People are invaluable assets in today’s business world, especially when we encounter the word – “human capital”. As leaders steer their organizations ahead to meet business goals, they do trust their people to help them in achieving success.
Focussing on this, it is very critical to assemble the right team to hit success. So, business leaders need the right mix of talent and skills – to maximize the effectiveness of the team. In the evolving global business environment, it is important to ensure that the team represents a full range of skills that are equipped to achieve all goals set.
• Goals must be identified and clear
In business culture, all teams are set to accomplish targets. Therefore, identifying targets becomes the first step in putting together a team. Once the goal is set, only then can you actually go ahead and define the kind of task and team-specific skillsets you need from the chosen team members.
• Match the goals with skillsets
Concentrating on the nature of business, it must be kept in mind that a pool of skills must be identified; and then team members must be chosen who best suit your project targets. It would be advisable to check out the team – like, take a closer look at individual skills at this point and assess how they would fare in a team environment. Both these factors are very essential for the success of a team. Further, this will go a long way in making a highly effective team.
Getting your team dynamics correct is one thing, but what about skills versus experience? Offices during the interview, look if they have the skills that are required in a particular role. When it comes to experience, you do need a team that boasts of a strong track record, in all of the functional areas.
• Steps to be taken: to choose the team
>>When a project is finalised it is important that the team leaders analyze the project task and break it into its component steps. Then, note down each of the work skills necessary to complete these tasks – so that the right people are taken into the team.
>>Think about any specific requirements you will have on this project – such as the ability to work to tight deadlines or availability to do ‘overtime’.
>>Speak to your HR – for guidance on which members in your organization have the relevant skills. Check out their communications skills and ability to work cooperatively with others.
>>List out several potential team members under the heading of each skill.
>>Only pick out those employees who have the right mix of skills and personal attributes. If you are not sure, you can conduct informal interviews with the potential candidates to gauge their commitment levels (if they were chosen).
>>Analyze your potential team to make sure you have the right mix of creative people with “ideas” on one hand, and people who pay attention to “detail”. For, you need both ‘inspirational’ team members and ‘áction’ team members – who will be able to implement plans successfully.
>>In the team it is absolutely imperative that personality clashes must be avoided. Even if the team members are skilled in the right areas, but if they won’t work well together, you need to think twice, for they will create a dent in the team. Ultimately, it successful collective efforts that forge ahead to complete the project.
Avtar Madan
Himanshu
Shree Lahiri
