“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

Achieving success in any organisation or on a project requires team collaboration, combination of efforts, deployment of various skills, and application of diverse knowledge and synergy of talents. For every chief executive, project leader or team leader, finding the right team is always a problem. And when they are lucky to find the seemingly right team, building the team is another challenge.

Depending on the size and type of the project and the culture of the organisation, building the right team takes time and efforts and it is not an automatic process. Before assembling a team, the team leader has to determine the elements and characteristics of the desired team and this will form the building blocks of the team.

In the past decade of managing people and projects, I have found four Cs that are fundamental building blocks of a right team. Three out of which has been identified by Bill Hybels and an additional one which is part of core values at iCentra.

 

 The Four Cs of the Right Team

1. Competence: This is the ability of a team member to perform or deliver on the job. It is a combination of practical and theoretical knowledge and cognitive skills used to improve performance. This can’t be compromised; it is the main reason why the individual is hired in the first place.
2. Character: Character is a set of moral standards, combination of mental characteristics and behaviour that distinguishes a person. The concept of character can imply a variety of attributes including the existence or lack of virtues such as empathy, courage, fortitude, honesty, and loyalty, or of good behaviour or habits. For any organisation with strong value systems, the character of a team member can’t be substituted for anything.
3. Chemistry: This is usually the most difficult part of building a team. For a team to perform at its peak team members have to work together, irrespective of individual competence and character. Most highly skilled and technical team members often find it difficult to bond with other team member. It is important for the team to be able to go through the processes of forming, storming and be able to norm to perform. The norming stage is where bonding takes place and if a team member or the team can’t achieve this then there is a problem with the chemistry.
4. Commitment: This is a quality that is increasingly becoming hard to come by; most leaders find it difficult to get team members that are committed to the organisation or the project. Commitment is a virtue or value that is innate and can’t be taught, it is the only reason why most projects or organisations fail or succeed despite the amount of talents and competences within. A committed team member is loyal, obligated and dedicated to the goals and objects of the project or organisation, takes responsibilities for failure and committed to not just personal succeed but that of the organisation.

The right team is not the team with just A-listers but the team with the combination of the above and more.

The iCentra Team

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