group
✅ Apply and embed your learning
✅ Keep the momentum going and build an even stronger peer network
✅ Some issues have nothing to do with skills but are in people's head.
✅ Managers might feel stuck, or can’t stop themself overworking. They mights struggle to delegate for wanting to keep control
✅ Mind training for mental fitness helps them get unstuck and overcome obstacles
AT THE END OF THE PROGRAMME YOU'LL HAVE
1
Confident Managers
Equipped with practical skills and strategies to handle tough conversations, delegate effectively, and inspire their teams with clarity and ease.
2
THRIVING
TEAMS
That are engaged, collaborative, and motivated, working together seamlessly to meet goals and tackle challenges
3
BETTER
BUSINESS
Improved performance, stronger employee retention, and a culture where productivity and innovation thrive
HOW IS this training programme different?
🤓 Attendees walk away with new skills. Not just knowing how to do something but actually doing it (Ever tried to learn speaking French from reading a book? Indeed, you need to DO it!)
👌 It's a "proper" training programme. Which means practicing, making mistakes and improving. Not listening whilst going through e-mails.
💷 A lot of value, for the attendees AND your business. Gallup research shows: 25% more revenue in teams with great managers.
😀 It'll be interactive, we'll have fun and everyone will join in. Not a boring webinar whilst the participants are check e-mails. Or an online -at your own pace- training that no-one actually does.
🤝 Participants will be working together and practice with their fellow learners, so they expand their network and learn from each other (who all struggle with the same things!). A strong network helps your business.
❤️ Your trainer, Marlies, has lead many (MANY!) teams. She knows what it feels like to lead a team! She'll be using practical and relevant examples.
What others said
About Marlies
Your trainer is Marlies Butterworth, founder of Spark unlimited .
Marlies has managed every kind of team you can think of. A large team of factory workers, a small team of professionals, project teams (with no formal reporting lines), a whole department spread over Europe, a team of managers of managers (of managers). And everything in between.
She knows great teams don’t just happen, and people don’t perform at their best by accident. You have to step into your role, create the right conditions, and make it happen. When you do? That’s when people thrive.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHO IS THE PROGRAMME FOR? The programme has been developed with new(ish) managers in mind, as it covers all the essential skills to set them up for success with their teams. So I'd say up to 3 years experience. Having said that: I am 100% convinced ANY manager or professional (think sollicitors, doctors etc) would benefit as so many of us never covered the basics properly. To give an example: even the most seasoned managers still find it difficult and struggle with having those difficult conversations and still don't know how to tackle those confidently.
HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN JOIN THE TRAINING? I want te keep things as interactive as possible, with time for practicing, discussions and personal attention, so 12 participants is perfect.
HOW LONG WILL THE PROGRAMME BE? I.E. HOW FAR APART SHOULD THE SESSIONS BE? We'll plan the dates together, so you will have full control. I would recommend to keep them about 4-6 weeks apart. We want to keep the momentum going. Which means the programme will be 6-8 months long.
CAN WE DO THE TRAINING PROGRAMME ONLINE? We certainly can! Tried and tested. It may be better to do it in 2 half days. Apart from that: online sessions will be as interactive and practical as the face to face ones. The only caveat: I work EITHER with everyone online (logged in individually) OR with everyone face to face. No hybrid working from that perspective.
ALL-DAY SESSIONS SEEM LONG, CAN WE MAKE IT SHORTER, 90 MINUTES OR SO? I can see you might worry about short attention spans or the amount of time that needs to be carved out of the diary. I get you! And yet, I'd like people to really immerse themselves in the training. To learn actual new skills, not halfhartedly do something on the side. And to have time to practice. It's what makes ALL the difference. The training has been designed to really draw people in the programmme. I promise, the time will fly by. No Zoom/ training fatigue! If you do want something short & snappy, have a look at the "workshops" section.
WILL YOU RECORD THE ONLINE TRAINING? In principle not. I want to make sure everyone feels safe to share their stories and recording the session will not encourage that. They will get a useful handout though, in which participants will find all the information they need. However, if one of the participants can't make it, we can decide to record one of the sessions if all others agree.
WHAT IF ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS LEAVES THE BUSINESS DURING THE PROGRAMME? If someone is leaving, you can let someone else participate instead. The modules are easy to follow without prior knowledge. To "cath up" some extra 1:1 coaching may be useful.
WHAT'S THE REASON YOU ARE RECOMMENDING GROUP MENTORING AND INDIVIDUAL MIND TRAINING? 👉 The group sessions so the participants can practice, discuss, reflect and help each other with their newly learnt skills. Another reason is to build an even stronger peer-to-peer network. One thing participants ALWAYS say is how useful it is to know they are not alone with their struggles and to share their experiences. It keeps people engaged in the programme even more. 👉 The individual mental training because I see so often that managers stumble into personal issues, e.g. they struggle to give up control. And that impacts how they manage their team (no-one likes a micro manager!). Clearing the negative belief or blockage may we what's needed as well as learning how to do it. It complements each other!
CAN WE ADD OTHER TOPICS TO THE PROGRAMME? Yes you can, let's discuss. The current modules are "off-the-shelf" and any additional modules would need to be designed specifically.
WHAT ARE THE COSTS? Can't tell you exactly at this stage because it depends on the group size, whether you want it online or Face to Face, where you are located and if you want to go for any extra's. And of course if I think whether this is the right thing for your business. After we have had a chat I'll send you a quote so you can make an informed decision. What I can tell, because this is a programme that's readily designed, it will be competitive.
About Us
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BUILD A
THRIVING TEAM
The complete "people management essentials" training programme, for businesses who want effective managers and thriving teams
✅ 6 sessions
✅ All the essential skills for team management
✅ Interactive, fun and walk away with new skills
✅ Option to include Mind training and Group Mentoring
In 6-8 months to
✨ Confident Managers
✨ Thriving teams
✨ Better business
SPARKED YOUR INTEREST?
This is how it works 👇
1. SOUNDS GOOD
I've Sparked your interest
This is where you have decided that what you read or heard, resonated.
Contact me and let's move things forward 👇👇
2. Spark Check
Chemistry call
We'll have a 30-ish minute chat (free of course), to see if there's a spark. I'll assess and be honest about whether I think I can help and whether I'm the right person for you.
3. ACTION
Let's go!
You have decided you want to work with me, yay!Well do the paperwork, agree a date...and it's all ready, set, go!
CONTACT
Liked what you read? Let's see if there's a spark!
Contact Marlies at Spark unlimited here.
Spark unlimited is based in Reading, UK (close to London). Marlies operates all over Europe, online or face-to-face. In Dutch or English.
Call, text or e-mail:
+44 (0)7812 180719
