You’ve always known that you are a team player, and you’ve probably always known that you are ready to take on the task of team leadership. However, what you might not know is that no matter how good you are at team leadership, and no matter what kind of a team player you are, personal development is a way to make you stronger, more successful, and better and what you do, overall. 

Personal development means that you are focusing on the skills that you have in order to improve them, and also that you are learning new skills that can benefit you life in general, and of course, benefit the team. When you are working on your personal development, it means that you are never finished learning. You are a strong, successful person and you are focusing on ways that you can make yourself even more so. Working on personal development allows you to become even more concrete in the areas that you know you excel, and begin to develop brand new skills that are going to be beneficial to everyone. 

A team leader is someone who is good at personal development. This is because as you go through life, and as you lead your team, things do not stay the same. Part of personal development is focusing on changing for the better, and helping yourself to learn the skills that are necessary for you to change. When you become the leader of a team, no matter what that team is dealing with and no matter what level of expertise that team is at, you are going to be working with the same people over time. You are also going to be doing the same things, no matter what business you are working in, and no matter what number of things you have to do as a team leader. However, as time goes on, you know that you are going to have to change the way you do things. New technologies come to the forefront, and there is always something different that you can do to make your team run smoother and to help your business excel. Therefore, you are going to have to always be open to change, and ever ready to adapt to the times. 

Personal development is like going to school – you are going to keep your mind open to new possibilities and you are going to be able to change and grow with the world around you.  No matter what kind of team leader you are to begin with, by working on your personal development, you’ll be able to get much stronger and much clearer in your leadership style. This is the best way that you can excel at team leadership.

Tim Hoiseth

Tim has background as is business psychologist and work sociologist with expertise in building organisations and teams to solve problems for the future. Tim has expertise in technology and the symbiosis between human interaction and technology in operational processes.

Where ever you turn these days you hear people talk about training, education, increasing competence. Often to increase possibilities and better ones position in the work market. Often the need for training is clearly agreed upon, but what and how to teach staff the things they need to know to perform better is hard for most to define. Simply resulting in no training at all, or the cheapest alternative, we have proof up the chain that we tried at least right? But why train? Whats the importance and fuzz about it?

Simple really: training improves skills, techniques, knowledge and attitude whatever an individual’s role within an organisation. Ongoing staff training and development is crucial if you want to improve business performance and meet your targets.

Without a well-trained, skilled team your business won’t grow and prosper. But there are a number of initiatives to ensure your staff have the right knowledge and experience required.

When a company develops a learning culture, staff feel motivated to participate in it, resulting in an improvement in individual and collective performance. Morale will be raised, problems solved, efficiency improved and goals attained all because of the practical ability, confidence and motivation that effective training builds.

There is, however, a bewildering array of training events and self-taught training materials. Some of these events and materials may be inappropriate as they do not fulfil the skill and information needs of your staff. Some courses may be legally inaccurate, as they do not contain up-to date information on important relevant educational legislation of which staff need to be aware.

Ensuring that staff develop as educators, team members and individuals increases their sense of worth within your organisation, reducing staff turnover rates. Providing appropriate and ongoing training assists in maintaining the high quality of their work and output.

Psychological Training

Have you ever wondered what makes top performers excel time after time? The answer is they are not only highly competent; they are also psychologically fit.

These people have learnt to become – and stay – focused, resilient, confident and committed. This means they have that extra drive to perform in today’s highly demanding world of work. Psychological fitness, like physical fitness, can be learnt. It sits at the heart of a suite of programmes, each of which provides practical and sustainable tools to develop and enhance psychological fitness.

Together with complementary skills and knowledge, they provide the drivers for action in a wide range of contexts. In association with the Human Dimension, Phoenix are able to provide all your staff with the practical tools to perform at a higher level by enhancing their psychological fitness. Its application is extremely varied but recent workshops have been centred around Leadership, Change Management, Team Development, Tackling Absenteeism and Stress.

