BUILDING A TEAM FROM A WORK GROUP.
More Business Articles
Avoid The Dream Stompers
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." Mark Twain. One of the new terms created in cyberspace is 'dream stompers.' The net is full of stories where one person tried to stop another from succeeding.
Boost Profit with Premium Pricing
Hi everybody, I wanted to share with you a concept that took me a long time to get into my head (even though deep down I knew it was true) and that is currently holding a lot of businesses back from making the profits they can truly achieve: Don’t sell yourself short. Now, I’m not talking about compromising a few bucks here and there to make a sale.
Ideas to fill your toolbox
Whether you need tools to use for general home repairs or you require a fully stocked box for your job, building up a supply of the tools you need, can get expensive. Here are some ideas to help you fill your toolbox without emptying your wallet. First of all you must know what you need. It doesn't matter how deep the discount tools is if it's only going to collect dust in your garage.
Getting Your Company To Understand New Union Contracts
Few employers like to go through union contract negotiations as they take a lot of time and effort. For hours and days and even months you may be fighting and arguing over the smallest of details finding out in the end that your company has been reamed a new one. The other problem you face is the chaos that comes around after the contracts are implemented and managers must follow the new mandates.
People Don't Plan to Fail They Fail to Plan
Finally a Complete EBook Written Step By Step on What You Need to Run a Successful Business. Why do you need to create a business plan if it's just going to sit on a shelf and collect dust? Why do you really need to create a business plan and how will it actually help you and your business? I can relate to this.
The Answer Is Always NO Unless You Ask
Asking for the order seems like such a simple notion, so why do so many salespeople have difficulty with it? One of my favorite mottos is "if you don't ask, you don't get." It is a very clear, concise and true statement of faith. The simple truth is, the answer is usually "no" unless you ask, and ask you must if you expect success.
White Paper: Top Grading - Is Michael Gerber Wrong?
Systems or People? Michael Gerber presents a major, fundamental idea in his book, The E-Myth Revisited, Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It. Successful business models must operate successfully with low-skill employees. Replicable models use systems that do not require high-skill specialists.
A team is a team, is a team, is a team, or is it?
BUILDING A TEAM FROM A WORK GROUP.
How to turn a group of people working together into a fully functioning and effective team.
Well to start with you are all familiar with the cliché, 'There is no letter 'I' in the word team'.
This cliché is well crafted because in life as in business it is extremely difficult if not impossible to achieve anything other than minor success or passing happiness in life or business without partnering with at least one being and therefore being part of a team.
What exactly is a team? This is a question often asked and there are many interesting and sometimes humorous suggestions as to what constitutes a team.
The most common definition is something like, 'A number of people with complimentary skill and knowledge base and behavioural styles harmoniously blended together to achieve a mutually agreed and clearly defined objective'
That definition alone gives huge clues as to the complexity of building a team which will function effectively and achieve the end objective.
'A number of people', how many does it take to make a team? Well it's obvious that you need at least two.
What is the effective upper member limit for a team? Generally in business it would seem to be around ten. Most business 'manager, team leaders' would tend to struggle have more than ten people reporting directly to them; however there are always exceptions.
A company will be made up of a number of teams which will be determined by the overall size of the company, the business they are in and their preferred method of taking their product or service to the market place..
'Complimentary skill and knowledge base', the skill and knowledge base required will of course be to a large extent determined by the objective to be achieved. The availability of suitable team members with the required skill and knowledge base will naturally also be a
However the skill and knowledge base requirement is often underestimated with alarming results as the chosen team members struggle on sometimes even unaware of the deficiency until a critical' must have by' timeline approaches. The team leader not knowing quite what to do often just hopes for the best.
If the skill and knowledge base requirement is overestimated. The Apollo system referred to by Meredith Belbin may be observed here. This is particularly so when a team is stuffed full of experts with specialised knowledge. This may lead to deadlines being missed as team members 'expert egos' debate options and strategy rather than focusing on meeting a pre determined 'done by' date.
'Behavioural styles harmoniously blended together'. Most teams are in truth usually selected purely on their perceived skill and knowledge base. The fact that certain behavioural styles may find it difficult to work together is often totally overlooked. What is often overlooked is that within a team of say 8 people there are no fewer that 28 1:1 unique relationships in existence. Once one takes account of this fact then it is no great surprise that from time to time that teams do run into interpersonal relationship difficulties. These then lead to the birth of issues which negatively affect total team performance.
Extremely useful tools for assisting in this regard have been developed over the years and one such tool is DiscusTeam from Axiom Software, www.discusteam.com. The system DiscusTeam highlights likely conflict between team member behavioural styles. This then facilitates the pre handling of such issues by the team leader or and team creator prior to team launch. It is a fact though, for the reasons mentioned earlier, that no matter how careful one may be in putting a team together the team dynamic does change with the passage of time.
Many of these changes will of course be positive and for the good of the team and enhance its performance.
It is also true that some of the changes may lead to the team performance slippage. This can be a very difficult and stressful time for all concerned.
There is an interesting software package being developed which is designed to help the leaders of teams in difficulty. This online system identifies over 400 issues which may cause a teams performance to drift and falter.
