How to Build and Retain Successful Teams

Following the success of our first event last year, we hosted our second event on March 11th, 2020 on the topic of Building and Retaining Successful Teams. We loved our venue last time, so it was a no brainer to use OKN1 again to host our wonderful panel and guests.

The panel included Mary O’Hagan (Interim Director of Fundraising, Mencap), Joe Jenkins (Executive Director of Engagement and Income Generation, The Children’s Society), Jacqui Segal (Director of Fundraising, Place2Be) and Andrew Cook (Executive Director, Stroke Association). Everyone featured was recommended to us by one of their team members.

Leadership in the sector is under increasing scrutiny so we wanted to create an event where inspiring, established leaders could provide honest advice to the next generation of talent. I wanted to share 5 key points from the panel for anyone who couldn’t make it.

Top 5 points:

1.      Don’t be scared to lose people

Your job as a leader is to upskill people, push them to be the best they can be but also understand that people move on and you should support them to do what is best for them.

2.     People aren’t bad. Sometimes they end up in the wrong job

The hardest part of management is when you must exit someone in your team. But don’t just move straight to getting HR involved, start having coaching conversations and understand what is holding them back. If it doesn’t turnaround remember that they have a responsibility in the outcome too.

3.     Skype is a game changer – doesn’t matter if you’re in your pyjamas

The workforce has changed and we need to embrace technology more – WhatsApp. Slack. Skype. Zoom – the list can go on forever! When managing people who are often based from home, make sure you take time to understand what form of communication will work best for you both. To bring teams together, use WhatsApp groups to help with bonding.

4.    You need to build resilience in your team

Change and crisis situations are always difficult in an organisation. It’s important to remain consistent and communicate constantly with your team so they are aware of what’s happening. Resilience training is key and it’s important to recognise those who handle change well. You will never please 100% of people but focus on the 90% of people who can be influenced.

5.     Understand what motivates the individuals in your team

There is no one-size-fits-all reward, as a leader you should have a basic understanding of what your staff are incentivised by and how they like to be recognised. Use this information in your communications and keep coming back to this, if you utilise people’s motivators correctly you will get great performance.

Hopefully, you find these useful. If you have any questions or want any more detail, just get in touch with us – [email protected] or 02030062787