Tim Hoiseth

Tim has background as is business psychologist and work sociologist with expertise in building organisations and teams to solve problems for the future. Tim has expertise in technology and the symbiosis between human interaction and technology in operational processes.

If you happen to be a home business owner who employs even a few people, then you are definitely the leader of the pack! You, too, are part of the variety on a team. How well you work together with your employees will tell how successful you are. Are you a leader who teams with success?

True teamwork not only takes time, but it takes the willingness to contribute to the team’s greater good and simply not look out for number one. It has to begin with a sincere desire to work on the group’s behalf. Be sure to examine your motives. When you have a successful team, you will find that all of the teammates reap the rewards. Ineffective teams are often composed of some selfish team members who only watch out for their own personal goals and not the goals of the team as a whole.

As the leader of the team, you should strive to instill the following qualities into your members so that your team will be effective:

1. To have a shared vision of the team’s mission and its goals,

2. There should be a willingness to incorporate one’s individual talents for the  team’s betterment.

3. There should be open communication lines between you as the team leader and members  of the team and among the team members themselves.

4. There should be an appreciation of individual differences within the team.

5. Team members should be recognized and rewarded for their efforts.

Lines of authority alone are not a guarantee of loyalty, dedication and the shared sense of team play. Also, it is a fact that talent does not always guarantee success. Successful teams come about because there is a blending of talent, the melding of minds and mindsets, and there is also the ability to be able to focus on the bigger picture. Members of the team need to feel the following:

1. To be heard

2. To feel that they are important

3. To be appreciated, valued and recognized

4. To have the opportunity to express their own individuality

These attributes can all occur on teams that are well led without having to sacrifice team spirit. It is wrong to think that even the best team leaders strive to treat everyone the same way. Since all of the members of a team are individuals, not everyone needs or wants to be treated just like everyone else. Some team members are self-motivated while other need support and reassurance.

When you have developed personally as a team leader, then you can take steps to pass on personal development to your team members. Remember that teamwork develops over time. Your team can strengthen itself daily through experience and relationships that develop with other team members over time. When you, as a team leader, give time and attention to these tips, you will find that your group will soon be teaming with success.

Tim Hoiseth

Tim has background as is business psychologist and work sociologist with expertise in building organisations and teams to solve problems for the future. Tim has expertise in technology and the symbiosis between human interaction and technology in operational processes.

Implementing new strategies, new directions, new objectives, is introducing change, major change, into the organisation. As such it is essential that the implementation is approached, managed, in a similar fashion to that adopted when major changes are being made. The implementation of the changes must be planned, implemented as smoothly as possible, and then be monitored and evaluated for progress and performance against the desired outcomes, objectives, that were the drivers of the change. The leader must ensure that all aspects of the changes, the new strategic plan, are managed successfully. 

The leader is the change strategist, whose role is to lead, to champion the changes, to promote the vision, to keep the organisation travelling in the chosen direction, and to ensure that all those involved in implementing the changes, the strategies, perform to the best of their ability. There are a range of leadership styles that could be drawn on. Some would argue that certain changes need an autocratic, aggressive style of leadership, and, whilst there may be the need for an element of this approach, if used as a single style it rarely results in a positive post-change environment. This is the flaw in this approach, for, after the changes have been implemented, and the strategies are in place, the managers, specialists, operational employees, and all contributing stakeholders, must work together in a harmonious, positive, manner to make the desired progress and achieve the objectives. If the leadership style during the change has been harsh, unforgiving, and aggressive, it may take many months, even years, to re-establish a positive environment, a healthy, goals focused, teamwork driven culture. The only logical choice of leadership style in any major change is one that combines all the styles, but leans heavily to those which focus on a team approach. The leader adopts a flexible, responsive style, that is a blend of the consultative, participative, and democratic, leaving room for an occasional, sparing touch of the autocratic to be employed if absolutely necessary. This style will then be the foundation on which the new, changed, organisation is built on.