Using the outputs of behavioural profiling tools such as Belbin, Myers Briggs and DISC this online system promises to be of huge advantage to team leaders searching for a pathway back to positive team performance.
If this team inertia busting package sounds of interest why not sign up as an early bird Beta Tester? You may find that teamfacilitate answers some of your most pressing team and corporate interpersonal relationship problems. To register your companies' interest please complete our proforma application and non disclosure agreement www.teamfacilitate.com
Your interest will then be prioritised and you will be amongst the first companies invited to test drive the system.
You may also be interested to be considered as an early bird 'Beta Tester' company, this is limited to the first 25 companies to apply.
We will show our appreciation to those companies selected for the Beta Testing stage of development by giving an extended period of 6 months free unlimited usage when TeamFacilitate is officially launched.
TeamFacilitate is an online management tool designed to help teams quickly and effectively overcome team issues which are 'cut to the chase' team imperatives.
TeamFacilitate is a 21st century solution to problems and difficulties experienced by 21st century teams and their leaders.
Potential clients will be able to 'Try before they buy' with NO upfront requests for payment.
About the Author
Malcolm Milligan involved in Sales, Marketing and Human Resource issues for over 40 years.
Personally helped many hundreds develop their careers in sales and sales management.
A DISC behavioural profiling text writer and author of numerous articles on DISC profiling techniques.
Author of 'How to Master Your Destiny' a home study personal development course available from http//www.e-trainme.com
Recruitment and selection specialising in the select
Source: Business Articles on ArticlesTree.com
Recent Business Articles
The Importance Of The Hypothec Scorecard
There are so many companies all over the world who overlook the simple act of employing hypothec metrics and the hypothec scorecard. But this is actually something that should not be overlooked at all.
HR Balance Scorecard For Effective Workforce Management
There is no argument that good and proper use of performance metrics can help organizations to better understand its overall efficiency and effectiveness - whether in terms of people, processes or programs.
The Significance Of The DVD Advertising Scorecard
The DVD advertising scorecard is a measure for determining the efficiency of using the DVD as a primary marketing tool for promotion.
DVD advertising can be seen as an innovative alternative to CD advertising.
New Product Scorecard For Effective Development And Launch
A product is considered new if it entirely opens up a new market, replaces an existing product or significantly broadens the market for the said existing product. Old products may be considered new when introduced to a new market, newly packaged or is marketed in a different approach.
Marketing Benchmarks
In marketing dictionary, benchmark is defined as the standard by which all items of similar nature can be compared or assessed. These standards can be used in comparison with other items belonging to the same industry, between competitors, and with other businesses.
Team Performance - How to Improve It
Copyright (c) 2008 Chiswick Consulting Limited
Raising team performance can be extremely challenging. There are many factors which could be the reason for underperformance. Having a model to help analysis what might be going wrong where, will enable the manager to focus their development in the most appropriate areas.
How To Improve Your Cash Flow With Inventory Planning
Inventory is the biggest asset for any Internet-based retail business. It's also the only active asset, or the only asset that generates a profit. That's why managing it correctly is a critical part of running a successful e-business.
Biblical Entrepreneurship - Part 2
This is the second article in the series dealing with Biblical Entrepreneurship. In this article, we will focus on one of the main components of being a Christian entrepreneur. The topic of today is service.
Coaching at speed
What is a coaching session? Does it necessitate a quiet room, with soft lighting and muzak? Does it mean comfortable chairs facing one another with two hours set aside for deep exploration? I hope not because if this were the case the average manager would not be able to utilise the simple principles which I aim to show can be used in a fraction of the time and as part of everyday working conversations.
The Art of UpSelling: Three Tips to Generate More Sales Effortlessly and 3 W...
Here is the good news. The hardest sale you will ever make to a customer is the first one. With the first sale, if you deliver on your promise to the customer, you establish a mutually-beneficial relationship.
Opt for the Best Collections Attorney
For many businesses, being owed debt is an extremely frustrating situation. For those that are owed debt, not only can it interrupt positive cash flow, but force a normally healthy business in jeopardy.
Personal Development - Break through Barriers and Achieve the Impossible
Grow revenues, increase profits, develop more products, improve customer service, reduce costs, increase prices...and you must work on all these items in your business at the same time. Do any of these items bear resemblance to your 2008 goals?
The first quarter of the year is ending, and now is a good time to reflect on the progress you have made toward reaching your business (or personal) goals.
Get Approved for a Small Business Grant Easily with These Tips
I am often asked by would be business owners where they can find the money and funding to start their business. The truth is there are so many different ways that I can't even begin to list them all. The most common and easiest is through loans but the most sought after are government grants since you don't need to pay any of the money back.
How do you answer the "So, What Do You Do?" question
One of the most valuable lessons I learned years ago while attending a 4 day seminar was from a soft spoken salesman from England who taught a workshop on the art of conversational selling. Namely, answering "So, what do you do?" in a way that engages the listener and creates a clear image of the results you and your business provides.
Planning For The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was created to help guide companies toward higher standards of security to protect sensitive cardholder data. Any company that accepts, stores, processes, or transmits sensitive credit card information is required to be PCI compliant or risk a range of stiff fines and penalties - including the loss of the ability to accept credit cards at all.