PMAG -15 Contemplation Achievement May 2015 Contemplation June 2015 Achievement | Page 52
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
SEVEN TIPS TO CONTEMPLATE
When Building Effective Teams
After reading Tribes
and listening to the audio book twice I have
come to contemplate
this notion that creating
a culture of leaders in
a workplace is not only
effective, it is essential.
Here are seven steps to
building effectiveness
throughout your organization.
people’s feelings then
create an anonymous
“feeling collector” so
that staff can express
feelings in a manner
that feels safe.
1. Consider your own
and your team’s ideas
as valuable.
2. Encourage sharing of
information.
Image credit: Thanh Truc Pham
S
eth Godin’s book Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us brings home the idea that more than
products, more than efficient labour, more than ideas, the world needs leaders. That
leaders create movements and that movements create revolutions.
He explains how over the course of the industrial revolution and well into the age of information, the role of today’s manager has changed. But has it changed enough? While we
used to focus on exploiting resources to the fullest and squeezing as much productivity
out of the workforce as possible we now see that this is unsustainable and quite ineffective.
We still separate management from employees by class, by salary and education chasing
profit above organizational, environmental and sustainability. Godin convincingly argues
that today’s manager should not only treat its workforce as a valuable asset but should
also motivate its workforce helping to champion the cultivation of leadership skills from all.
Seth reminds me of how Haruka Nishimatsu, Japan Airlines CEO cut his salary to match his
employees and eats in the cafeteria waiting in the same line everyone else does. Here
is a CNN interview on why he chooses to lead this way. It’s truly fascinating and I believe
necessary.
3. Be aware of your own
and your team’s feelings. Encourage people to express what
they are uncomfortable expressing. This
step is critical. It is often these un-vocalized feelings that hold
back
effectiveness.
Bringing them to the
light in a sensitive and
compassionate manner helps to release
them. Please note,
should you as a boss
not feel comfortable
with receiving information about other
4. “I work better on my
own” may not always
be true. I have read
in various management texts that it is a
fear-based statement.
While there is a time
for individual working, problem solving
tasks are almost always more effective
in a group setting. It is
this reason why think
tanks,
mastermind
groups and the likes
are far more effective than solitary work
when it comes to solving problems.
5. Encourage listening in
brainstorming meetings. Some people
love to hear the sound
of their own voices
and some people do
not like to speak at all.
For meetings to be effective, it is essential
that people should all
be listening and the
only person talking
is the one who has
something of value to
add.
6. Be clear. Great leaders have a clear objective and are able
to clearly articulate
the vision throughout
the organization and
to all its stakeholders.
7. Know your goals. Almost always, we get
into a car with an idea
of where we are going. If we do not know
the route we plug in
GPS and the steps to
get to the destination
are given to us. Similarly, to be effective, we
need to clearly know
the action steps prior
to engaging in activities. Without knowing
the goals, the steps the
leader and its team
make will be very busy
but mostly ineffective.
Before starting your next
project I encourage you
to follow these seven
steps to becoming a
more effective team. Let
me know how it goes for
you.
Since 1994, Rishi Deva, founder and CEO of RishiVision and
entrepreneurial coach, has empowered thousands of businesses. Rishi
has an MBA in marketing and entrepreneurial studies and a BBA in
accounting. He has spent nearly twenty years coaching, consulting,
managing and supporting thousands of businesses from new startups
to active global leaders.
For more information on Rishi, please visit www.rishivision.com.