Business team's chemistry

While working on my business launch, I can say that the greatest challenge was to form a great team, with smart, motivated, ambitious people that, most importantly, get along very well. After many trials, I can say I managed to achieve this.

So, for whoever is interested how to achieve having a great team of business associates, I have here some tips and tricks:

- Be open! Don't be afraid to share your idea. Talk about it to people you already know, and also with new people that you meet in entrepreneurial environments. As many as possible. Some will just give you a feedback, some will lead you to useful contacts, some might become your associates.

- Motivate! Talk with enthusiasm. Get to know the other people better. Make the link between their interests and your interests.

- Check the other's attitude towards the project/ business! Being experts in their field is not enough. You need people who love the project as much as you, who perceive it as their own.

- Make sure you have a balance! Make sure "the chosen ones" complete each other and you have a variety of personalities, skills etc. However, it should all fit together at the end.

- Empower! Don't dictate and don't believe you know everything best. Let the others question your idea, your plan. Be open to feedback and give the others the opportunity to manage some aspects. Invest some trust because collaboration can take you further.

- Look more for potential, rather than existing skills! People develop over time. Create a team based on personalities, attitudes and personal goals, skills can develop over time if there is potential for growth in a specific area.

- Check how the others feel with each other! Don't follow only your opinions and chemistry evaluations, but make sure everybody in the team feels good about the others.

- Mediate! You are the link, you have the overview. So you can help the others find their place and mix well.

However, even with the greatest team, always be prepared for the unexpected! You need to be able to be flexible, and remember that good leaves to make room for better :)

How close are we?

In the year 201x, somewhere in the University campus:

- Students are invited to RSVP on meetup.com if they are going to attend the class
- Once the class has started, present students should confirm their physical attendance by check-ins on Foursquare for the place called Room 145, University of...
- If the teacher is absent, he can teach remotely by using his avatar for live presentation
- If some students are absent, they are free to attend the class online on the Facebook group
- The lesson is composed by tweets. At the end, the Q&As session is held on Quora.
- Students chat between themselves during the class on Facebook, posting on each other's walls and commenting

The challenge is, define x! :)

What do you do when shit happens?

Yes, shit happens! No matter how much you plan things. There are things you cannot control, or you simply collaborate with others and some can let you down sometimes.

What makes a difference is the way you react when shit happens. And your reaction is a thing you can totally control. This is the time when you can be a fighter, a problem-solver, a challenge-taker, an entrepreneurial spirit, a leader. There is no point to get down and cry, and to blame...others, faith, whatever.




Yesterday it happened to me. A key team member for my future online business had to quit the project suddenly. This was really messing up all the plans. However, already in the next second alternatives came to my mind - I didn't have time to be upset, I had to be fast in finding solutions not to delay things even more. I met later the rest of the team and we started by discussing alternatives and made a new plan. The meeting was really productive and the team spirit increased. I was pleased to see everyone results-driven, finding solutions and collaborating. In the end, the fact that we needed to find new solutions actually helped us, since we had to  rethink some aspects. So maybe is true that good is gone only to leave room for better. And I guess that among entrepreneurs, this is a common reaction to problems.....hmm, challenges :)

Also yesterday, I assisted a fight between some colleagues (another team) over a delay in tasks. To my surprise, I assisted to a blaming and defending attitude and a growing fight instead of finding solutions, for the moment and for the future. And I was wondering why? Why weren't these people getting out of the problem as soon as possible? Why were they wasting time and energy to fight instead of finding a solution and peace? I was glad I could give a solution that pleased them and stopped the fight. But as long as I don't discover the reason behind their reaction, most probably it will happen again. Conclusion was that everybody controls their own reaction, but as a team player you can definitely help your colleagues that are facing a problem, especially since you see the issue more neutral.

What do you do when shit happens? To you or around you?

That is so one second ago

My generation (Gen Y or Digital Natives) is the one exposed to the most rapidly changing environment that humanity encountered so far.

Because of this, we need today specialists that cannot be prepared as such by the existing educational system. The educational system is so behind the wave, that not only it lacks preparing the right skills, but also the right attitudes and mindsets.

There are lately all sorts of critiques, trying to point out that there should be a change in the way youth people are educated. But before something will be changed at this large scale, there are all sorts of things youth people can do on their own to prepare for the reality that awaits them.

First of all, they have easy and cheap (if not free) access to information and the possibility to connect virtually with like-minded people from everywhere. This should be used by youth people to learn on their own whatever they want, whatever they feel is the upcoming wave.

Secondly, youth people are more and more encouraged by the business sector to contribute with their fresh perspectives. There is a great developing system of internships nowadays, there are companies recruiting youth people from the times they are in universities, colleges, and even high-school - making them face the real world challenges from early stages. It is actually interesting to see this evolution: at the beginning people were just studying at universities (it was an outstanding thing), now universities send you to do internships and exchanges. This opportunity should be used by youth people to educate themselves in today's reality, rather than in old education's beliefs.

I tried in the best way I could to prepare myself for today's environment. I go online since I was 10 years old, I started a job in my field since I was second year in university, I got involved into a students organisation and I attended some good conferences and workshops. But this is nothing compared to the opportunities younger people had: what you can find and do online is so much developed year after year; now there are all sorts of possibilities to start working in companies from first year of university or even earlier, in high-school and so on.

I cannot compete with somebody who is even three years younger than me, or I should of made a much bigger effort to be equal....just because chances were different, or actually the same but at different stages in life.

So, bottom line...

On the short run, I recommend you to educate yourself for the new times and to take new opportunities. Some good advice in this sense you can find in this book: Linchpin - by Seth Godin.

On the long run, I believe we should all try to change (or encourage the change) of the educational system. For this, I invite you to watch this video:

We are puzzle pieces

When it comes to working in teams or finding the right job/ professional activity, you should be able to know where do you fit best and why. Otherwise you will end up unhappy and you will not make the best of what you can do. If you don't know already, just stop a while and think about it....or have some personality/ work style tests done (one of my recommendations: the Belbin test).

More than this, I believe a person should not try to improve a, b, c aspects about herself just because others are good at it or it is required, but just to be aware of how he/ she is and find the right environment to fit in. In this world, we need everybody, all the possible attitudes and skills...but for different activities, in different teams and at different times. A puzzle piece is not wrong as such, you just need to find for it the perfect place in the big picture.

One big mistake people usually do happens during job interviews. You think you want the job, so you are careful to talk in such a way you will impress the employer and get it. And then, you realize is not the best activity for you, or the best team etc. By just being honest from the beginning, and defining yourself concretely, you will be able to save yourself from getting into the wrong place for you. Pay attention to the chemistry you feel with your potential future boss/ colleague, to the requirements of the job, to the organisational culture etc. You are getting yourself into a long term collaboration.

Well, this opens actually another question: should we really try to find to do only things we like? This is a big debate. I believe there are plenty of opportunities that will fit each one of us and make us happy. Some say you can never do only things you like. Wherever is the truth in this, at least we should try to find the things that fit as perfectly and not get stuck into wrong places/ teams from the first trials.

And to give myself as an example:

- I am a starter. So I need to surround myself with planners and doers. Still, is important that all of us understand each other's role and nobody expects the others to act in the same way.

- I am a driver. So I need to surround myself with people who show appreciation, because otherwise I get demotivated.

- I am an innovator. So I need to work in places where innovation is needed and encouraged. If I open a business, it is for sure for new markets or with new products.

- I am people oriented. So I need to work in places where I have as much contact with people as possible.

And the list can continue....


On the same topic:
 http://www.inc.com/marla-tabaka/are-you-a-doer-or-creator.html
 http://www.businessinsider.com/do-i-really-want-to-work-here-2010-12