Performance at the strategic, corporate level must be monitored by the leader. Changing strategic direction, no matter how thorough the preparation and planning, entails taking the organisation into uncharted territory. The leader is the guide, the expert, the most high profile member of the team embarking on this journey, and as such must be constantly aware of how much progress is being made and, when required, able to adjust the pace of progress and degree of activity to ensure that progress is satisfactory. To be successful in this the leader must carry out monitoring and evaluation activity on a regular basis, demanding timely and accurate information with which to make the assessment. In turn, the senior management team must show that they are successfully cascading this review and evaluation process down into the operational activity areas. The leader must set evidence of achievement of this task as one of the performance appraisal criteria for the senior managers, and they in turn must apply this approach to the operational managers and teams, as discussed below.

The senior managers are the change implementers at corporate level. Their role in implementing and  managing the strategies and ensuring that the objectives are met, is crucial. It is these managers that will be leading and managing the operational managers and specialists, and monitoring performance and progress made. One of their roles will be to inform and manage the operational managers, and to appraise their performance. In all of these activities the leader(s) must provide the senior managers with encouragement and the necessary support to carry out their work, but must also appraise their performance and demand improvements where necessary.

At the operational levels the middle and functional managers must assist in making the changes and then achieving the objectives. This includes in hard areas of activity such as the achievement of targets, goals, deadlines, outcomes, objectives, in managing budgets, controlling costs, maintaining quality standards, producing goods or delivering services. It also includes the effective management of soft areas of activity such as in communications, coaching, training and development, managing resistance, and providing support for those negatively affected by the changes. The leader cannot manage at this level, but should regularly ask for evidence from the senior managers that the strategic objectives have been successfully translated into operational targets, deadlines, and goals, and that operational performance is satisfactory.

In all but the smallest organisation the leader will have little regular contact with the operational employees. However, that does not mean that the leader should not be known to them, or that their feelings should not be known by the leader. The role and style adopted by the leader should ensure that the operational employees are aware of the leader, and of the style of leadership being adopted. This is achieved partly through the communication of the mission, or vision, or simply the strategic direction being taken by the organisation, partly through the cascading down of the strategic plans, becoming visible as operational objectives, and partly by the visibility of the leader in channels such as newsletters, the corporate website, and local or national media. Visibility by physical presence, for example in the leader visiting operational activity areas, could be helpful, but is not always possible and must always be carefully handled. The only realistic way for the leader to communicate the strategic plan and direction is through the operational managers, themselves responding to the messages from their more senior managers. However, the importance of the operational employees in helping to achieve the strategic objectives, through their performance at the operational activity level, cannot be overestimated. The leader must ensure that they receive the support, the training, the resources, the quality of management, that they need in order to achieve the operational objectives. Without success at this level, the strategies will fail.

Most organisations have a number of important external stakeholders. The leader must inform and liaise with these, as they are important to the success of the strategies. Shareholders must continue to support the changes, and the leader; lenders will need constant reassurance that their funds are being used wisely and repayments are not under threat; business partners will need reassurance of positive progress being made; suppliers will need reassurance that they will be paid; local authorities and other agencies will be required to provide services; the media will want to report on positive progress but will also be watching for negative news to report; families of employees will need reassurance that their providers are not at risk; and customers will continue to demand that the products or services that they purchase will meet their needs. The leader must be aware of, and respond to, all these demands.

The leader is, without doubt, the most important person in the process of implementing a change of strategic direction. The analogy with the captain of a ship is an apt one. It is the responsibility of the captain (the leader) to ensure that the officers (the senior and middle managers), the engineers and mechanics (the specialists in finance, marketing, quality, etc), and the crew (the operational employees), are all working to the best of their abilities in maintaining all areas of the ship. With this under control, the leader can then focus on the primary role of maintaining the course that has been set and forecasting and taking corrective action against threats that may lie ahead.

