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In any team, each individual team member will have a range of skills and strengths to offer. As a manager or leader, it is important to identify what the different skills and strengths are in your team, and to help your team members make the most of them in their roles. Following these suggestions will help you to do this effectively.
Ask About Skills and Strengths as Part of Your Selection Process
When recruiting a new team member, it is important to find out not just whether a candidate is capable of performing a role, but whether they have the skills and strengths to add real value to your team. At the beginning of the selection process, consider what skills and strengths would be particularly valuable to the role in question, and to the team as a whole. When interviewing candidates, encourage them to provide examples of how they have put their skills and strengths to use in previous roles. Incorporating these kinds of questions into the selection process will help to give you confidence that the candidate you choose is right for the role, and that the role is right for the candidate.
Identify Where Team Members’ Strengths and Skills Lie
Consider the skills and strengths that exist in your current team. Even if you have worked with the same team members for a long time, there is a chance that some individuals may have skills and strengths that you’re not yet aware of. It is therefore a good idea to run a team exercise from time to time, to help everyone understand what each other’s skills and strengths are. (Resources to help you do this are available in Related Links.) Alternatively, you may wish to ask the team to complete a self-assessment, such as the Belbin team test (www.belbin.com) or Gallup’s Strengthsfinder diagnostic (www.strengthsfinder.com). These types of exercises and diagnostics can form a valuable part of a team development day. It can also be particularly helpful to run them when someone new joins the team.
Ensure There are a Mix of Skills and Strengths in Project Teams
Even if a certain skill or strength seems to lend itself particularly well to a project, it is important to make sure you also have people in your team with other relevant expertise. For example, a project designed to increase customer satisfaction will require individuals with excellent communication and relationship-building skills. However, it is also likely to require individuals with strong organizational and numerical skills, to administer the project and provide accurate reports. Ensuring that there is a good balance of skills and strengths in your project team will help to ensure all tasks and activities are performed effectively.
Allocate Responsibilities Appropriately, but Offer Variety
One of the key ways to play to your team members’ strengths is to allocate responsibilities according to what you know different individuals are particularly adept at. However, simply giving people the same type of work all the time can lead them to feeling bored and dissatisfied. It can also be frustrating for employees who want to develop certain skills to be consistently overlooked when appropriate work becomes available. It is vital, therefore, to strike the right balance between making the most of the skills and strengths in your team, and giving team members the chance to develop. As part of your next one-to-one or performance review meeting, ask your team members what additional skills and strengths they would like to develop and agree on what you can do to help them do this.
Encourage Team Members to Develop Existing Strengths
While it is important to give team members the chance to develop new skills and strengths, it is equally valuable to provide employees with the opportunity to improve in areas in which they already perform well. For example, if you are providing time management training, everyone in your team should participate, including individuals who are already adept at managing their time. Not only could these team members make a valuable contribution to the session, they may also pick up new skills and techniques that will help them manage their time even more effectively. You could also consider asking employees who have particular strengths to coach other team members, to help them develop their own skills in these areas.
Give Praise and Recognition for Team Members’ Skills and Strengths
Show your team members that you understand and appreciate their skills and strengths by providing them with praise and recognition. A simple ‘thank you’ or ‘well done’ can work wonders in terms of letting team members know you appreciate the value they add to your team. Incorporate this feedback into your one-to-one and performance review meetings with team members, and provide them with examples of when they have put a skill or strength to particularly good use in their role. This will help to motivate and inspire your team to continue developing their skills and strengths and to make the most of them at work.
Communicate Your Team’s Skills and Strengths
Make others in the organization aware of the skills and strengths of your team, e.g. by creating a mini-profile for each team member on your organization’s intranet. Putting this information in writing for everyone to see can be a great way of building pride and boosting motivation in your team. It also helps others in the organization to understand what your team does. This will help to ensure that any enquires from other teams or departments are directed to the most appropriate individual within your team. This will save everyone time and help your team work more efficiently with the rest of the organization.
