Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com March 30, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 25 Biz Books Management tips for unifying a team "E verybody Paddles: A Leader's Blueprint for Creating a Uni- fied Team" by Charles Archer (Greenleaf Book Group Press, $22.95). Before you can begin paddling, you have to get people into the boat. Archer begins that process by posing two questions: 1. "What separates us?" and 2. "What brings us together?" The questions deal with identifying individ- ual differences and per- spectives. We're all differ- ent; yet, there's a common thread that can sew the dif- ferences into collaboration. The thread: Regardless of gender, race, or age, etc., no one succeeds alone. With that in mind, a results-focused captain put employees in places where their strengths complement each other's. This starts by defining success through inter- dependent functions and processes, and measurable objectives and expectations. When employees recognize that the crew's resources are effectively organized and tasks are well-defined, engagement and trust in leadership follows. Sharing the vision and obtaining employee input in its content and context gets people into the boat, too. While vision explains the destination, it's not a blue- print. The how unfolds over time as the crew adapts to changing situations — some they'll control; most they don't. If it's their vision, they'll find a way. Trust in the vision builds via communication. The cap- tain must always operate in three modes — messaging, listening and linking. His/her job requires tell-it-like-it-is transparency. And, given the captain's tasks include mon- itoring progress and remov- ing obstacles, two-way and inter-crew communica- tion is essential. Using feedback to feed-forward keeps the crew paddling in synch and the boat on course. Recognition keeps employees paddling, too. "People need encouragement and affir- mation to stay positive." By providing it on a regular basis, a paddler knows that the captain knows what's happening, and val- ues their contribution to the crew. Key takeaway: "Purpose provides pro- pulsion." Everybody paddles when they know the destination creates success for themselves and their team. • • • "The 4 Lenses of Innovation — A Power Tool for Creative Thinking" by Rowan Gibson (John Wiley & Sons, $35). "Innovators are the world's noticers." As noticers, they ask lots of why, why not, what if, where and how fresh-perspective questions. The answers to those questions are found when filtered through four lenses: 1. "Challenging orthodoxies" deals with disruption. All too often we hear "that's the way things are done around here." By accepting this as the right way, congruent thinking develops into "mental inertia." As a result, there's no continuous improvement, nor creativity. Only change gets people thinking. 2. "Harnessing trends" requires a wide field of vision. "Innovation is a race for tomorrow." You have to look beyond your company and industry to connect the dots of others to yours. Two ques- tion to constantly ask: 1. "What will be the Tsunami in our industry? 2. "How can we make sure we ride the wave instead of being washed away by it? By identifying potential threats early, a company can address them. 3. " L e v e r a g i n g resources" redefines the 3Rs as Repurpose, Redeploy and Recombine. "Develop an elas- tic view of your company." Its most valuable assets are what it knows and what it owns. Think about the choices you would make to stay in business if you knew that your indus- try would not exist in 12 months. By using the new 3Rs, you can identify areas where your value can lead to new opportunities. 4. "Understanding needs" of custom- ers provides what's-next clues. In these days of Big Data and analytics, companies ask customers lots of questions about their needs within the context of their products and services. Innovators look at things from the customer's perspective; they ask about "unsolved problems, unmet needs and wants." When you combine the advances in technology and a focus on what you don't offer that the cus- tomer wants, solu- tions are found. The bottom line: All of the four Lenses focus on insight and foresight. n Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicat- ed book reviewer. Jim Pawlak talking Points Why is a crisis response team like an NFL roster? By Andrea Obston "B uild it before they come." That's the recipe for success in crisis response. The "it" is your crisis team and experience has taught me that companies that weather crisis the best have their response teams in place before they need them. Building the right crisis team is a critical initial step in creat- ing a crisis plan. And while you can't antici- pate what the face of a crisis will look like, you can build your team before you see that face. Much like an NFL team roster, you need to build out big. At the start of training camp, there are 90 players competing for a spot on an NFL team. By the start of the season, those teams have whittled their active rosters to 53 players. Of those 53, only 46 players can dress for a game. Those rosters might include two or even three quarterbacks, four running backs and six wide receivers. But, remem- ber that, at any one time, there are only 11 players on the field. In football, there's a reason for that large roster — flexibil- ity. You never know who you'll need on the field and you never know who's going to get hurt. It's like that when building a crisis response team. You need to build the ros- ter before you know who you'll need on the field for any one play. And you need to anticipate the need for a variety of players. Start build- ing your roster by envisioning a wide range of possible crises. To do this, we run our clients through what we call our "crisis spotting" exercise to identify possible nega- tive scenarios. Many times, they are often reluctant to start the ball rolling in this exer- cise. Who wants to be the guy who suggests there's the potential for a product failure? Or an executive behaving badly? Or workplace violence? But these things happen and the companies that pretend they don't are the ones that are immobilized when they do. Once you've developed that gruesome list, it's easier to figure out who you need to have on-call as possible players on your crisis response team. At minimum, that team should include: the president, a mem- ber of your board, your in-house attorney, PR counsel, webmaster and an administra- tive support person. The roster should also include: • Relevant C-suite executives • Outside counsel that concentrates on pertinent practice areas • Outside PR professionals with a crisis specialty • Investor relations professionals • HR representatives • Members of the social media engage- ment team (if you are active on social) • Security professionals, both in-house and local law enforcement • Technology/product experts • The "voice of the field" • Representatives of the local community You'll need 24/7 contact information for each of these people, plus a willingness to serve on the team if called upon. In addition, you'll add and subtract to the roster every time you have a crisis. That's because each incident will teach you something different. And because of that, you'll have a better idea of who works on the field and who you need to add to the team. A crisis plan, like a game plan, is constantly evolving. Build your roster of players before you need them to take to the field during a crisis. It's the key to mobilizing quickly when a crisis develops. Do it now. Do it often. Make it a pri- ority before the Big (Crisis) Game calls them onto the field. n Andrea Obston is president of Andrea Obston Marketing Communications in Bloomfield. Andrea Obston ▶ ▶ People need encouragement and affirmation to stay positive. By providing it on a regular basis, a paddler knows that the captain knows what's happening, and values their contribution to the crew.

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