One aspect of managing change, relevant here in implementing a new strategic plan, or direction, is that of celebrating success. Mechanisms should be in place, at senior management, middle and operational management, and operational employee levels, to visibly reward success. Success here could mean many things, including: achieving important milestones or targets; overcoming resistance to change; removing barriers; settling conflict; taking opportunity; defending against threats; removing or reducing weaknesses; making unexpected improvements; raising quality standards; improving the plan. Morale and motivation will be raised significantly if success is rewarded. The leader should ensure that reward for success is a high profile aspect of the way in which change is managed.

In leading the strategic activity that is required to implement the strategic plan, to change the strategic direction of the organisation, the leader is managing, leading, a major change. The majority of the change activity will, by necessity, be technically, operationally, managed by others. With this in mind, the leader must focus on ensuring that the organisation is following the direction laid down in the strategic plan, whilst at the same time managing those who are operationally implementing the plan. It is a dual role that requires great skill and a high level of effort and energy. Effective leaders will have prepared for this by equipping the organisation with appropriate physical, financial, and human resources, and by equipping themselves with the necessary knowledge and understanding of strategic change management. With these in place, the leader will be successful in managing the change and the strategic objectives will be achieved.

Tim Hoiseth

Tim has background as is business psychologist and work sociologist with expertise in building organisations and teams to solve problems for the future. Tim has expertise in technology and the symbiosis between human interaction and technology in operational processes.

Although some people treat the terms management and leadership as synonyms, the two should be distinguished. As a matter of fact, there can be leaders of completely unorganized groups.  On the other hand, there can be managers, as conceived here, only where organized structures create roles.

Separating leadership from management has important analytical advantages. It permits leadership to be singled out for study without the encumbrance of qualifications relating to the more general issues of management.

 To clarify, leadership is certainly an important aspect of managing. The ability to lead effectively is one of the keys to being an effective manager; also, undertaking the other essentials of managing — doing the entire managerial job — has an important bearing on ensuring that a manager will be an effective leader. Managers must exercise all the functions of their role in order to combine human and material resources to achieve objectives. The key to doing this is the existence of a clear role and a degree of discretion or authority to support the manager’s actions.

The essence of leadership is followership. In other words, it is the willingness of other people to follow that makes a person a leader. Moreover, people tend to follow those whom they see as providing a means of achieving their own desires, wants and needs. Leadership and motivation are closely interconnected. By understanding motivation, one can appreciate better what people want and why they act as they do. Also, leaders may not only respond to subordinates’ motivations but also arouse or dampen them by means of the organizational climate they develop. Both these factors are as important to leadership as they are to management.

Leadership can be defined as influence, that is, the art of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of group goals. Ideally, people should be encouraged to develop not only a willingness to work but also a willingness to work with zeal and confidence.

Tim Hoiseth

Tim has background as is business psychologist and work sociologist with expertise in building organisations and teams to solve problems for the future. Tim has expertise in technology and the symbiosis between human interaction and technology in operational processes.

Maintaining High Standards Of Personal Behaviour, by: maintaining high standards of personal beliefs; behaving with integrity and fairness; behaving ethically; showing respect and sensitivity for the views of others; ensuring that all relevant people are kept informed of plans, decisions, and progress; pro-actively seeking positive relationships; accepting criticism and feedback positively. The rationale is that the leader must aspire to be a role model for high standards of personal behaviour, be ethical, be honest, be genuine, so that they are ultimately trusted by colleagues and stakeholders. Even if the leader is required to carry out actions that have an unpalatable impact, such as when redundancies are necessary, the aim is to carry out such actions in as honest, open, and sympathetic manner as possible, so that observers, even those most negatively affected, will not be able to accuse the leader of unacceptable personal behaviour.

