team development

The Value Created by a Strong Team

Posted on Updated on

I participated in an amazing team-building exercise as a Board Member for the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Wisconsin. We were heading down a path that would lead to a decision on whether to invest $150M in a new addition. The CEO at the time, Jon Vice, wisely determined that each committee needed strong teams to thoroughly vet the idea from every possible perspective.

Canada Geese flying in a V formation with a brightly colored but dark sky background
Purpose-driven teamwork. An amazing photo by Joe Daniel Price found on TheWallpaper.co

The process started with being given a book to read (“Now, Discover Your Strengths” by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D.) and then completing the “StrengthsFinder” assessment using a code provided in the book. The goal was to understand gaps in perception (how you view yourself vs. how others view you) so you could better understand your strengths and weaknesses. Then, teams were created with people having complementary skills to help eliminate weaknesses from the overall team perspective. The results were impressive.

Over my career, I have been involved in many team-building exercises and events – some of which provided useful insights. However, most failed to combine the findings meaningfully, provide useful context, or offer actionable recommendations. Key areas that were consistently omitted were Organizational Culture, Organizational Politics, and Leadership. Those three areas significantly impact value creation vis-à-vis team effectiveness and commitment.

When I ran my consulting company, we had a small core team of business and technology consultants and leveraged subcontractors and an outsourcing company to take on more concurrent projects, as well as larger, more complex ones. This approach worked for three reasons:

  1. We had developed a High-Performance Culture that was based on:
    • Purpose: A common vision of success, understanding why that mattered, and understanding how that was defined and measured.
    • Ownership: Taking responsibility for something and being accountable for the outcome. This included responsibility for the extended team of contractors. Standardized procedures helped ensure consistency and make it easier for each person to accept responsibility for “their team.”
    • Trust: Everyone understood that to be effective and responsive, they needed to trust and support each other and trust each other’s judgment. If there was a concern, we focused on context and process improvements to understand what happened and implement changes based on lessons learned. We avoided personal attacks for the good of the entire team.
  2. Empowerment: Everyone understood that decision-making involves risk, while also recognizing that delaying an important decision could be costly and create more risk. Therefore, each member was responsible for making good decisions as needed and communicating changes to the rest of the team.
  3. Clear and Open Communication: The team was very transparent and honest. When an issue came up, they tried to resolve it with that person first, then escalated if they couldn’t reach an agreement and decided to seek the team’s consensus. Everything was out in the open and done in a constructive, collaborative spirit.

People who were not a good fit would quickly wash out, so our core team consisted of trusted experts. A friendly competition helped raise the bar for the entire team, but when needed, the other team members became a safety net for each other.

We were all focused on the same goal, and everyone realized the only way to succeed was to work together. Win or lose, we did it together. The strength of our team created tremendous value – internally and for our customers that we sustained for several years. That value included innovation, higher levels of productivity and profitability, and an extremely high success rate.

This approach can work at any level but is most effective when it starts at the top. When employees see their company leaders behaving this way, it provides a model and sets expectations for everyone under them. If there is dysfunction within an organization, it often starts at the top – by promoting or accepting behaviors that do not benefit the whole of the organization. With a strong and positive organizational culture, the value of strong teams is multiplied and becomes an incredible competitive advantage.

This entry was posted in Business Ownership and Management, Career, leadership, Life and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

Good Article on Being an Entrepreneur

Posted on Updated on

Nearly every morning, I start the day by reviewing news on business, technology, and finance/markets. Occasionally there is a general interest article that I stumble across. Today it was a short article about Curt Culver, Co-Founder of Culver’s Restaurants.

Several great points seem like common sense in hindsight but are often well out of focus during the “heat of the battle” as you build your business. Mr. Culver touches several of them:

  1. The Importance of having the proper Work / Life Balance
    • For me personally, this was one of the toughest aspects of growing my business. I worked 100+ hours a week, traveled at least 50% of the time, and was often “not there,” even when spending time with my family.
      • My habits also set expectations for others on the team, and I later realized this also created strife at home.
    • The turning point for me was when my youngest daughter, then 4 years old, told her twin brother and older sister, “Daddy really does love us; he just works all the time so that we can live here and have all of this stuff.” It was painful enough to hear that, but it was a wake-up call about what is really important in life – people (especially family and friends), not “stuff.”
  2. The Need to Develop others on your Team
    • From past experiences, I understood the need to hire the best people you could afford – people with complementary skills (not just clones of yourself) and who were better than you in at least one aspect. That diversity added value, while the similarities made it easier to “get on the same page” quickly. From there, it was important to understand their goals and work together on career planning early – something that adds value to both parties.
    • One of my goals in developing my team was to have everyone understand the big picture and empower them to make good decisions for the business. 
      • While most of this happened, my goal was for each and every person to think and act like an owner of the business. That level of engagement and accountability only happened with my most senior person, who was also my first hire and owned a small part of the company.
    • The moment when I recognized success was during a mission-critical ERP system upgrade for our largest customer – a multi-billion-dollar semiconductor reseller. I sat in on project and team meetings, reviewed reports, and asked a few questions, but that was it. It was a very proud and empowering moment for me.
      • The weekend of the pre-migration test, I received a call telling me that everything had been successful and that the migration was going forward the next weekend.
      • The following weekend I received a nightly summary email, and on Sunday afternoon received a call telling me that the new system was operational and supporting production with ease.
  3. Culture
    • Mr. Culver states, “Culture is all about people.” From my perspective, that is mostly true, but my experiences show other important dimensions of culture.
    • To me, your company’s cultural identity starts as something aspirational and later grows into the glue that bonds every member of your team. It helps bring out the best in everyone, including camaraderie and support that come from working with people you like and trust.
      • There were two unexpected consequences of actively focusing on culture, which were:
        1. We quickly transformed into a High-Performance Organization. Everyone pushed to continuously “raise the bar.” There was healthy competition, but each team member was a “safety net” for others. Winning as a team mattered far more than winning as an individual.
        2. New hires who were not a good fit were recognized quickly and usually quit within the first 2-3 weeks. I only had to terminate one person who wasn’t a good fit during the probationary period.
  4. Having a Support System
    • Mr. Culver addresses failure and the importance of family in supporting you in times of need.
    • One of the biggest lessons I learned was that nothing that I did or accomplished with my company would have been possible without the support of my wife, children, parents, and in-laws (the latter two providing financial support during the early years in times of need).
      • With understanding comes humility.

These are lessons learned that can be applied to any size organization and, in my opinion, are a great investment in your company’s future growth, value, and longevity.

Here is the link to the article referenced

This entry was posted in Business Ownership and Management, leadership, Life, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , .