Gathering the team (all hands on deck!)

As we mentioned in our previous publication, the main factor for a company’s stability and survival in the face of rapidly changing conditions is a cohesive and motivated team. Today, we will start with cohesion – defining what it consists of and figuring out how to achieve it.

The basis of cohesion consists of two main factors – trust and respect, in that order. They create an environment in which effective communication (the third factor) is possible, which in turn ties together the nodes of the company’s structure and makes this structure stronger – increasing trust. This is similar to building a molecule from several atoms of different elements. Between the atoms, there are forces of mutual attraction (our team’s shared goals) and repulsion (our different communication styles and values), and the electrons, which are common to different atoms (our communication among team members), actually balance these forces and unite the atoms into one molecule.

The fourth and fifth factors are the presence and understanding of a common goal and the motivation to work towards it. These factors are built on top of communication and are not possible without it, as they are created through the exchange of information between those who already see the goal and have the motivation to work towards it, and those who do not yet see or have it.

The first four factors form a pyramid of trust toward a common goal, all levels of which have a positive feedback loop: better understanding of the common goal and higher confidence in its existence leads to higher trust, which in turn positively affects all subsequent levels. Motivation is an integral factor created from all previous ones.

In our view, it is better to start with trust. Without it, it will be quite difficult for you to build all the next levels of the pyramid.

Trust arises when you understand your conversation partner and can confidently predict some important part of their behavior. Usually, such an opportunity does not appear immediately, even if you know a lot about your conversation partner in advance. Time and experience are needed to observe decisions and actions that confirm the available information. In fact, trust is confidence in the absence of the need to control certain aspects of a person’s activity: “I can rely on him, he will handle this task” – this is the manifestation of trust.

How to create an atmosphere of trust? You must be transparent, predictable, and consistent, and cultivate the same throughout the corporate environment. People should know what values, beliefs, and aspirations are the basis for the actions of all other people in the company and regularly receive confirmation of this by observing decisions and actions around them. Remember that one decision made in opposition to declared values can destroy the entire system of trust, which will take years to rebuild.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to select people in a large team in such a way that all values and beliefs coincide completely, so it is desirable to create a corporate code that specifies the values that are most important for the company, adhere to it strictly, and make sure that everyone in the company (including management) accepts everything that is set out in the code (for this purpose, it makes sense to create such a code through public discussion).

If there are people whose values differ from the company’s values in such a way that they cannot accept the code, they should be honest but quickly parted because further cooperation will not bring any benefit or satisfaction to either party, especially in stormy seas. Most likely, they are already suffering by working for you, but they are holding on for some reason (for example, you have a high salary, and they have a large car loan). But their productivity and efficiency in this case are much lower than they could be, which is bad for both parties, because in the end, it can contribute to the sinking of your ship, and then everyone will suffer.

We hope that your team has already been selected in such a way that basic values are implicitly agreed upon and declaring the company’s values will not cause significant problems. But if you find that a large number of members of your team do not share what is important to you and the business, you have bad news – it may be time to prepare a lifeboat and look for another ship. With such a team, you will not weather the storm. In any case, finding out about this in advance is better.

There is much more to be said about trust and the mechanics of its creation, but in our own experience, we have repeatedly confirmed that the simplest things that are easy to implement work best, and beautiful and highly scientific methodologies die even before they become capable of breathing in your company if they are complex. This is especially relevant during a storm.

Stay tuned for more publications in this series. More to come.

© Createria Team, 2023