Establishing Supportive Communication Systems, by: establishing training programmes that develop individual and team communication skills; establishing systems that support collaboration and cooperation between internal and external individuals and groups; implementing information management systems that ensure key information reaches appropriate people in a timely manner;  encouraging consultative and participative decision making at all levels. Systems and approaches described here are essential foundation blocks on which positive relationships can be built and developed. Without this underlying framework in place, information will be dissipated and misinterpreted, decisions will be based on inadequate information, and relationships will deteriorate.

Promoting Values and Standards, by: consulting with specialists, individuals, teams, and legislative bodies, to identify and establish appropriate values and standards for the organisation; providing guidance on values and standards that is understood at all levels; ensuring that all external partners are made aware of the organisation’s values and standards; implementing policies and procedures that manage, monitor, and improve the quality of values and standards, at all levels; taking prompt and visible action when established values and standards have not been maintained. The objective here is to ensure that all working relationships are built and developed against a background of known values and standards, and that all parties are made aware that the quality of internal and external relationships is an important aspect of the organisation’s approach to these. 

Gaining The Trust of Colleagues, by: consulting with colleagues in an open and honest manner; keeping colleagues appropriately informed about decisions, plans, actions, and progress;  providing colleagues with sufficient personal support; honouring commitments made to colleagues; treating colleagues with respect and with appropriate confidentiality. Leaders should work with colleagues in a way which demonstrates the leader’s commitment to the values and standards of the organisation, and in a manner which demonstrates to colleagues that they have the respect and support of their leader. This is vital in enabling the leader to draw the best performance from colleagues, and for those colleagues to achieve their personal performance targets. Gaining The Trust Of External Stakeholders, by: striving to understand the viewpoint and the objectives of the stakeholder; consulting with stakeholders in an open and honest manner; keeping stakeholders appropriately informed about the organisation’s decisions, plans, actions, and progress; demonstrating personal commitment to agreements and arrangements; honouring commitments made to stakeholders; treating stakeholders with respect and with appropriate confidentiality. The aim here is to behave with stakeholder in an honest, open, and positive manner. For the relationship between the organisation and the stakeholder to be successful, there must be mutual understanding, mutual respect, and a desire to develop a relationship that is beneficial to both parties. This is essential in all external relationships, and particularly critical when the relationship is intended to be long term.

Evaluate Relationship Performance, by: laying down clear quality criteria for the assessment of the condition of relationships; establishing monitoring procedures which include scheduled evaluation review points; insisting that evaluation reviews are carried out even though the relationship appears to be healthy; taking appropriate corrective action to address problems; adopting a continuous improvement approach to all internal and external relationships; ensuring that the quality of relationships is high on the quality assurance agenda of the organisation. Regular and thorough assessments of the condition of relationships is vital. Without these evaluations, and appropriate corrective action, many relationships will deteriorate. Some will linger in a poor condition, causing a constant flow of minor difficulties, some will implode and cause major problems. These problems can be avoided by a regular health-check on each set of relationships followed by appropriate action. 

In Summary: just as the organisation’s leaders must maintain, develop, and continuously improve the quality of its physical resources, its marketing performance, its financial health, and so on, the leaders must also take the same approach to working relationships between themselves and others, and between all other internal and external partners in the organisation.  For the organisation to achieve its operational targets and strategic objectives, it is essential that all working relationships are healthy and productive and continuously improving. The leaders of the organisation must ensure that this is the case.

Tim Hoiseth

Tim has background as is business psychologist and work sociologist with expertise in building organisations and teams to solve problems for the future. Tim has expertise in technology and the symbiosis between human interaction and technology in operational processes.

Leadership is all about being yourself and demonstrating personal authenticity rather than learning some formula from a text book.  Aspiring leaders therefore need to be true to themselves; not slavishly following other’s ideas. Role models can be powerful and it doesn’t hurt to model excellence when found; executive coaching is based on this premise.

Real leaders are prepared to reveal their weakness, because they know they are not super-human.  Obviously this doesn’t mean technical weaknesses or functional failings; this would fatally flaw their performance.  Instead, what is meant is that leaders should reveal their personality quirks – maybe they are bad tempered in the morning, are somewhat shy with new people or a little disorganized. Such admissions show they are human and this resonates with others confirming that the leader is a person – not merely a role-holder. 

