Few Years back when I joined a MNC, my first day was something to remember for life. My boss an EXPAT called me and said let me introduce to your team. I was thinking .. my “team” Gosh… spare me.. I don’t want to handle any team, I don’t want to take any responsibility.. then came another voice from inside “ Stay focused. Remember your long term goal of professional life..”leader”.. to be leader you should know how to handle followers… Hmmm interesting so 3 female & 2 male was my team strength. That day I realized handling woman is much difficult than handling man :)
So what was the purpose of my team and what values I was looking in my team ? was the first question came in my mind & I drafted the purpose and values for my team
1. The team should have clear commitment to common purpose. Team member should know what the team’s work is and why it is important?
2. Collaboration, quality & integrity should be common values among team members.
3. Team goals should be clear, challenging, agreed on and relevant to the purpose.
4. Strategies for achieving goals are clear and agreed on.
5. Individual roles should be clear and & their relationship to the team purpose and goals is understood.
It looks interesting on paper but hard to execute. It took 60 days to make team a team… Next stage to team building was empowerment to team members. While talking to some of the members I realized that they are looking for freedom to work. So to encourage empowerment I took the following steps :-
1. Made the team realize that values, norms & policies encourage initiative, involvement and creativity.
2. Ensures that all relevant organization and business information is available to the team.
3. The team has the authority, within understood boundaries, to take action and make decisions.
4. Direction, structure & training is available to individual team members based on their professional needs.
5. Team is committed to the continuing growth and development of all team members.
Well empowering definitely made my team members confident about themselves and work. To boost their motivation and to bring synergy in team I introduced the concept of “Building relationship through continuous communication”
1. Different ideas, opinions, feelings and perspectives from all team members were encouraged and considered.
2. Team members listen actively to each other for understanding, not judgment.
3. Method of managing conflict and finding common ground are understood.
4. Cultural differences including race, gender, nationality, age etc are valued and respected.
Flexibility was the next step I introduced in team. By flexibility I mean team members share responsibility for team development and leadership. The team is able to meet challenges using the unique talents and strengths of all team members. Calculated risks are supported. Mistakes are seen as opportunities for learning.
Apart from optimal performance, recognition and appreciation was next step to motivate team. Individual and team accomplishment were often acknowledged by team leaders and team members. Team members have sense of personal accomplishment in relation to task contributions. The team celebrates successes and milestones together. Team members are confident and enthusiastic about the team efforts and are committed to success. The team encourages hard work as well as having fun. There is strong sense of pride in and satisfaction with the teams work. There is strong sense of trust and team spirit among team members. Team members develop supportive and caring relationships and help each other.
One of the best compliment I got from one of my ex team member. On his last working day he hugged me and said “ Thanks Kams for defining clear purpose. We felt empowered, our relationships and communication were good, we were flexible, our quality and performance were high, we felt appreciated and recognized and our morale was strong. … U r rocking” I said “ thanks man” u were rocking too… nd we said goodbye for the day.
After that I have got team to handle (which includes some bunch of jokers as well) but like your first love, first child first team also becomes special. Special for life…… and I miss my first team and do meet them in conferences/meets….. and feel happy to see them growing professionally and personally in life. 3 cheers to my first team… Bravo…..
