Remember your childhood days where at P.E. Class you needed to choose members to form your team? From an early childhood we were taught to be part of a team, whether it was for P.E. Class or Science lab group, for a team project. Then and even now as adults, we, at one point in our lives, become part of a team.
In my professional life, I have had an opportunity to experience building a team from scratch and also building an existing team. Both were not easy to accomplish at the start but when they were established, I was very proud of them and the results they produced. If you know what you want out of your team, why your team exists and what your team will represent, I guarantee that you will be able to lead an independent and successful team that will be invaluable to the company.
Building a team from scratch?
Building a team from scratch is similar to baking something from scratch. You know what you want to make so you see what you what have in your pantry and start selecting the ingredients. Let us relate it to starting a team. You know what kind of team you want to build so you look amongst a sea of candidates that are at hand and start selecting your potential team members. When I was starting a team, I put the word out, waited for people (within the department) to apply then interviewed and asked them to make presentations on certain topics given to them prior to their interview schedules.
How do you know what to want out of your team? List the following:
Skills-skills-skills:
What skills are you looking for that would help them do the job? If you are looking for supervisors, then what skills does a supervisor need? If you are looking for trainers, what skills does a trainer need? What skills do they have and skills do they lack? Knowing these will help you identify the people you want in your team and also identify what skills they need training on or improve on once they are on board.
Qualities/Traits:
What qualities are you looking for in your team? You need to know these beforehand to help you determine if each team member will complement each other and not clash each other. Diversity is good but it also has advantages and disadvantages. How your team members will get along with each other will determine if you will have a cohesive group that will create and represent synergy. When I was forming a training team, the utmost quality I looked for was interest. Not every body can be a trainer and if they do not have the interest to begin with, I ruled them out. Interest is something I cannot teach them, it has to come from them.
Know why your team exists. How do you know this?
You cannot just pick people and form a team period. You need to have a clear picture as to why you are forming the team in the first place. Why does it need to exist? How will the people in the department/company benefit with your team in existence? What can your team contribute to the overall vision, mission and goals of the company? Where in the organizational chart will your team be at and what roles and responsibilities do they have or will have?
Know what your team will represent.
What do you want your team to be known for? I know this may sound a little too vain but I think that you need to know what legacy your team wants to build for the people they are serving. I believe that any team leader wants their team to have an integral role in the company and be known for it. It is not because their vain but because bottom line they want to their team to have a contribution to the success and not the failure of the company. How do you want your team to represent themselves? How do you want your team to be represented to the rest of the company?
Building an existing team?
Let us face it, as team leaders, we do not always get to choose our team members. Sometimes or maybe most of the time, we asked to lead an existing team which have been formed by our predecessor. If you are lucky enough to know their previous team leader – good for you – at least, you have an idea of how they were handled and what principles/foundations were instilled in them. However, if you do not, then you have got a long and arduous trek ahead of you.
How are their skills?
Whether you are building a team from scratch or handing an existing one, you do need to get to know your team members. Knowing their skills and qualities/traits are important too. What you need to do know is to find out what your team members know.
Do they know why their team exists?
Do they know why their team need to exist? Do they have a clear picture as to why they have existed all these months or years? Do they know how the other departments have benefit from them? Do they know their contributions to the company vision, mission and goals? Do they know where they are in the organizational chart as well as their roles and responsibilities? Furthermore, how have they done so far in all these? Where are they at now? How are they doing? Doing this will help you: 1) Know your team's skills and capabilities; 2) Know how your team has been faring all these months or years ; 3) Know if your team knows their purpose as a team; 4) Know how and which areas can you help them; and 5) Know their accomplishments as a team and give recognition to these. Once you get all these information, you will then know how to build them to the team you want them to be.
Do they know what their team represent?
Do they know what their team represent all these months, or years? How do they want to represent themselves? What legacy do they want to build and leave behind for the people they are serving? What do they want to be known for? How do they want to achieve this? Asking them these questions will help you and your team align your views on what you and your team want the whole team's legacy is going to be.
Whether you are building a new team or an existing one, remember to make your team be a part of team they can be proud of, a team that understands what they stand for, a team that knows their roles and responsibilities and why they exist in the company, and a team whose legacy reflects who they are. If you build them the right way from the very start, they will succeed.