Revealing their true selves, leaders can allow others to know and help them and this makes for better teamwork; followers can also feel better if they’ve got something to complain about. Thus by sharing at least some of their weaknesses, leaders can prevent others from inventing damaging problems.

True leadership is therefore much more than a demonstration of strengths. Real leaders acknowledge their shortcomings and may even make them work for them. 

Good leaders always rely on their ability to read situations. They develop a ‘feel’ for an environment, and interpret soft data without having to be told. They know when team morale is patchy or when complacency needs shaking up. There are three levels of situational sensitivity, each of which has its own specific skills.

Effective leaders are continually learning about the motives, attributes and skills of their important subordinates. They get to know their people through formal and, often better, informal contact such as when travelling together.

Effective leaders read their teams. They analyze the compound balance between team members, the tension between the tasks and processes, and how the team builds its competencies.

Finally, they are concerned with defining the cultural characteristics of their organizations and keep their finger on the pulse of the organisation’s climate. 

It sounds tongue-in-cheek to say that leaders care for their people. Ever noticed the cynicism in the workforce upon seeing a manager return from a people-skills training course with new concern for others. Effective leaders don’t need a training programme to convince their employees that they really care. They clearly empathize with their people and care intensely about their work.

Genuine concern is difficult because it always involves some personal risk – showing some part of yourself and your most strongly held values can seem quite scary. It may also take some detachment – the ability to stand back, see the whole picture and sometimes take tough decisions. Leadership never was a popularity contest.

Effective leaders use their differences and move on to distinguish themselves through personal qualities such as sincerity, loyalty, creativity, or sheer expertise.

Using these differences is a critical leadership skill. But, as always, there is a danger – too much distance makes it impossible to sense situations properly or to communicate effectively.

Tim Hoiseth

Tim has background as is business psychologist and work sociologist with expertise in building organisations and teams to solve problems for the future. Tim has expertise in technology and the symbiosis between human interaction and technology in operational processes.

Leadership is a word we come across quite regularly on radios, television and newspaper. We have now also made it accessible in article markets.

If you are planning to build a wonderful career, maybe you should first go through some preliminary training. Nowadays, there are very successful leadership programs being developed. Leadership programs will help you to acquire some very necessary skills. Leadership programs will give you the needed power to achieve the best both in your career as well as in your personal life. Leadership programs will be the management-training program you are looking for. As well as good professional training, they will help you gain self-confidence and self-respect, things that are very helpful in your private life. These programs are undoubtedly a very effective way to gain the assurances that you will need to be ready for a prosperous career and life.

Writing an article on leadership was our foremost priority while thinking of a topic to write on. This is because leadership are interesting parts of our lives, and are needed by us.

We have included some fresh and interesting information on leadership. In this way, you are updated on the developments of leadership.

I know from experience that a leadership program can easily improve and perfect a person because I have been teaching leadership courses for years. If you go to a leadership program with the right attitude, confident that you desire success, you will become a perfectly changed person. Naturally, there are people who challenge the necessity of the leadership programs. The success of the leadership programs depends usually on the way they are taught. As people who teach leadership programs are different, as different are the profits you can take from leadership programs. From young people to older, all of them make the best use of any type of leadership programs. You can choose between practically different leadership programs, although almost all of them have some fundamental elements in common.

As the information we produce in our writing on leadership may be utilized by the reader for informative purposes, it is very important that the information we provide be true. We have indeed maintained this.

One of the key components of all leadership programs is that they are aiming to build up abilities to work in a team. Some leadership programs even acquire this building of team-working abilities as the center of the whole leadership program. As an example, I will tell you that I have heard about leadership programs which center on the fulfilling of physical tasks as lifting every member of the group over a wall.

