In an organisation, you are either an independent contributor or a team manager leading a team to create value. Have you asked yourself what value your team bring to the table?
What do you say when asked what value you bring to the table? Even better, if you lead a team, how do you support them to create long-term value in your group?
You and I know how important a company value proposition is. It is a declarative statement explaining why customers should buy your product or services. It explains what differentiates you, your unique offering, and why you are the best choice on the market.
What about you as an individual? As a manager and leader of people? As a team member? What long-term values do you want to build and create?
The values you create become your team's value proposition. The team's value proposition defines you and your capability. What you stand for, what you provide, how you do something, how you manage and lead, and why people should choose your team.
Here are five long-term values you should consider building in your team.
- Creativity
- Execution
- Taking Charge
- Subject Matter Expert
- Networking
Let's expand on each value in detail.
Creativity
This one is about the ability to find options and see the future. Creative people think and do differently. They find ways to solve problems that support others and themselves to reach the intended outcome.
Here's an example. Think of companies like Apple, Microsoft or Google. What makes them successful? I see their ability to churn out products and services that customer desires. They have a high capacity to innovate.
Likewise, what is the ability of your team to do the same? Who in your team has this ability? Who in your group do you see has this skill? What about you?
You can develop creativity through training. Some teams have it easier than others through the talent of the members. Nurture your team to demonstrate this ability and value.
Execution
The value here is one of delivery. Your team and you are effective in getting things done. Execution differentiates your team from others.
Execution calls for implementation, seeing the completion end-to-end and delivering on what you promised and committed to doing.
From my observation, many teams ship out their services or products if there is someone, usually a Project Manager, to nudge and push them to meet deadlines. For those in IT, think of the Scrum Master or Agile Project Manager.
What if you need to be project-driven but not in a project space? What should you do? If you are the team leader and manager, you must take on the role of a Project Manager or Scrum Master. If you can't, assign someone in the team to be one and set a time frame.
Again, project management training plays a role in developing this value in your team. The ability to deliver what your team says will speak volumes with the people depending on their execution ability.
Taking Charge
Some might call this leadership. It's more than that. It's when you and your team take charge of a challenging situation. Your team shows boldness and courage to take calculated risks.
Taking charge is one of those values that sounds easy but is hard to build. In an environment where hierarchy is dominant, everyone looks up to the most senior ranking manager for approval to act. The highest-paid person's words dictate the next steps.
There is also the element of fear and indifference among your team members. Thoughts like "It's above my pay scale", "Someone else will handle it", or "It's not in my job description" are typical in a team that doesn't have a taking-charge value. Your team lacks ownership of their work and what the group stands for.
Building this value starts with building trust between the leader/manager and members. It would be best if you had each other's back. Next is the duty to care and take accountability for the outcome that affects the customer.
When you have developed those attributes of trust and duty to care to a certain level, your team will start to take charge, which looks like a self-directed initiative at first. Keep building trust and customer-first focus, and you will soon see this.
Subject Matter Expertise
This is where people go to you and your team for expert advice. Your team has the know-how and show-how. Your team shares their knowledge and expertise generously.
This can be acquired from years of relevant experience, experiments, studies, and training. Sometimes, expertise comes externally from new team members bringing insights from outside. The more your team shares, the more they learn and improve.
For instance, think about a work challenge your want to solve. Is there someone you will go to at work and ask for feedback or ideas? Or is there someone who everyone recommends that you consult? That person has developed a long-term value of being a subject matter expert.
It would be best if you had this capability in your team to build that long-term value. It can be nurtured because this supports other long-term values you are building in your group.
Networking
This one differs from what you think it means. It's not about who you know, the names and contact details you have collected. The value here comes from someone who has mastered the art of social agility.
Social agility means the ability to harness interpersonal skills for business success. These include empathy, presence, clarity and authenticity. Technology and technical knowledge have led to a decline in these skills, and social agility addresses this gap.
Your team need to relate to people at all levels of the organisation. The better you can do that, the more people will link to your products and services. I bet your team's communication with others is left to the team manager or leader. Or maybe to someone outside the group.
The better the team's social agility, the better they communicate, collaborate, create, adapt and set themselves apart from the machines. You and your team need highly developed interpersonal skills to do this effectively.
Conclusion
What do all these long-term values mean for a team?
When you firmly establish your values, people will wait their turn for you.
Like when Apple launched a new product, people queued in line to get their hands on one.
Teams that build long-term values are respected. They have an identity that aligns with the company's mission. They are long-lived, cohesive, empowered, and their operating systems get copied.
Building all five long-term values is hard work. A group rarely have all five. You need at least two core values in a good team.
In a digital and knowledge economy, strive for three and continue strengthening your team's long-term value. Your team will thank you for that.