TEAM FIRST
JENNY JACOBS | STANDARD INTERIORS
THOUGHTS
LEAP THOUGHTS is a new series of commentaries written by AAMD Leadership on Teamwork and Team Excellence
Letting Your Team Excel in Their Specialty
I love to wear hats ! If I could have a huge hat rack full of every style of hat that one could imagine I would . However , I ’ ve come to realize over the years that not all hats look good on me , some styles of hats just don ’ t fit , and frankly some give me a headache . I ’ ve also found that some of the hats that I ’ ve had for years and have been my favorites simply don ’ t work for me anymore .
What I have found more than anything is that when I try to wear every style of hat that one could imagine , I always seem to fail . It seems that every time I get a chance to wear a hat I spend too much time on the hats that don ’ t work instead of just grabbing that baseball cap that fits like a glove , throwing it on , and tackling the day .
I ’ ve worked for Standard Interiors of Colorado for over a decade . When I first started with Standard Interiors we were a very small company and the ability to wear multiple hats , sometimes at the same time , was a job requirement . It was fun and exciting to go from one task to the next , never knowing what your day would entail until it happened . Over the last decade , Standard Interiors of Colorado has grown at a tremendous rate . As a leader at Standard Interiors , I ’ ve had to adjust the way that I do my job in order to keep up with the growth of my company .
As my company grew , I tried to continue wearing every hat . I tried to wear the customer service hat , the estimating hat , the data analyst hat , the accounting hat , I ’ ve even been found unloading trucks wearing a warehouse hat . Unfortunately , trying to wear every hat at the same time in a growing company means not wearing any of them as well as they should be . I had to learn to give up doing everything myself and wearing all of those hats and surround myself with a team that can pull off the whole ensemble .
In building a team one can continue to add additional members skilled at wearing multiple hats and each runs their section of business independently . This method of growth can be successful for many companies , however does not establish a strong team focused on a common purpose .
" A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose , performance goals , and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable ."
The Wisdom of Teams ( Harvard Business School Press , 1993 )
This method of team growth also inhibits a company from experiencing large business growth without adding large costs in additional labor .
Another strategy for growing a team is through utilization of the Core Competency Theory . The term core competency was coined by the leading management experts , CK Prahalad and Gary Hamel in an article in the Harvard Business Review . By providing a basis for firms to compete and achieve sustainable competitive advantage , Prahalad and Hamel pioneered the concept and laid the foundation for companies to follow .
Through Core Competency , a team is given a common and very specific goal which when communicated clearly and often becomes a mantra and a culture to which the entire team prescribes . In developing operational efficiencies around a team ’ s Core Competency , each team member is given a very specific role to support this mantra . A core competent team is made up of members who are experts in the role that they provide , they are focused on this role and they are not distracted by trying to wear too many hats or by being forced to wear a hat that just doesn ’ t fit . The role of each and every team member is vital in the success of the company and the team must learn to depend on one another .
In developing a successful team around a Core Competency , the following principals should be followed :
1 . The team should have explicitly stated goals .
2 . Each team member ’ s role should be clearly defined and understood .
3 . All team members should contribute to the team ’ s function through constructive and individual behaviors .
4 . There must be effective communication across all team members .
5 . Each team member should be given the tools and training necessary to complete their contribution to the team .
6 . The team must be adaptable , responding to new challenges and conditions as they develop .
7 . Each team member must be given timely and accurate feedback on their performance so that they may develop and grow in their role .
The benefit of developing a core competent team is great to the clients that the company services . The members of the team are focused on their individual roles rather than trying to wear too many hats . They are able to develop their skills and their knowledge at a faster rate because of this focus . They are able to complete more tasks than an employee who is constantly distracted by trying to work on too many different things at once . Therefore , the company that builds a core competent team is able to grow at a faster rate without adding additional costs and can increase the overall value to the client .
In building a core competent team , I have been given the opportunity to shed those extra hats that just don ’ t fit and I never have to worry about juggling too many hats at once . I have a team of experts in their contribution to the company that I can depend on to accomplish the goals that we have set together . I have found the hat that fits just right and is comfortable and when I look up at each team meeting I see a room full of individuals , each wearing their specific hat which fits them just right and we are focused on a common goal of supporting one another to achieve success for our clients . www . aamdhq . org MARCH 2017 • TRENDS | 31