Can a doctor fly a plane? - -What having the right people in the right seat means.

Have you ever heard of situations in an airplane where a doctor is needed? Imagine that on each flight, there was always a doctor prepared to help in case someone needed medical attention. Wouldn’t that be great?

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Perhaps having a doctor in a plane on all flights is not plausible. A doctor is not required to get the plane from A to B. But if your business was that plane, I bet you would make sure to always give a seat to at least one doctor in case a passenger presents a medical emergency. What a luxury.

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What I mean is, to make sure your business will arrive at its destination, you have to make sure that the right people cover the roles needed. For example, airplanes cannot fly without a crew, and each crew member has specific roles and responsibilities to make it work. So you wouldn’t call a doctor to fly the airplane. Of course, the doctor would be of great help in the case of a medical emergency, but I doubt flying the plane would be one of their best skills. But if you had the chance to choose the best pilot to fly the aircraft, it would be better than having the doctor do so, right?

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Entrepreneurs should strive to have a work environment in which every collaborator does precisely what they are qualified to do and where they feel accomplished and valued. Currently, many companies are experiencing people fleeing or changing jobs because of a lack of understanding of the role they were performing or because they were given an incorrect role, to begin with.?

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Here is where having the right people at the right seats comes in. According to Paul Moen, from BankBeat, “the right seat means that an employee is operating within their area of greatest skill and passion within an organization”. Many entrepreneurs have their vision clear. They know what they want for their company, for their product, and stop there. However, they don’t take the next step, which is to figure out what is needed to be done by their collaborators to achieve their plan.

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Choosing the right people to collaborate with you starts beyond interviewing candidates. First, you have to know the roles and responsibilities your organization needs to complete its goal.

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A clear understanding of the process needed to achieve your business goals will also give you a better idea of what roles are necessary to make it work. Once roles and responsibilities are defined, selecting or assigning them to your collaborators will be easier and more counter-productive. Having your vision shared among the people that comprise your work team is the key to determining if the kind of people you want to work with are doing what they are capable of.

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Evaluating your collaborators and receiving feedback from their side is the key to having a successful team. People who are not in the right place can quickly become burnout and tired of their tasks. I’m not saying that one shouldn’t push employees to expand their abilities or to grow in their weaknesses, but having someone who is not improving is always to be addressed.

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My last article stressed the importance of brand values in your company. Today I want to share with you that, collaborators can make or break a company’s vision. As mentioned on Entrepreneur’s website, “entrepreneurs can have the best ideas, best product-to-market fits and plenty of cash on hand — but ideas will never reach fruition or gain real-world traction without the right people to support them.”

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A company is much more than just work and retribution. Each collaborator should feel part of the big picture. Otherwise, how would a group of people get anything done without having a clear vision of what their common goal is? Sharing the big picture with your collaborators will always set you up for success.

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I will elaborate on this. Your team should acquire a culture of accountability. More than just knowing the greater picture, accountability will allow your collaborators to be aware of the tasks they have to undertake and complete and are also conscious of the consequences of their actions.

Although responsibility is often mistaken for accountability they are not to be confused as the latter will help your team to take the actions necessary to achieve your company’s goals. Not only will they be involved in this, but they will also be able to objectively attain their goals as individuals.

According to an article by Task, “Developing a culture of accountability in the workplace means that employees work together to find solutions to problems, deliver efficient results and hold each other liable.”

Accountability is a great skill that will make those who practice it stand out. Team members that have this skill are also capable of taking action when mistakes or errors come along thus making evaluations and corrections easier.

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I’m not saying that you need to nit-pick everyone out of your team; I’m saying that evaluating your collaborator’s accountability, performance, and their role's specific needs will allow you to figure out if they are in the right seat. For instance, the doctor will be no good at flying the plane, but perhaps they can sit somewhere among the other passengers and be of way more help there in case of an emergency....forgive my metaphor..my team always tells me I just go off the tracks sometimes with my metaphors.