Highly-skilled teams face unique challenges

On my LinkedIn page, every now and then I stumble upon start-ups looking to hire "like-minded" people who would share their vision and whose skill sets complement their team. A very similar situation exists in the corporate world, too, but there one may not have the liberty to choose team members as per personal wish. 

New entrepreneurs have tight budgets and are often unable to offer fancy offices or fabulous salaries. So they turn to social media, scouting for partners and team members who would dream with open eyes. 

A team of people whose skills complement each other ensures that any kind of job that was to be given outside is done in-house. It cuts dependency on external sources and helps in saving much-needed funds. But how to keep such powerhouse of talent motivated and keep functioning at peak?

Liberty to fail: In a report published by MIT Digital Initiative and Cap Gemini, Janelle Sallenave, formerly the head of customer support at Uber, said, “This is a company that is obsessed with what we call experiments. Everybody is encouraged to, whatever it is that they're working on, reimagine how it could be better, different, cheaper, faster, whatever it might be.” 

Anyone getting into a leadership role should be hyper-aware of how the team members are being encouraged for experimentation and failure, and make adjustments along with growth. The complimenting team also brings huge expertise in different fields and, at times, may not understand each other well. That brings dangerous levels of complacency in the team. 

First-time entrepreneurs, especially, must set the norm that their team, from the technical head to sales supervisor, will be measured on their individual and team performance by their level of ingenuity and initiative and not by their ability to play it safe.

Cultural differences: No, you do not need an international team to have cultural differences. Any team can have such issues. Encourage knowledge-diversity and do not waste efforts on team-bonding. As long as they work together to produce desired results, it is fine. Such teams often suffer from conflicting wisdom and difference of opinion on decision-making among members. This situation can keep them from reaching their full creative potential - the reason they were hired for to begin with. 

Talent-wise diverse teams can help deliver better outcomes any day. This is usually a good thing. Diverse teams have the potential to be more creative because of the pool of information, ideas, and perspectives.

Don't dismiss compliments: When a talented team comes together, a simple unwritten understanding follows. Each one of them is good in what that person was hired for. So no one compliments each other. In the worst case scenario, if generous appreciation comes, most people downplay it. “Oh, it was nothing,” kind of statement is followed by a mildly embarrassed smile. It sure meant something to another person, which is why they're thanking you. We tend to embarrass people who appreciate us unknowingly. Accept it gracefully and reciprocate it as well. 

Bringing people together with different skills and strengths from yours (as a founder, CEO, or any member of a team) is indeed hard. However, it is an important step for growth as you need to get different viewpoints. But even harder is to bring those viewpoints to see a common, bigger vision. A team with completely different sets of skills needs proper nurturing.

Mutual trust and respect do not come from domination. Instead, they have to be earned. There are many ways to earn trust, but almost all of them go through rough patches. There will be vulnerable moments and distrust along with anger. A diverse team, with careful handling, becomes an asset to any organisation. 

The writer is strategic advisor and premium educator with Harvard Business Publishing