Of course, the point of this is not to gain muscle mass but to learn how to work as a team. This part of the leadership programs will teach you how to seek each member’s strengths and weaknesses. Leadership programs will teach you how to leave behind the egotism you have and to put all your strengths into the group work. This is probably the most important lesson that the future leader will learn from the leadership program.

We do not mean to show some implication that leadership have to rule the world or something like that. We only mean to let you know the actual meaning of leadership!

The second fundamental component of leadership programs is that leadership programs usually tend to emphasize on self-confidence and self-esteem. A leader should be first of all self-confident. A leadership program has to teach you how to be convinced that everything you say is important. The leaders have not become leaders because they are more capable, or more intelligent than other people are. Surprisingly, it may turn out exactly the opposite thing. The leaders have become leaders because they more confidence than the other people to contend that what they say is important.

We hope that with this article, we have covered more than just a fragment of the available information of leadership. The world of leadership is too vast to be covered in a single article.

Tim Hoiseth

Tim has background as is business psychologist and work sociologist with expertise in building organisations and teams to solve problems for the future. Tim has expertise in technology and the symbiosis between human interaction and technology in operational processes.

For years businesses worked hard to beef up their security systems in order to protect employees and information. Today a shift in leadership among various types of businesses has resulted in the issue of trust management coming to the forefront. While some people think this is an absolutely crazy idea, it really seems to be working quite well in many types of industries.

There are plenty of elements that encompass the concepts of trust management. It doesn’t give employees or consumers free reign. Instead it offers a set of principles and policies that are in place to provide a framework structure. In most instances the trust management aspect pertains more to the ideas of decisions being made based on the best possible information that is offered.

The more information a person has about a specific principle the more likely they will feel comfortable trusting in it. Therefore it is important for these issues to be completed defined and outlined by the owner of the business. Many of them have common features including protecting the data for the business that could help their competitors.

In many instances the decision to believe this information depends on the amount of credibility that the business has. Those that have been in place for some period of time are generally more credible because the assumption is that they would have gone out of business if they weren’t providing an excellent service.

The policies that are in place relating to trust management still result in some individuals being limited from accessing particular information. For example some sites only have one person with the authority to access the screens for completing refunds when the consumers request them. The policies that are set for trust management really depend on the structure of the business, what your role is in the business, and what skills you have to perform the various tasks.

One of the main issues when it comes to online businesses is the security of documents that pertain to the business. Those that are offered access to such documentation are under the influence of trust management not to pass on that information to those that are outside of the business. 

With trust management the business owner isn’t investing as much money in security issues. Yet they aren’t finding any more of their information being compromised than before. In fact studies show that in many instances it has dropped. This is because employees are happy about the level of trust that has been placed with them. They don’t want to jeopardize it. This is very similar to the importance of the trust you have in your personal relationships. 

Many businesses have found that placing too tight of a restraint on various aspects of their business makes it impossible to have happy employees. As a result they deal with a high volume of turn over and people not working as hard as they should. However, with trust management employees feel like they are an important part of the business. They embrace it and work hard to protect it.

Tim Hoiseth

Tim has background as is business psychologist and work sociologist with expertise in building organisations and teams to solve problems for the future. Tim has expertise in technology and the symbiosis between human interaction and technology in operational processes.

Establishing An Appropriate Organisational Structure, by: considering the strategic direction and objectives of the organisation; considering the desired organisational culture; identifying the critical activity areas of the organisation; deciding on an appropriate organisational structure. This is an essential first step. Before any changes or new directions can be taken the leaders must decide on an organisational structure that will support the strategic direction being taken, and an organisational culture that they will be aiming to create. The management teams network that is then put in place will be compatible with the structure and contribute to developing the desired culture.

