Do I Have the Right Team?
I hear this question every week and enjoy determining with my clients if they, in fact, have the right team in place. It’s possible that they may need to further shape and develop certain members of the team to match the current times. And that’s a challenge.
But there are ways to keep evolving based on what your team is doing today.
Develop Your Team for Today
By current times, I mean meeting the demands of business today…NOT one or two years ago. Your industry, your clients/customers and your company evolve over time. What was your value proposition even 12 months ago may require alteration to continue to resonate with clients and remain essential today. Teams need to be in “one-voice” with their offering and approach business development in a systematized fashion. The fun of coaching is to create these systems uniquely with each client.
Get Input from Team on Marketplace
The power of addressing the marketplace challenges as a team demonstrably strengthens the entire team. They are on the front lines, handling issues that come up from all angles. Knowing what challenges they are facing is imperative as you create strategies for today and the future. This climate is imperative to collectively hitting the reset button with a team so that each team member is empowered to contribute their ideas and recommendations. Honest open discussion of the marketplace and its challenges re-aligns a team to determine how to answer those challenges, as a team, not as individual players.
Learn from the Past
Throughout the years, I’ve discovered that leaders must allow their teams to make certain mistakes but, once those mistakes are vetted, bring their teams together to discuss what’s working and what’s not…in a positive, non-judgmental way. If you aren’t having those conversations, one-on-one and in a team setting, you are going to run the risk of mistakes repeating themselves to no benefit. Addressing the issues today will help build a stronger team for tomorrow since out of problems are born solutions. Many times, errors take place because a new situation arises that has not been experienced previously. Right then is a perfect time to address it with the whole team so that all can avoid a similar error. But you must regularly have these types of conversations so that you, as their leader, can adapt strategies and communications for the future.
No two teams are the same. Every one has a certain imprimatur that needs to resonate and “stick” with a client base. A team must have a clear vision and clear direction that they embrace and live. You are responsibile for instilling that in your team. When you see that they have embraced it, you will know you have the right team. Succeeding as a leader/facilitator in this regard lifts your image as a leader and reciprocally empowers your entire team to voluntarily be in one-voice.
Where does your team need to improve for the future?
