BUSINESS STRATEGY
with sports professionals we ’ ve found that there are many transferrable lessons that can help project leaders manage this challenge .
Setting the culture
The first lesson is that culture is crucial when you are pulling together a group of people with different backgrounds and experiences . They will all be used to working in different ways . But as a manager your job is to lay down the rules right away to pre-empt any clashes between team members .
OUR FINAL TIP FROM THE SPORTING WORLD IS A SIMPLE ONE : MAKE SURE EVERYONE IN YOUR TEAM IS AIMING FOR THE SAME GOAL .
Team spirit
This applies to everything from working habits to methodology . If your outsourced talent is not prepared to align with your approach , it may be best to part company with them early . A ‘ fit in or get out ’ attitude may sound harsh , but you can waste months dealing with problems if you don ’ t set out clear lines .
Having set the ground rules , a manager will also need to create a sense of togetherness in a way that encourages team members to pull for each other . In a football team , new players are absorbed into the club culture as soon as they join
– spending time with team mates in the gym , the canteen or on the training field with coaching staff . If you ’ re working with a hybrid team in a corporate world , however , this isn ’ t quite so straightforward . But it ’ s essential to the success of the project that teams can collaborate together .
You may not be able to get everyone in the same place very often , if at all , but you can set up regular calls and chat boards and encourage everyone in the delivery team to participate . If you are paying premium daily rates for consultants , it ’ s natural to feel that any time spent in non-essential conversation with team mates is an expensive extravagance , but these casual interactions are an important way of making people feel part of the team .
Achieving harmony
Another element of a happy team is ensuring that everyone ’ s role is clear . Sports coaches know that it ’ s vital for each player to understand not only their own position , but also that of their team mates . In transformation projects , this step is too often overlooked . Without an understanding of the specific role and pressures a colleague is facing , it ’ s easy for resentments to grow or impressions of unfair treatment to be harboured .
A RACI matrix covering every aspect of a project can go a long way to addressing this . By establishing who is Responsible , who is Accountable , who needs to be Consulted and who Informed , you can also avoid any confusion when decisions need to be made . To make this work effectively , however , it must be communicated clearly to all members of the team so that nobody is tempted to strike out in their own direction .
Delegation
If setting a culture , building team spirit and creating harmony all sound desirable but difficult to achieve , remember that you don ’ t have to do all this alone . In the sports world , a manager will be surrounded by a team of assistant coaches . In the Premier League , when clubs loan out players , they also provide a support package to help with the fitness monitoring , physical conditioning and mental preparedness of their player . Similar support is available in the business world .
A professional services provider should fulfil this assistant role for you by maintaining responsibility for the associates they are lending to your team . As well as holding regular meetings with each associate to monitor wellbeing , they should also provide training and coaching and
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