January 3, 2018
-By Alex Martin-Smith, Technical Director, ability6®
I’d like to think so! For me working with my team to achieve great things is the best way to ensure a culture of happiness and engagement as well as to deliver exceptional levels of customer care and service.
As ‘Aristotle’ so aptly put it “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”. When a great team comes together under great leadership and a strong sense of helping one another then collective value shines through; far more than if we all approached our work individually.
I have found that there are some core attributes to making a great team, being (in no set order):
Trust – trusting one another and being respectful of all ideas and beliefs
Skills – going out of your way every day to share knowledge with your team, learn from your team and to understand where there are skills gaps in order to proactively address.
Performance – reward for actual performance not simply for time sat in a chair – long gone are the days of the fixed 9-5.
Consistent Leadership – not in the form of ‘do this, do that’ but to support, align projects, praise, proactively motivate and push the dream of ‘collective input = collective output”.
Share failures – let’s face it we all make mistakes. No one kicks you harder than you kick yourself in these situations. Help your team mates through this process, look for the fix and work together to make it right. Create a culture whereby you accept mistakes can occasionally happen and encourage your team to hold up their hands in anticipation of support not ridicule.
Communicate – knock down those walls! Work close to one another, have team huddles, get the cakes and coffee in, make time to talk about work and personal stuff. Your team will be closer, feel more engaged and you’ll see the speed and effectiveness of communication improve in your team.
Visualise Success – It may just be me (hopefully not) but I often take time to visually where my company is going, where I see my team progressing to, visualise how my customer base will continue to grow and flourish – it energises and excites me. I encourage anyone and everyone to feel this way – “the best is yet to come!”…
Fun – take the time to have some fun.
These are a few of my thoughts in relation to what builds and maintains a strong, positive and proactive team culture. Please share your thoughts and experiences. I’d love to know what makes your team great and what makes you feel valued every day at work.