The need for the Right People

Jim Collins in his iconic book ‘Good to Great’ said that you need to get the right people on the bus, then the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats and only then do you figure out where to drive it.

It’s important to know your people. As a manager in an organisation who wants to develop teamwork, you need to have a good understanding of your people. Spending time with them, talking to them, is the way you come to understand what they care for individually; this is how you discover what makes them tick.

Here is a guide to selecting and recruiting your team members or just to evaluate the team members you have now.

Highly Desirable

·?????? Maturity.????????????????? Team member relationships are basically healthy.

·?????? Work Style.???????????? Process is used as the driver of work, and a work management process is in place.

·?????? Skillsets. Team members possess specific industry knowledge and a set of appropriate skills matching that knowledge.

·?????? Attitude.????????????????? Possess a ‘give it a go’ approach to work.

·?????? Orientation.??????????? Team members are supportive of each other, possess personal strengths that drive their work performance and think everyone is equal.

·?????? Get things done.?? People who can be given a job, and despite how busy they are they will complete it in the agreed timeframe. There is no need to follow up with these people.

·?????? Possess Gusto. ????? Gusto, meaning they show great energy, enthusiasm, and enjoyment that is experienced by them taking part in an activity

·?????? Possess Alacrity.?? Alacrity, meaning, they perform all tasks with speed and eagerness.

·?????? Outlook. They are driven and career-oriented and exude positivity and care about others.

Nice to have

·?????? Extroverts. ???????????? Extroverts are generally preferred because of their talkative, sociable, action-oriented, enthusiastic, friendly, and outgoing personalities. They are also faster decision-makers, more significant risk-takers, and more innovative thinkers.

·?????? Introverts. ????????????? Introverts, however, are necessary as well, they tend to be more focused, observant, lower risk-takers that carry out a more detailed analysis of available information than their extrovert partners, and they bring a conservatism and balance to decision making.

·?????? Extraordinary.??????? They ignore their job descriptions, are eccentric, pull their sleeves when the going gets tough, appraise others in public, are self-motivated and process driven.

Qualifications. ??????????

·?????? University/college level qualifications are irrelevant in terms of High-Performance outcomes.

“Everyone?is needed, but no one is necessary.” - Bruce?Coslet, Coach, Bengals.

Selecting the right people to be in your team is the most critical decision you will make. The right people are fundamental to the team’s success, and you will be investing time and energy in their development.

Experience shows that given the opportunity to make the grade, almost everyone is successful. A change in your management style combined with a chance for team members to change along with you and their peers motivates people to do amazing things. It doesn’t happen overnight, but in nearly all cases, it does happen.

They get things done

The best yardstick or measure I can suggest for evaluating your current team members is ‘they get things done’.

These are the people who you can give a job to, despite how busy they are, and ask for it to be completed by a specific time or date. You know that the job will be done, that’s it is guaranteed and that there is no need to follow up.

Otherwise, they need to possess two key characteristics.

·?????? Gusto, meaning they show great energy, enthusiasm, and enjoyment that is experienced by them taking part in an activity.

·?????? Alacrity, meaning, they perform all tasks with speed and eagerness.

Gusto and alacrity come in different forms. One is the person who is racing around to get something done, and another is someone who sits quietly at their workspace but produces remarkable results in quick time.

Extroverts and Introverts

Team members can be both extroverts and introverts. Extroverts are generally preferred because of their talkative, sociable, action-oriented, enthusiastic, friendly, and outgoing personalities. They are also faster decision-makers, more significant risk-takers, and more innovative thinkers.

However, I have found that having at least one or two introverts in my teams was a good thing. They tend to be more focused, observant, lower risk-takers that carry out a more detailed analysis of available information than their extrovert partners, and they bring a conservatism and balance to decision making.

Complimentary skillsets

The team needs to be comprised of team members with multiple and complementary skillsets. They need to possess specific industry knowledge and a set of appropriate skills matching that knowledge. These elements create synergies with other team members and are one of the things that make High-Performance Teams highly productive.

When improving a team, you need a team member for each major discipline, your business activity demands. (Technology, Marketing, Infrastructure, Engineering, Finance, Sales and so on).

Extraordinary team members

Some people are extraordinary; they have qualities that make a huge impact on their performance and the performance of others.

·?????? They Ignore their job descriptions. Well, not completely, but they think and act outside their job description or fixed roles. When they encounter situations that require action, they act irrespective of their role or position. These are the people who get things done.

·?????? They are eccentric. Someone with a somewhat unusual personality, someone who is very comfortable in their own skin. They may seem odd at first, but pleasantly so. They tend to be very creative, good debaters and make for excellent team members.

·?????? Pull their sleeves up. When the going gets tough, these people have a trait of forgetting about who they are and rapidly becoming a member of the team when required. They recognise when things have become serious and change their behaviour accordingly.

·?????? They appraise others in public. These people effortlessly appraise their fellow team members in the same way, and they do it publicly.

·?????? They are self-motivated. These people come to work firstly for its enjoyment, to satisfy their passion and secondly for pay. They are often possessed of an overwhelming need to be successful and work hard to achieve it.

·?????? They are process driven. High-Performance teams are process-driven, some people get it, some don’t. Process brings consistency, increased quality, cost-effectiveness, reduced task and project timeframes, fewer errors, to mention just a few of the benefits. These people are the ones who off their own back work to make the process better.

“First class managers recruit first class people. Second class managers recruit third class people”. Manfred de Kries.

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