Business | Teik Oh

Why Teams Fail

Jan 12 2015

Many articles have been written about how high performing teams are formed.

My personal favourite is the “PERFORM” model, which is about:-
PURPOSE – high-performing teams share a strong sense of purpose
EMPOWERMENT – members collectively have a sense of power and feel that they have the necessary skills and resources to get things done
RELATIONSHIP – members have strong relationships, open and honest communication, and accept leaders’ moderation of conflicts
FLEXIBILITY – Individuals in the team share responsibility for leadership in a given situation and can fulfill different tasks that the team need to move forward
OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE – there is evidence that tasks are accomplished quickly and effectively through use of problem-solving skills and the use of each others’ differences in perspective
RECOGNITION – members respect and appreciate the membership of others and individual and collective accomplishments are frequently recognised by each other and by the leaders
MORALE – members feel pride and excitement about membership and confidence is strong.
On the other hand, less is written about why teams fail. Indeed, you can say that teams fail because they do not possess all of the above 7 characteristics, and you would be right. However team failures are often caused, not by lacking in positive traits but more by possessing negative behaviours.
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Comment 13

When is “Admin” really Admin?

Jan 05 2015

There was a survey done recently where 61% of those surveyed said that if “admin” was halved, they would use the time saved to focus on their “core job”.

I’m sure you’ll agree from the gut, with or without survey, that “admin” is unpleasant, unproductive, and not very satisfying and if possible you would halve it.

However, I think an important point is how you actually define “admin”. Unsatisfying does not always mean unproductive.

Note that those surveyed agreed they would better spend their time in their “core job”. However what does their “core job” entail? For example if you spent a great deal of your time filing correspondance that will hardly ever get pulled out again, I’d suggest that is true “admin” and is probably not your “core job” unless you are a filing clerk. However what if say, your sales job is all about filling the sales funnel, assisting the whole sales team to sell better, and ensuring customer satisfaction. In such a job, is completing CRM details part of your core job or just “admin”? Without accurate information about the customer in the CRM system you and the rest of the sales team may not be able to sell effectively – that sounds like part of your core job to me.
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Comment 13

Recession proof your business

Jan 02 2015

Is it possible to recession-proof your business? Probably not, despite the wealth of internet articles on how to do so (about 3.3 million hits on Google and counting).

However, what is possible is to arm your business with a series of simple and common sense business strategies to protect it against tough times.

There are defensive and offensive strategies. As profit performance heads south, it is difficult not to panic and begin to tighten all the hatches. However you can tighten too much. Hence, while it is natural to concentrate on the defensive strategies, it is important to keep in mind offensive strategies – those that your business should implement to ensure that you are the one in your industry that keeps selling when others are closing down.

Let us deal with the defensive strategies first. There are six strategies that you need to implement. These are:
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Comment 13

3 Rules to Keep Customers

Dec 31 2014

Businesses, and business owners, go through a natural evolutionary cycle.

Often, small businesses are started by the young (or in my case, comparatively young!) full of excitement and enthusiasm. Small business owners start with an idea – sometimes it’s simply an idea that working for yourself has got to be better than working for the Man, more often it’s the idea of making or at least selling the better mousetrap.

At the start we jump at every opportunity to “find business”. We attend seminars and hand out business cards, we follow leads, we make friends with customers and develop relationships and referral bases. However in time, the energy spent finding business dissipates somewhat. Sometimes this comes from disappointment but more usually because running a business is genuinely hard and over time, as the business employs more and more staff, it’s natural that some of those duties to find new business start to fall on new staff.
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Comment 13

On a Board? Don’t be crooked, don’t be lazy!

Dec 30 2014

While separate legal jurisdictions have different corporate legislation and regulators, the responsibilities of a Board member are generally similar. These similarities not only apply to their legal responsibilities but also to the way they operate. Successful Boards work with due care and diligence, meet their legal obligations, and work towards the benefit of the shareholders.

The most important action of any Board is to appoint the senior management, and in particular the CEO. The choice of the CEO will reflect the strategic direction the Board has chosen to benefit the shareholders, and the choice of the person will reflect the type of culture the Board wishes to develop in the company. Indeed, the next most important act for any Board is the removal of the CEO if that is in the best interests of the shareholders.
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Comment 13

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Category - Business

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Why Teams Fail

When is “Admin” really Admin?

Recession proof your business

3 Rules to Keep Customers

On a Board? Don’t be crooked, don’t be lazy!