Next Month: Part 2 on building your team.
In my professional life, I have had an opportunity to experience building a team from scratch and also building an existing team. Both were not easy to accomplish at the start but when they were established, I was very proud of them and the results they produced. If you know what you want out of your team, why your team exists and what your team will represent, I guarantee that you will be able to lead an independent and successful team that will be invaluable to the company.
Building a team from scratch?
Building a team from scratch is similar to baking something from scratch. You know what you want to make so you see what you what have in your pantry and start selecting the ingredients. Let us relate it to starting a team. You know what kind of team you want to build so you look amongst a sea of candidates that are at hand and start selecting your potential team members. When I was starting a team, I put the word out, waited for people (within the department) to apply then interviewed and asked them to make presentations on certain topics given to them prior to their interview schedules.
How do you know what to want out of your team? List the following:
Skills-skills-skills:
What skills are you looking for that would help them do the job? If you are looking for supervisors, then what skills does a supervisor need? If you are looking for trainers, what skills does a trainer need? What skills do they have and skills do they lack? Knowing these will help you identify the people you want in your team and also identify what skills they need training on or improve on once they are on board.
Qualities/Traits:
What qualities are you looking for in your team? You need to know these beforehand to help you determine if each team member will complement each other and not clash each other. Diversity is good but it also has advantages and disadvantages. How your team members will get along with each other will determine if you will have a cohesive group that will create and represent synergy. When I was forming a training team, the utmost quality I looked for was interest. Not every body can be a trainer and if they do not have the interest to begin with, I ruled them out. Interest is something I cannot teach them, it has to come from them.
Know why your team exists. How do you know this?
You cannot just pick people and form a team period. You need to have a clear picture as to why you are forming the team in the first place. Why does it need to exist? How will the people in the department/company benefit with your team in existence? What can your team contribute to the overall vision, mission and goals of the company? Where in the organizational chart will your team be at and what roles and responsibilities do they have or will have?
Know what your team will represent.
What do you want your team to be known for? I know this may sound a little too vain but I think that you need to know what legacy your team wants to build for the people they are serving. I believe that any team leader wants their team to have an integral role in the company and be known for it. It is not because their vain but because bottom line they want to their team to have a contribution to the success and not the failure of the company. How do you want your team to represent themselves? How do you want your team to be represented to the rest of the company?
Building an existing team?
Let us face it, as team leaders, we do not always get to choose our team members. Sometimes or maybe most of the time, we asked to lead an existing team which have been formed by our predecessor. If you are lucky enough to know their previous team leader – good for you – at least, you have an idea of how they were handled and what principles/foundations were instilled in them. However, if you do not, then you have got a long and arduous trek ahead of you.
How are their skills?
Whether you are building a team from scratch or handing an existing one, you do need to get to know your team members. Knowing their skills and qualities/traits are important too. What you need to do know is to find out what your team members know.
Do they know why their team exists?
Do they know why their team need to exist? Do they have a clear picture as to why they have existed all these months or years? Do they know how the other departments have benefit from them? Do they know their contributions to the company vision, mission and goals? Do they know where they are in the organizational chart as well as their roles and responsibilities? Furthermore, how have they done so far in all these? Where are they at now? How are they doing? Doing this will help you: 1) Know your team's skills and capabilities; 2) Know how your team has been faring all these months or years ; 3) Know if your team knows their purpose as a team; 4) Know how and which areas can you help them; and 5) Know their accomplishments as a team and give recognition to these. Once you get all these information, you will then know how to build them to the team you want them to be.
Do they know what their team represent?
Do they know what their team represent all these months, or years? How do they want to represent themselves? What legacy do they want to build and leave behind for the people they are serving? What do they want to be known for? How do they want to achieve this? Asking them these questions will help you and your team align your views on what you and your team want the whole team's legacy is going to be.
Whether you are building a new team or an existing one, remember to make your team be a part of team they can be proud of, a team that understands what they stand for, a team that knows their roles and responsibilities and why they exist in the company, and a team whose legacy reflects who they are. If you build them the right way from the very start, they will succeed.
Next Month: Part 2 on building your team.