The recipe to great Teams

During my early corporate years, one of my perennial challenges was how to hire the right talent and keep that talent motivated on an ongoing basis. Here’s where I borrowed from a friend, whom I grew to admire during my childhood days. This boy was a couple of years older and would typically land up being a captain; something I kept observing is, no matter what his team composition, his team would have the maximum wins! So much so, others and I alike would want to get on his team, because we knew his team would win. Now, how would he make that possible? What is it that I borrowed from him, that made sense even decades later?

Here’s what got etched in my mind –

• External factors?– who’s taller, who’s faster, who’s stronger, whose aim is more precise, etc…the captain would keep changing roles and positions basis these attributes. More importantly, he would make this participatory – never instruct, but by being suggestive and showcasing the teammate’s strength openly in front of others.?
• Intrinsic factors?– just like physical attributes, the captain also spent time with each team member (not for every game), to understand if they are comfortable (confident) if they want support (development or help), and if they are clear about what they need to do (clarity).?
• Captain’s Role?– he would share what he would be managing, as well as, what he would do in case of certain scenarios. At all points in time, he would say if something goes wrong he’ll handle it (I think that was the biggest assurance, it kind of took off substantial invisible weight from my shoulders). He made it clear he had our backs.

And invariably, 9 out of 10, we won! We kept winning, team members kept changing, but these habits and patterns stayed.

Eventually, school got over, life became busier to head towards career making. But the learning carried forward.

Welcome to the corporate world, and I realized that it is no different. So long as I was a solo performer and responsible for just my part, I did well, but as I grew in my role, I did not always have a choice about my team members, but was given a team with a set of responsibilities. There were times when I wished for team members from counter teams, but eventually, I realized that the power to hold tight had to come from within. It shouldn’t matter who’s on your side; what should matter is whether you can steer the ones on your side to be motivated toward the bigger picture.

My Experience?

As I grew in the several organizations I was proud to be associated with, I had to learn to stand up for things that we much needed, and not just what was passed down as mandates, top down. I had to grow from being an ‘Aye aye captain’ manager to a ‘What’s up captain?’ leader.

Holding up the mirror to my bosses wasn’t always easy. You can understand – it had its repercussions, unpleasant discussions, and anxious phases in my career.

If as an organization, we are clear about our vision, then how come the talent strategy was lacking? Honestly (fortunate or unfortunate), I have taken up my positions and walked into outfits, content with the status quo. Whenever something doesn’t work, no one is questioning it from the roots; the investigations would begin with team members and work upwards. Questions like “Why did we not get there?” “We are a winning culture, where did?YOU ALL?fail?”.

With time, I grew to realize that, as part of the organization, we have specific deliverables. More importantly, not all battles can be won. We need to pick the ones we definitely want to win. Now that’s where we were missing the bus. Our discussions were good, so long as they were in meeting rooms, and we discussed ‘utopia’, but reality showed otherwise. During my early years, I experienced demotivation with leaders who chose to classify talent selection as just any other administrative activity to be fulfilled by managers and reported via dashboards and other MIS.?

I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to ensure we had optimal, if not the best talent. I chose not to settle for ‘make do’ talent. Here is something I do to date –?

• Right Attitude?– Not just skills, but I paid heed to the attitude a candidate brings along, before making the offer.
• Team Mapping?– What is the composition of the current team? Are we geared to hit goal? Do we all know the goal?

The above was easier said than done. It required me to research adequately to zero down on what is ‘optimal’ in our kind of business line. Plotting my findings, indicating comparatives, and satisfying the questions my seniors had about “Why this change?” takes a lot of energy (over and beyond my existing duties). But these conversations with leaders, senior colleagues, and cross-team managers were much needed. I strongly felt that without this fundamental change in our talent onboarding, we will continue to have more or less similar project results and not-so-very-good reviews.

What made me realize that I like to spot the need for change is the fact that I was concerned with the final deliverable/goal. I hated my team being pulled up and being shown as deficient –?“you could have done better”.??

Time flies, and so did I, across organizations and roles. I continued to find opportunities to optimize. In fact, even in the same organization, people strategies don’t hold good forever; just like your company grows and changes during growth, the talent therein should adapt likewise. The new roles and job descriptions should keep evolving to keep pace with the organization’s current vision and goals. Hence it was only apt, that our talent definition exercise is an ongoing (as per need) one, and not perhaps an annual exercise.

Get your Talent right for the stage your organization is in

For StartUps

• Take people who showcase the 'Do-It' spirit, are open to experimenting, and come to you with an attitude of promise.
• Look for talent with basic skills in place, but with a better attitude – those who are aware of your present stage and willing to participate wholeheartedly to take it to new heights.

For Young Firms

• Your talent should be able to reiterate what your company stands for – the brand, the values, your offering, and the value proposition.
• Encourage your existing team to be curious and come up with suggestions for continuous improvement (much needed to sustain the competitive market).

For Growing Firms

• Look for confident team members who will be able to manage existing positions and have the potential to do more.
• Ideal fits are those who can grasp quickly, and suggest improvements so that you can optimize operations/processes internally. Should have a problem-solving attitude.
• Should be able to spot opportunities and draw attention to them.
• Have a market-ready attitude and aspire to beat the competition.

For Matured Firms

• The ideal talent knows the industry well and comes with the requisite skills.
• Should be able to take ownership and conclude by ensuring participation through collaboration.
• Should be able to leverage her/his experience and exposure for enhancing the organization’s competitive edge, through innovative approaches.
• Should have the potential to not just see, but align self and those around, towards the company’s larger goals.

Going about it…

It did get challenging in the beginning, but I realized eventually that if this one thing isn’t taken care of, units in the organizations can often collapse like a pack of cards. So, here are my two cents on how you can go about getting the right people fit for your organization.

1. Begin with the Vision?– if you are a management member, then get your peers together to understand if everyone is aligned. If you are an enabler, spend time with the management and other senior members (multiple conversations if needed) to check for alignment.
2. Have a Workflow Map?– post conversations, draw up a workflow chart, or you could even just scribble it down initially so that there is clarity on how things will work and how teams will collaborate to make things possible toward the vision. This is a good stage to check for any misunderstanding and misconception early on.
3. The People Plan?– take time to understand what motivators work in your line of business. Why should your people be goal oriented? How is the team at the top taking care of this requisite? How will you reward and recognize? What can your people look forward to while they are with your organization??
4. Review Business, Review Resources?– Organizations change, so why shouldn’t the roles that cater to several critical functions? Be prompt to recognize when change is headed your way or the time when you need to proactively change. And yes, I don’t mean performance appraisals. This can happen formally and informally through team meets, employee suggestions, town hall aftermaths, focus group discussions, surveys, and you can keep getting more creative.

When I decided to become an entrepreneur, trust me, the above steps were instrumental in helping me identify, onboard, handhold, groom, and grow my team members. All I can say is – it all starts with ‘You’! And if you are caught up with unique and different people challenges, I’m open to dialogue, and glad to help.