Know your team. Reflections on what the secret ingredients really are.

With the holiday celebrations over for the most part, and all the office treats eaten, a certain reality sets in for all.  2008 is drawing to a close, and the economic outlook is still cloudy and dark. It is difficult to look within your company and say ‘you know ,we sure dodged that one’.  With your key staff left standing, albeit on shaky ground, you may wonder, ‘what now?’  Leadership at this time is so important and without it, as the old adage goes, ‘it is only window dressing’. Without leadership, no amount of team building will help your staff.

In the last quarter of this year, our team took part in the first of a series of strategic planning and team building workshops under the guidance of Virtus, a leader in team and leadership development.  We tagged a one day strategic planning and team building session as part of a two day team retreat. The outcome – a rejuvenated team with clear direction on the future course of our company as we approach 2009.  We could have shared and exchanged positive feedback to each other for days!

And while there is no one recipe for a strong team, my thoughts on what the secret ingredients really are:

• Management must lead strategy and chart a clear and concise course of direction for the team. (Continuous refining is allowed as most of us have never been in this uncertain economic place before)
• Find your sweet spots. What is your team’s competitive advantage, then and now. We call it the ‘mcnak attack’.
• Understand what matters to your team; know their united and unique needs
• Plan for celebrations – rewrite how this can be achieved. What worked before might not be effective metrics today.
• Think: more smiles, more motivation, more happiness

The icing:  Be present, more than ever. And listen. The cues are out there all around you.

~ Sarah McNeill