Effective teamwork has never been more critical, or so we have been made to think. By organisations facing immense uncertainty, massive complexities, volatile economic conditions, tremendous competition and an enormous threat to their business operation; it has become imperative that people and teams learn to collaborate and work together to achieve results.
After all, an old proverb says, ‘two heads are better than one.’ To reinforce this view, ideas around many being smarter than few and collective wisdom shaping businesses, economies, and societal narratives have become popular.
A PDRI’s research of over 300 companies published in the Harvard Business Review (May 12, 2020) by Elaine Pulakos and Robert B. Kaiser, showed that the most agile and competitively successful companies do something different asides from promoting mere teamwork or collaboration – they Rightsize Teamwork.
They clarify what good teamwork means, in each context and judiciously select the right people to contribute, at the right time, so work gets done efficiently. The concept of Rightsize Teamwork speaks to the need to implement teamwork in a unique way to achieve the agility and resilience required to survive and thrive in the new normal.
According to the same PDRI study, organisational agility has a remarkable impact on corporate performance. High level of agility translates into 150% higher return on invested capital and 500% higher return on equity. If agility is this critical, then teamwork must not be allowed to get in its way.
For every engagement, business leaders must ask themselves, what kind of teamwork needs to take place and then employ the principles of simplification to ensure agility is attained. All of this cannot be achieved without understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each member of a team.
As we navigate the business terrain in the new normal, conducting a Skills Audit becomes a requirement for most businesses. The skills of the individuals of a team reveal its strength and the gaps that require to be bridged.
A skills audit is the process for measuring and recording the skills of an individual or group. Without knowing what skills exist within an organisation, you cannot effectively learn how to map teams to execute projects. This has proven to be an effective Cost Optimisation strategy (a business-focused, continuous discipline to drive spending and cost reduction while maximising business value)
When a skills audit is conducted effectively, it considers the present and future skill needs of an organisation. A skills audit can be used as a strategy to future-proof an organisation against skill deficiencies, critical skill losses and improve relevant skills within an organisation.
According to Skills Management Made Easy, the benefits of conducting a skills audit are:
- Placing the right people, with the suited projects and job roles
- Providing detailed information on the essential areas for skills improvement
- Providing detailed information to develop training and development resources
- Lower training and development costs because development efforts are more focused
- Defining the most urgent recruiting needs and securing the best applicants
- Facilitating placement decisions
- Providing accurate information to enhance career and succession planning activities.
Rightsizing teamwork is now a critical requirement for survival and thriving. At pcl. our experience in working with clients to ensure teams are effectively put together in executing projects and tasks, as well as, conducting the optimal skills audit exercise is one of our fortes.
Contact us today through people@phillispsconsulting.net
Written by:
Joshua Ademuwagun
Head of Advisory, People Transformation
