Build a winning team
BUILDING a winning team is the challenge that successful professionals face over and over again in their careers. How well they meet this challenge decides whether they move into the upper echelons of management or get mired in the morass below. It is this ability to build a winning team from scratch that separates management material from the rank and file. It requires the culmination of all managerial talents -- analysis; identification, tapping and recognition of talent; focus in the right direction; and use of resources to their maximum potential. No easy job, that! Fortunately, it isn't a skill that we possess naturally, but one that can be learned. What then are the prerogatives that must be kept in mind when you build a team for any particular project?
Lay down an unambiguous goal
A common goal binds together an eclectic group of people. So, the foremost ingredient for building a team is to have a clear and compelling goal for it to execute. A compelling goal is one that everyone on the team would agree it is worth attaining. Ideally the goal should be one that can be reached with consistent effort and enthusiasm. When it comes to articulating the team's goal, clarity and simplicity are of prime importance. Fancy phrases and slogans won't save a goal that is not compelling or unclear.
An efficient team is small and flat!
Efficient teams are always small. That's because a small team achieves a given goal with the least proportion of effort for coordinating its individual members. The importance of keeping the team small thus cannot be overstated. Another key element of efficiency is keeping the team as flat as possible. In a flat-structured team, members have direct access to one another, including the leader. The structure generally allows the leader -- often the most productive and knowledgeable team member -- to devote more time for productive tasks.
Flexible Resposibilities
A common mistake in team building is to have rigid areas of responsibility. Even experienced team builders can't anticipate how each member will settle into new responsibilities. A team leader must make adjustments to optimise the evolving capabilities of the team members.
A team is as strong as its weakest member!
Turnover of even the most junior member severely hampers a team's effectiveness.
The leader should make sure members of the team, however routine or less important their tasks, are well trained and well equipped. Lest their inefficiency turn out to be a spoke in the wheel of your team's progress.
Substitutes
When a team member leaves, the routines of other members get disrupted, as they would be forced to chip in to carry out the job of that member. Further, orientation of each new member results in lost productivity and efficiency, as team members have to take time out to train the member.
Feeling of oneness
A successful team leader is one who instills a strong sense of commitment and loyalty akin to that of a closely-knit family. Each member of the team must be made to feel that his/her success depends on the team's success. All available means must be used to reinforce this message. One important way is to tie a big portion of each team member's compensation to the team's success.
Finally, it is essential that the leader must be readily available to offer his advice and appreciation, keep track of the team's progress. It will pay to arrange for weekly get togethers where they could exchange work- related developments and also bond on a personal level. It will go a long way in building a team that works and wins together.
MALLIKA JAYASHEELA
faqs@cnkonline.com
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