Team Values Pt 2 - Defending the Team

Your team should be the most important thing to you.  Even if they annoy you and tick you off - they are still your team!  Your team can be either the making or the breaking of your success as a manager.  As a manager your performance is determined by the results and outcomes that you are able to motivate them to produce.

One hugely important aspect of this is - loyalty.  You being loyal to your team and your team being loyal to you.

The easiest way to demonstate your loyalty to your team is by the way you treat your team and talk about them in public.  Team members take to heart what they hear their bosses saying about then.  So be very careful - what you say, when you say it and whom you say it to.

(Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/denise-ann-wells/4456677616/)

Allies, Acquaintances and Alliances.

I have been thinking recently about work relationships.  There are three main positive categories that I can think of.  Those categories are -

• Allies,
• Acquaintances and
• Alliances.

These are three different groups of people that we interact with everyday while at work.

• Allies are your close circle of friends or those in whom you know you can trust.  Those whom you interact with and are friendly with.
• Acquaintances are those people whom you know and occasionally (sometimes frequently work with but wouldn't necessarily classify as a friend.
• Alliances are those relationships whereby your allies choose to stand with you when it comes to the crunch.  You can also from alliances with your acquaintances from time to time but generally the relationships with your allies are the ones that will stand the test of time.

So what does this have to do with the everyday manager?  It is important to know who is on your side and when.  It is also important to know who will stand with you should the pressure come on you through time restrictions, employment issues or personality clashes.

You don't have to classify everyone you know but if you do know who you allies are - you can save a lot of time when it comes to finding solutions to the problems you might face.

Here is my quick suggestion -

1. Make a list of all the people that you work with.  This can be as narrow or as broad as you like.
2. Seperate those people into two groups - allies and acquaintances.
3. Draw connecting lines betwen those people whom you a) already have alliances with and b) could choose to form alliances with.
4. Make a plan to communicate with your allies as much as you can when the correct work situation or opportunity arises.

If you spend the energy to foster grea relationships your allies and your alliances will help you when you need them.   (Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/greentea/508815606/)

Loyalty

When it comes to the crunch - stay loyal to your employees and co-workers in the public arena.

Your employees deserve the first right of loyalty and the first right to have their side of the story heard.

Loyalty

"The greater the loyalty of a group toward the group, the greater is the motivation among the members to achieve the goals of the group, and the greater the probability that the group will achieve it's goals".

Rensis Likert.

Building Customer Loyalty

Adobe know all about customer loyalty - how to win customers AND how to keep them.

1. They win customers by products that integrated, seamless and work together to achieve what the customer wants (c.f. what they want). They make their products easy to use and accessible. They keep the features the professionals want to use while still making sure the average Joe can achieve their goals as well.
2. They teach their customers how to use their products through online seminars. This is how they keep customers. Customers are constantly able to learn new tricks and ways of doing their work. Customers can constantly increase their knowledge so the product they bought doesn't become redundant.

How about your business or organisation? You may have won some customers but how do you ensure they keep coming back to you for more - more services, more upgrades, more teaching, more haircuts?

Often time's it's the little add on's that make the difference. Putting time and effort into making sure people come back to you and your organisation is time and money well spent!