Saturday July 23, 2011
Why are some organisations able to mobilise their people almost effortlessly while others fail?
What are the key factors that truly separate the good companies from the great ones?
If you want to build the best possible team for your organisation, then you must embody the following three critical factors: levitation, expectations and communication.
Levitation
Levitation is about a company’s vision and mission. Does your organisation have one? Your vision is the destination. Your mission decides how you get there. Let’s assume your organisation has a vision and mission statement. Does everybody in the organisation believe and act in accordance with the vision and mission?
Your vision and mission is not just a statement that gets plastered on the office wall. It is not just something that the founders or top management of the company craft out. It must be a living, breathing organism within the entire organisation. The attitudes, behaviours and actions of every single person in the organisation must resonate with the company’s vision and mission.
Additionally, you have to create an environment where “doing it” is more important than not doing it. This helps to create alignment and focus within the entire team.
Lastly, how often is the vision and mission communicated? Do not expect the vision to be self-sustaining. You have to remind your people constantly about what they are striving for.
Expectations
Expectations deals with two aspects: management’s expectations of the team and the team’s expectations of management.
Management’s expectations
These come in three forms:
1. Roles and responsibilities - Your team members need to be crystal-clear on their tasks and their KPIs (key performance indicators). Do they know what and how their performance will be measured by?
2. Initiative and authority - Once they know their roles and responsibilities, team members need to exercise initiative and authority to carry out their work.
Most people do not like to be micro-managed. The fact of the matter is that once the job is given to them and expectations are clearly communicated, trust your team to turn in a good job. And more often than not, they do.
3.Growth - In today’s fast-paced world, you cannot afford not to grow. Your organisation should foster a positive learning environment where everyone is encouraged to be bigger and better every day. This means upgrading of knowledge and skills. You could have a Book Review Day, for example, where each team member reviews a book he has read.
Team’s Expectations
These are expressed in two forms:
1. Competent leadership - The management has to set the direction, the tone and the steps to achieve the company’s goals.
Have your “game” figured out early on and then get your team to execute the plans. A point to remember is that you should never create a “game” for your team that you are unwilling to play yourself.
2.Recognition - People want to be recognised for the effort they put in and the results they create. Provide incentives for top performers and remember to celebrate victories along the way. This serves to reward and excite the whole team.
Communication
Communication deals with three areas:
1. I to I - This focuses on the “voices in your own head”. Get your team to take notice of these voices and be aware of them.
Some of the voices could be “It’s too hard” or “I can’t do it”. Which ones are they entertaining?
Get them to feed on the positive voice and discard the negative one. This act alone can help to eliminate sluggishness.
2. I to you - This focuses on how people in the organisation relate to one another. Note that anger and gossip kill productivity. Everyone must treat one another with respect and compassion. Any misunderstandings must be addressed immediately. Get a third party to mediate if necessary.
3.I to world. How does your team portray the company to every person outside it? As an ambassador, everyone in your team must project a friendly, pro-active and professional demeanour to clients and customers.
In short, levitation is to rise up, expectations are to step up and communication is to speak up.
Adopt these three keys and the changes in your company will be nothing short of phenomenal. - Source:ST/ANN
Article by Mario Singh, co-founder and chief executive officer of FX1 Academy.