How to build a winning team?
19 January 2012
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5 Comments
As a creative producer, Mark Westerby's role is to bring people together with a common purpose - to make projects that will excite, inspire and engage others.
Mark is available for the next week to answer your questions and chat about building winning teams, as part of the latest Generator.
You can also read his Generator articles and exercises on team dynamics, the difference between leading and managing, and the attributes of a winning team.
Please use the comment box below to ask a question or share your ideas. Mark is available until January 27.
Further reading:
For more on building winning teams...
Comments
Hi everyone, happy New Year!
Like most I imagine, I am back to work this week and have hit the ground running with an event at the Big Day Out tomorrow and off to Singapore next week to do a site recce for a festival we are presenting at in March.
I hope you have found the Generator article and exercises helpful. I am interested to hear from you with questions around building teams, leadership and empowering others.
The arts industry can often be a lonely existence, I believe it is through the power of collaboration and teams that help us achieve our goals more effectively.
Today for example, I am leading a team packing in our event at Mt Smart Stadium. I have a crew on the ground loading in while I drive madly around Auckland looking for toy water guns (long story). Oh, and I just bought $1,000 worth of Lycra - its not often you can say that!
I look forward to hearing from you, let's get some interesting discussion going!
Mark
23 January 2012 - 16:15 PM
Hi Mark
I certainly concur that it can feel like a lonely existence. The hardest thing I find is getting everyone on board with the bigger picture, particularly hard when dealing with councils. Any suggestions would be most helpful.
Great to see you on here!
Sarah Boon
Creative Northland
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your message. Yes, I certainly agree that getting buy in from everyone can be difficult at times. Local government and other organisations for that matter are weighing your ideas against a myriad of other concerns, and getting them to jump on board with your project can be a real challenge.
There is no real magic bullet here, but what I have found most helpful in the past is really keying everyone in on the benefits of the project/idea. What are the unique selling points here? What is it about this project that makes it a more viable option that other ideas out there? If they don't grasp the big picture, what are roadblocks?
And lastly, if you are having trouble getting buy in, maybe it's the idea that needs reworking. Maybe there are elements of the idea that you can live without for the greater good?
Hope that is helpful. Good luck!
Mark.
Hi Mark,
I also work in events, mostly ones that are not-for-profit and purely for the creative outcome they produce. I love the atmosphere that is created when everyone is working on a project purely for the love of it.
My question is - how can you keep this kind of atmosphere and reward or pay people what they deserve for their contribution?
Thanks so much,
Elise
Hi Elise,
Nice to hear from you. I daresay we all work in this industry primarily for passion rather than profit. That doesn't mean we can't forge a successful career in our chosen field however.
We have this mantra here in the office that a project has to be fun if we are going to take it on. Our definition of 'fun' means creatively satisfying and challenging. But we also approach each project from a business perspective. If it requires a lot of blood, sweat and tears to produce initially, there needs to be an amount of certainty (the calculated risk), that the project will have a financial outcome in the short/medium term.
I think if you can look at each project from this two-fold perspective, you will be more certain of maintaining this momentum and input from those involved.
Being clear on your pathway to success is a great way to keep the levels of motivation high. Try something along the lines of "This project is going to require a bit of volunteer effort from everyone at the outset, but we plan to reward this once the project proves itself sustainable." Hopefully this inspires the team to think of their time and effort as investment in the future of the project.
The key is to have a strategy for how the project can sustain you and your contributors financially - be that via funding, sponsorship, earned income, contra services, etc.
Good luck with your projects!
Elise raises a good point. Does anyone else have examples of projects where balancing passion and reward is a challenge?
Mark.