Read more about the article Five reasons to unlock the talent in your team
Group of business people brainstorming. They are working with sticky notes on a glass wall. They are excited and enthusiastic. People are pointing and talking.

Five reasons to unlock the talent in your team

Are you prepared to discover and harness the potential talent within your team, to propel your business to new heights of success? Here are five compelling reasons why you should start now:

1. Discover a crucial skill you might not know you need

A well-rounded view of your team’s abilities means knowing their strong and weak points. One of your more vulnerable areas could suddenly become critical for your organisation. A successful leadership team experienced this when a significant customer restructured their business and unexpectedly removed them as a supplier.

This painful setback happened after the team celebrated 360 feedback showing a strong bias toward action, accountability, and results. Sadly, they had overlooked low scores in strategic thinking and innovation. But, on the bright side, they immediately reviewed market trends and connected with customers to align with their short and longer-term plans.

Ensure you take a future-focused look at your team’s skillset to avoid such mishaps.

2. Draw on individual strengths and interests

When people love what they do, productivity skyrockets. Creative ideas and innovations flow. By delving into each team member’s unique capabilities, you can leverage their skills and interests for superior outcomes.

For example, a leader saw an opportunity to revive a stream of business at risk of closure due to competitor activity. This individual was passionately committed to its continuation for customers who would be disadvantaged if it closed down. With a carefully drafted business case and astute planning, the leader won support to deliver an outstanding outcome.

It shows that one person’s vision and talents can make a huge difference.

3. Pinpoint the skills required to round out the team

By recognising the different capabilities of team members, you can identify and fill any skill gaps, leading to a more balanced and effective team. When an executive team reviewed their organisation’s employee engagement survey, they realised that inadequate technology frustrated many employees.

Despite a sizeable investment to enable remote working, the executive team acknowledged they needed to do more to meet the needs of their people and their business. So rather than relying on IT, they took responsibility and educated themselves on how leaders can actively anticipate and support digital and technology solutions to advance their business.

They subsequently rolled out a series of very successful information sessions to all managers in the organisation.

4. Continually track and enhance your team’s abilities

To keep your team at the top of their game, evaluate their skills regularly, offer them growth opportunities, and adapt to changes in the business world. Imagine a situation where you inherited a team that received very little meaningful development in the past.

A newly appointed leader discovered that their team had made promises to customers that the company couldn’t keep. To address this, the team needed to quickly gain negotiation and financial skills. The solution was a skills assessment followed by practical, hands-on sessions on creating win-win solutions to satisfy both the customer’s and the organisation’s needs.

This approach helped the organisation to maintain profitability whilst delivering in full on customer expectations.

5. Embrace the power of curiosity for team building

To elevate your team’s performance, why not foster an atmosphere of curiosity and collaboration? Inspire your colleagues by being the first to share your thoughts, creating a safe space for others to contribute. One approach is to model a new leader who spent the first 30 days in the role having individual meetings with every direct report and their subordinates.

Simple yet powerful questions such as “What were your biggest contributions last year?”, “Can you identify any obstacles that are hindering your goals?” and “How I can improve your experience here?” helped this inspiring leader gain invaluable insight to improve things for their employees and the company.

By focusing on team building activities and fostering curiosity, you can create a strong and cohesive team that works together towards a common goal, unlocking the full potential of each member.

Demonstrate curiosity today and encourage others to do the same for the growth and success for your team.

Continue ReadingFive reasons to unlock the talent in your team
Read more about the article Three ways to upskill your team to achieve better results
Upskill your team

Three ways to upskill your team to achieve better results

It’s clear that today’s organisations need teams of people with diverse skills and the ability to adapt to new challenges swiftly. Easy to say, but the challenges are many!

The post-pandemic landscape has revolutionised our lives with remote work and digital communication, making effective teamwork more challenging. In addition, business transformation in response to ongoing change has a flow-on effect by requiring some teams to restructure or reform with new members.

Take a moment to assess your team’s performance. Are you flourishing or simply surviving in this new era?

Regardless of your response, nurturing your team to achieve optimum effectiveness is crucial for your organisation’s future. Therefore, it’s essential to find a way to equip the team with the necessary skills to tackle emerging challenges and capitalise on opportunities.

To bolster your team members’ skills for improved results, consider these three ways to upskill your team:

1. Embrace Your Talent

Developing a cohesive team requires a mutual understanding of individual strengths and weaknesses. The starting point to recognising the capabilities of others is an accurate appreciation of your own. However, true self-awareness may not be as common as you think. Many people believe they are self-aware, but studies have shown that only a small percentage are!

Team leaders can take the lead by exploring their capabilities and impact on others. By sharing their insights with the team, they can establish a safe and supportive atmosphere for members to discuss their skills and areas they need to develop openly.

Done well, this gives insight into the team’s collective capability to deliver results and nurtures the positive energy found in high-performing teams. We are fortunate to have seen many times how a deep understanding of team talent sets the stage for dynamic teamwork and better outcomes.

Tips:

  • Choose an assessment to help team members understand where they stand now on the skills that matter most for being effective in their roles. Whether you use a psychometric evaluation or 360-degree feedback, ensure the content is relevant to workplace behaviours and performance.
  • Invite individuals to present an overview of their results to the team so that they can support and encourage each other for personal development. Dedicate time during regular meetings or arrange a facilitated session to strengthen team competency.

2. Foster Collaboration

Well-planned collaboration with stakeholders is crucial for a team’s success because it promotes engagement and a commitment to achieving outcomes. Importantly, it allows teams to gather essential information from stakeholders to deliver excellent value to them.

One challenging aspect of collaboration is comprehending stakeholders’ diverse and occasionally conflicting interests. By recognising these concerns and priorities, teams can tailor their strategies for connecting with each stakeholder group.

Using collaborative language creates a strong foundation for meaningful relationships. Phrases such as “What’s your view on this?” and “Let’s work together to find a solution” exhibit a willingness to consider various perspectives, cultivating a sense of partnership.

Tips:

  • As a team, create or revisit a list of your key stakeholders, including individuals and groups. Progressively contact them to review what they need from you (and what you need from them). Gather specifics, ensuring you don’t make assumptions, to establish a plan to deliver what they require.
  • Implement an agreed approach and schedule for team communication with stakeholders. Random check-ins can be helpful at times but would generally be unnecessary. Instead, establish goals, provide regular updates, and track progress as key elements of effective stakeholder management.

3. Maintain Focus

Is your team grappling with increasing demands on their time and expertise? Unfortunately, it’s easy to get caught up in urgent tasks and run out of time for what truly matters.

To address this, establish a clear mission for the team and allocate dedicated time for priority work. In addition, eliminate distractions by ensuring meetings serve a specific objective and only involve essential participants. Doing this will maximise efficiency and keep the focus on the mission.

However, enhancing team productivity goes beyond efficiency – it’s also about cultivating positive team dynamics. By identifying challenges that call for joint resolutions, team leaders create an environment where members feel valued and are empowered to contribute their unique skills toward a shared goal.

Tips:

  • Invite your team members to review their schedule of meetings to determine which they need to attend personally and which they could delegate to someone in their team who would benefit and learn from the experience.
  • Strengthen team dynamics by identifying a challenge that impacts every team member and help them to work together to find the best solution and draft a project plan to achieve a successful outcome. Then, when they have implemented their solution, celebrate success, and move on to the next challenge!
Continue ReadingThree ways to upskill your team to achieve better results