Soft Skills

Grooming a winning team

Knowing your customer, innovation and managing stakeholder relationships form the basis for the continued growth of an organisation, says Vishwas Mahajan.

Small and mid-sized companies have been notably successful as compared to industry giants when it comes to churning out professionals with finely tuned all-round abilities. It has much to do with the relatively close-knit organisational structure, which provides employees hands-on exposure to a gamut of functions, other than their area of expertise. With fewer people dedicated to specialised positions within the organisation, a large number of the staff find themselves handling more than one responsibility. This is in stark contrast to an employee from an MNC, who finds himself teamed with several others in a particular department, which itself serves as a small part of the entire system. Individual brilliance finds itself sadly shortchanged by hierarchy and recognition for efforts has several contenders. All this in a long series of steps up the management ladder.

Organisations striving for excellence in the face of global competition today look out for managers with a flair for innovation and expertise to match. The need for hiring the right people may soon be overshadowed by the need to cultivate winners within the organisation. The world of business will always have its winners and followers. The industry is replete with examples of single-minded individuals moving out of big organisations to set up their own niche businesses; several of which have gone on to become success stories. And while corporate giants will continue ruling the roost, it may well be the small and medium enterprises, which churn out the global winners of tomorrow.

Most big ideas start off small. The road from conceptualisation to realisation is best traversed along certain guiding principles that reflect the values of the company. I personally believe in three dicta, that I feel are prerequisites for any organisation, big or small, in the quest for leadership.

Know your customer

Know his problems; know his business imperatives. Make sure your product or service drives his business objectives further and helps him solve his problems. While this may seem obvious enough, it actually takes a lot to achieve. It necessitates key people in the company to be in constant touch with customers. It means experience sharing should happen at all levels and cross-levels in the organisation.

Knowing your customer helps him know you. Establishing a comfortable level of mutual trust and confidence with the customer is a crucial exercise. This can be cultivated through improved visibility and authoritative participation in industry events and conferences. People from your organisation should come to be recognised as respectable authorities in their area of business. This will naturally involve a thorough knowledge of technology and industry practices and trends, all of which will help create credibility and respect for your organisation and its people.

Explore, innovate and improvise

The business scenario is changing at a speed faster than we provide solutions to meet its needs. Yesterday’s solutions may not meet the requirements of today. The future belongs to those who can conceive still newer ideas and solutions. Any organisation needs to be innovative, offering an environment where creative people will be able to deliver results with continuous improvement. Innovating requires a number of inputs—you need to be aware of the market situation, identify future trends, keep pace with emerging technologies and effectively use this knowledge to come up with solutions before competitors can.

It is a common folly to get carried away with today’s success and overlook the fact that the situation tomorrow may be radically and unexpectedly different. To succeed in this new environment may require a very different approach to the one adopted earlier. The whole objective of innovation should be to develop an approach today, which will help you succeed tomorrow.

Stakeholder relationships

In the industry, success is never yours alone. It is scripted by a large number of people, who can be referred to as the company’s stakeholders—both internal and external. The internal stakeholders would mainly be employees, while the external ones are investors, customers and business associates. Each of these should be highly motivated to help you win. Ultimately, your success will be the result of your ability to motivate, collaborate and leverage this matrix of relationships.

Every organisation has its own mantra for success. If you have a good business concept, combine it with conviction and passion and abide by sound guiding principles, you may well find the route to achieving global leadership in your chosen area.

Vishwas Mahajan is CEO, Compulink Systems