Deciding On A Management Teams Structure, by; planning a network of management teams to match the requirements identified in the previous activity; agreeing individual team structure; agreeing individual team objectives, roles, responsibilities, size, location, resource needs; identifying team member and team leader profiles for each management team. The planning undertaken here will provide the template for the new structure, when implemented. This planning is best carried out as a factual, needs based, exercise. The role of the team, and its objectives, should be allowed to dictate size, location, team leader and team member profiles. Resource implications should be dealt with after the structure has been agreed. Existing and potential personnel should be assessed against these only at the next stage, when the teams are populated. Option 1:  Assessing Existing Teams, by: identifying existing management teams; analysing the objectives of existing teams; evaluating the performance of existing teams; evaluating the performance of individual team leaders; comparing each management team profile with the newly defined requirements. In many, if not most, organisations this will be necessary due to legislative constraints and-or ethical considerations. However, the existing teams are unlikely to be appropriate, other than in part, and the outcomes of this action will simply identify what are likely to be major gaps and changes that will need to be made, in order to match the new requirements. Option 2: Removing Existing Teams, by: removing the old structure completely. This option is the most effective, a total reengineering, but the most radical. If possible, this is the better option, as the organisation can make the changes required to most appropriately match the new strategic direction, and move  forward unhindered by partially or wholly unsuitable management teams.

Implementing The New Management Teams Network, by: providing information about the changes to all affected – in most organisations this will mean at all levels and both internally and externally; selecting team leaders and team members; establishing the teams in their locations; training each team in its new role, responsibilities, objectives, and operational activities; providing appropriate resources for each team; launching the new network into active service . A critical stage, this needs to be managed as a major change activity, and as a major project. An executive level manager should be appointed to oversee the changes. Communication with all stakeholders, who will be many, at many levels, and both internal and external to the organisation, will need to be managed carefully. 

Implementing A Management Team Performance System, by: designing a rigorous teams performance appraisal system; monitoring the performance of individual teams; taking appropriate corrective action where when necessary. Many organisations operate an effective employee appraisal system, but this usually only applies to operational employees and junior managers. Middle and Senior managers must also be appraised on a regular basis, ideally more frequently than operational employees, as the managers’ actions usually have greater negative or positive impact. This line of thinking must also be applied to management teams, because of the degree of influence and impact of the team collective decisions and actions. The leaders of the organisation must be continuously aware of the performance levels of their management teams, and take action to maintain or raise that performance level as necessary. Implementing a performance appraisal and continuous improvement approach to the network of management teams is vital. In the early stages of the life of the teams the focus will be on awareness and understanding of the objectives of the team, and identifying training and development needs to support new or adjusted roles. As the team grows and matures, the monitoring will focus firstly on consistency of performance, and then on supporting a continuous improvement in that performance. At all stages in the life cycle of each team, performance appraisal must be a regular and visible process.

Network Review And Refresh, by: arranging regular reviews of the appropriateness of the management teams network; assessing the suitability of each part of the network against newer versions of the strategic  objectives; assessing the structure of the network against the current organisational structure and culture; making appropriate changes to individual components and-or the overall structure of the network. A major review should be held every year, as a key part of the review and adjustment of strategies and objectives in the annual strategic planning process. At this review point minor or major changes should be agreed, to adjust the network so that it continues to match the requirements dictated by the refreshed strategic and operational objectives. In addition, the condition of the management teams network should be an agenda item on at least quarterly executive level meetings, where corrective action can be decided on where necessary.

In Summary: establishing a compatible management teams structure is an essential first step in ensuring that the organisation’s strategies are implemented successfully. Without a robust network of management teams, appropriate to the size and complexity of the organisation and its strategic objectives, the strategic and operational objectives will not be achieved. Effective management teams are the driving force behind the achievement of objectives. This network cannot be successful if it is weak or flawed. It is the role of the leaders of the organisation to ensure that the management teams network is strong, dynamic, and focused on achieving its objectives, in its individual parts and collectively.

Tim Hoiseth

Tim has background as is business psychologist and work sociologist with expertise in building organisations and teams to solve problems for the future. Tim has expertise in technology and the symbiosis between human interaction and technology in operational processes.