GROWING BUSINESS IS GROWING YOUR TEAM
Every success in growing business depends on how a leader can build a team that supports business growth strategy. Covid-19 pandemic poses a more complex challenge for everyone to collaborate as a team. The high uncertainty and VUCA environment demand a team to be more flexible, adaptive and responsive at each external challenge that affects the how the business works.
Here are the nine key steps to build a more collaborative and highly effective team :
1. Set up a collective purpose and intention that will become the energy source the team. The intention and purpose should be a compelling reason for everyone to join the team.
2. Select team members with profiles that are complimentary to each others. Each member should pose strengths, chemistry and unique contributory abilities that are synergistic.
3. Team transformation. To work as a unit of collective intelligence, the team needs alignment in its collective mindset. Often, this process is just left unchecked. Missing this part might risk a later tension and unnecessary conflicts that can drain the team's energy.
4. Team leadership. The team collectively needs to learn how to play a rotating role in leadership. In a crisis situation, the leader might be absent, someone should be ready on the spot to assume his role.
5. Growing trust and relationship. The speed and accuracy of team response will depend on how strong team member trust each other. Strong relationship and trust is an ongoing process in the team dynamic. The leader should create a space for the team to be more open, comfortable with and resolve any disagreements.
6. Empowerment. The team productivity and effectiveness is a result of less inertia and unnecessary fillers in the decision making process. Equipped with skills and clear principles, team can be empowered and make decision with speed and precision.
7. Communication is the foundation of team work. Listening deeply with a high intention to understand the full perspective of the speaker is a powerful way to create connected and engaged team. The secret of great communication lies on the synchronicity of the leader's intention, attention and response in his/her conversation.
8. Team charter provides a guideline about values, habits and priorities in team management process. The charter is a norm to be followed by team member. Team meetings will become more productive following this charter.
9. Remember to pause, slow down to speed up. The team leader sets the pace and cycle of the team. The pace itself consists of when to be at full speed, time for rest and rejuvenate. Within this space, the leader can create a space that invites reflection, appreciation, improvisation, calibration and innovation.
By Leksana TH
