4 Critical Steps in Cultivating Your Corporate Team
Developing a successful company starts with building your team, and the formula is easier than you think.
The other day a message came through from one of the networking sites I belong to. A business owner was looking for help in bringing his company personnel together. He was the CEO, and his biggest challenge was that there was a significant amount of complaints and fighting among the employees.
He received various responses from others in the network. Some I agreed with, some I didn't. One person I believe came the closest to effectively solving the problem. He suggested a sports analogy to get the most out of his team, but stopped himself and said it was a simplistic cliché.
First of all, I don't think it was cliché at all, and I don't think he stressed the point strong enough. Group dynamic is the same whether you are talking about a sports team or a business team.
In other words, if you understand what creates a world championship athletic team, you can apply those lessons to your business organization.
So let's look at what makes a team successful. First, you must establish if the players all have the same goal. A fragmented team of superstars has very little chance of success. Conversely, a team of less talented players who are on the same page can produce miracles
The example I will use here is the 2002 World Series Champion Anaheim Angels. Did you know they were called the scrap heap team? 7 out of the 9 starters on that team were released by other teams!
So how did this team of lackluster performers become world champions? First, the coach (or CEO if you wish) did a tremendous job of bringing his players together. From day one they all talked about what it was going to take to become world champions.
This was a very simple goal that everyone understood, agreed with, and put 100% focus into accomplishing. Identifying the goal and getting your players behind it must come from the top. This is the first critical step.
Obviously, it doesn't end here or else ultimate victory would occur more often, but it is probably no surprise that not every organization starts out with this philosophy. Stop and think to yourself, does yours?
The second critical step is determining what your player's strengths and weaknesses are. As the person responsible for the overall success of this team, you must place your people in the right positions in order to maximize their skills.
In other words you don't put your best pitcher at 2nd base when he should be pitching! Organizations are guilty of this all the time. It is natural for individuals to want promotions and grow, but often a so called promotion will lead to placement in a position the employee is not suited to handle. When that happens, it is up to upper management or the CEO in this case, to fully understand this concept and make a sometimes difficult re-assignment decision.
The third critical step is understanding that not everyone is going to be a superstar. There are skill differences, different backgrounds, education ect. Some will inherently contribute more than others. This is ok. Give your team members space to contribute in their own way as long as they are fully behind the overall goal, trust they will find a way to achieve success. Micromanaging creates uncertainty and kills motivation.
Remember, the top management must bring the team together. A system of encouragement for all involved in the goal must be implemented. Nothing will destroy an organization faster than sending the message that some are more valuable than others. Conversely, cheering all of your teammates gives everyone a huge psychological lift.
You're probably thinking right, but what if someone is not contributing, or worse, is actually trying to sabotage the team's efforts. I say no problem; groups are very effective at eventually weeding out or bypassing those that don't buy into the goal of the organization.
Critical step number four: When someone makes a mistake, it hurts everyone. You win or lose as a team. Yes, this person needs to know they made a mistake, but there is a right way and a wrong way for dealing with this. Degrading the individual will not insure the mistake won't be repeated.
If this individual cares about the organization and the overall goal, they are probably already aware of the damage they caused. It is up to the other members of the organization to try and fully identify why the mistake happened, and encourage an environment of learning from those mistakes.
Will following these steps insure success? Of course I will never make that claim. There could be a number of different issues within the business that prevents victory, but getting everyone working together for a common goal is a way of creating a positive environment.
This I believe will give you the greatest chance for team success.
© Michael Scadden, Speron Inc, MyPrivateCoach d/b/a 2004.
www.MyPrivateCoach.com
Michael Scadden is a Business & Marketing Coach at MyPrivateCoach.
He can be contacted at info@myprivatecoach.com.
He provides Business and Marketing Coaching programs.
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