Team builders make it to the top. In the continuing Masterclass series, Philip Atkinson highlights precisely how to build and maintain a high performance team culture
Those who lead organisations cannot do so without creating a strong performance driven culture. The successful culture will depend on the quality of the interaction across the organisation uniting people from varying disciplines into a hard supplier chain. Silo management is dead and yet 80% of organisations still function along departmental lines. Processes drive businesses not functions. Organisations that focus upon the precise time when business activity is stimulated and completed to customer satisfaction have a long and healthy future. Focusing upon designing and creating processes that initiate and deliver to customer requirements is the simple solution to longevity. Now it is time to redesign delivery to customers based on processes rather than functions. That will not happen without strong cross-functional working. Smart organisations have re-engineered their processes with the customer as their focal point. Too many organisations have too much complexity ever really to meet the requirements of their customers – they do too much business with themselves!
What characterises the successful organisation?
Customer-centric organisations are totally team driven. Business is conducted naturally and seamlessly across functions.
Successful organisations have designed 5-8 core cross-functional processes to deliver ROI customer retention, acquisition and profitability.
All successful businesses have driven and designed these processes – they are not a result of accident or default.
Those who lead these teams are committed to maximising the potential of their people – recognising their individual contribution is measured in ‘achieving results through others.’
Team-working is focused upon empowering staff to take thoughtful risks and develop a self-managing attitude towards team performance.
How do we build a strong Team Performance culture?
Any Leader of people is only as good as their team. We have yet to find an organisation that commits resources to over-train its people – so it makes sense to commit to any development that yields or causes business improvement in measurable terms. A good start for organisations committed to working across functional boundaries is answering the following questions:
How do we create the Leaders to grow a strong Team-working culture?
What actions can we take today to focus upon customer focused processes rather than functional management?
What training or development if delivered would result in significant business improvement?
What is stopping Leaders excelling with their teams? Do more of what is creative and less of what inhibits teams. Promote people on how well they develop the potential of others working across the organisation.
If you depended upon your team for your future financial security – to what actions would you now commit that future was rosy?
Answer these questions with your actions, and team-working and profitability will flow across and down your business!
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