Key strategies for building your future ready organization

In a number of industry verticals, operations and supply chain organizations are going through growth pains. It’s a challenge by itself. However, we have market dynamics that are adding to the challenges: scarcity of talents, uncertainty in the economy and geopolitical situations, and the response to pandemic situations. This article attempts to provide guidelines for executives who are envisioning a high-performing team to meet today’s needs while also preparing for the future.

The ability to create a positive environment for your team the critical success factor here. To achieve this, you must take into consideration the following points: We address here the key strategies around Capacity Building, Skills and Experience, Roles and Responsibilities, and Making the Organization Future Ready.

Building Capacity

For a sustainable, high-performing team, you want to add capacity at different levels, both horizontally and vertically: subject matters, staff, managers, and executives.

Irrespective of discipline and level, fundamental rules for capacity:

• Create time and space for strategy and planning,
• Time for taking/performing actions, and
• Time for learning, reflection, and correction.

Unless you deliberately create balanced capacity and capabilities for these, you will be in a hamster wheel in no time.

Skills and Experience

1.??????Experience matters but pay attention to the context. You do not want to hire people who can perform today’s job very well, have done it many times in the past, but are like machines having difficulty transforming. Many organizations are finding difficulty in finding and including middle management in that mix.

2.??????A growing team will be competent enough to conceptualize new realities and collaboratively work through ambiguities and uncertainties. They influence teams inside and outside the organization.

3.??????They improve and empower people—put humanity first while juggling AI, ML, IOT, VR, and Data Analytics.

4.??????No matter what role it is, there needs to be an appreciation of Digital. One may not be an expert, yet one needs to be able to appreciate the value others bring in and collaborate towards a common goal.

5.??????In this time of knowledge work, at every level there is a portion of the executive role that is intentional and strategic. To be a high-performing contributor, the skills of an effective leader are extremely important.

The best ways to prevent Team Dysfunction

Roles and Responsibilities

1.??????Design very carefully how jobs need to be distributed across functions and teams. On a growth trajectory, reflect on what jobs need to be redistributed and carefully work on Managing the Change.

2.??????Do not create overcapacity before time. Overcapacity will create a lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities down the line unless you are deliberate about it.

3.??????For special projects, you want to select talent for the right level of challenges and form a diversified team. Exercise caution that they are in the right functional team. It will be beneficial for individual and team growth.

4.??????Sometimes, special projects could trigger the formation of a new dedicated team and later a function, which is a perfect opportunity for team growth. Be intentional about how the team will interact with the rest of the organization.

5.??????To foster, facilitate, and enable management and leadership growth, proactively rotate horizontally, and promote vertically. Whether it is internal or external movement, set the expectations for the new managers and leaders to champion change in addition to overseeing the tasks that their team will be performing. It is important to keep a healthy balance between performing and transforming.

Future Ready Organization

1.??????Build for the future. Consider the capacity and capabilities you need to accomplish today, in the near term, and in the long term. If you do not have a clear picture of the future in this uncertain time, it is understandable, but get a team that will be inspired to work with you to paint the picture and a path forward together. Your purpose has a higher chance of achieving that.

2.??????Build diversity in skills, experience, gender, and culture. Consider talent dynamics; create opportunities for playing on strength; and plan for future growth.

3.??????In a favorable environment, effective leaders help their team see their true potential and take on challenges that they didn’t think possible, extracting the best of the talent by igniting a dream for the future. Accountability to oneself and the organization is critical.

4.??????Managers needs to have access to information and platform for two-way communication with both team members and executives. This is paramount for creating the alignment within and across the teams and building the working glue in the system.

In conclusion, building an organization for growth is a mix of science and art. It is about building the capacity to get the work done and?creating the right environment. The latter is more complex. There needs to be continuous feed on true purpose and vision that inspires the team, then open communication so that people feel connected to the big picture and feel appreciated and challenged. It’s not so much about what and how much you get done, as much as why and how you get the job done around here, the culture you build, and the “way of work” you promote.