It's in this developmental process where I feel that the Mentor and Mentee are in fact, a TEAM. And while it may just be the two of them, the mindset that's adopted and the process they work through is very much one of TEAM BUILDING. And TEAM BUILDING is the topic I'm going to address in this BLOG Post.
Teams are 'formed' for a specific purpose,
but they don't always 'come together' as a TEAM.
Why is that?
I recently had the opportunity to facilitate a discussion on the topic of TEAM BUILDING at a Futurpreneur Canada event on February 11, 2016. Futurpreneur Canada invited entrepreneurs and those assisting them to an Action Entrepreneurship Community Exchange event at Business Link in downtown Edmonton, Alberta.
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Here's a photo of the group I was with over the lunch break. Perhaps you'll notice that we're holding up VISA gift cards. Our "winning team" worked very well together and correctly answer all of the questions put to the audience by "Quiz Master" Rob Price, Alberta Director with Futurpreneur Canada. Thank you Futurpreneur Canada, and thank you to my follow team members for a terrific collaborative effort on our win!
The day provided us with a great time of learning, networking, and for those at my discussion table, a collaborative sharing of thoughts on the topic of “Building Your Team”. Here are a few of the key thoughts and comments that came from that day.
In one of the early sessions, referenced as a "Fireside Chat", Karen Unland - Founder at Seen and Heard in Edmonton interviewed Ken Bautista, of Flightpath Ventures. I first met Karen when she was co-founder of Capital Ideas Edmonton (capitalideasedmonton.com) and Capital Ideas Calgary (capitalideascalgary.com). Now she's doing some very interesting work showcasing independent media producers, bloggers and podcasters in Edmonton. Ken Bautista, is with Flightpath Ventures, an early-stage tech fund based in Edmonton. Ken co-founded Startup Edmonton - one of several entrepreneurial ventures that he's assisted. Ken said that Mentors can provide great value to early-stage entrepreneurs and I totally agree with him. Mentors are important resource people that entrepreneurs should have as a part of their TEAM of professionals advisors.
I like to say that, “Entrepreneurship is a TEAM sport!” The odds are against you if you think you can make it totally on your own. A good Mentor can be a valuable team member to the owner of a growing business. They can help accelerate your growth and development, avoid some of the dangers ahead, and help you become a better leader within your organization.
Teams that work well together have the potential to accomplish more and develop better solutions than through any one member working on their own.
Here are some comments related to TEAM BUILDING that I believe are equally applicable to those building the working relationship between Mentors and Mentees.
Camille Wallach, is a Workplace and Corporate Registered Massage Therapist. On TEAM BUILDING she said, "One of my favourite quotes from John Maxwell is, 'All leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less'. Positive influence leads to positive results."
Roberto Alas kindly provided the photo seen above. (Thanks Roberto!) He is Director, Business Relations and Operations at Alpha & Omega Construction Ltd. and provided these thoughts ... "TEAM BUILDING: Is the capacity to identify the strengths and weakness of different people that you are interested in bringing together to collaborate simultaneously as a 'Team' with one or many goals in mind."
We welcome your comments to this POST on what TEAM BUILDING or TEAM WORK means to you and we'd be happy to share your insights with others.
Whether you're the leader of a team, or a member of a team, here are,
"Seven Keys for Building Great Teams"
1) Purpose and Objective - Team members need to clearly understand, appreciate, and value the importance of the purpose and objective they are pursuing.
2) Foundation of Trust - Teams depend upon all members 'pulling their own weight' and to actively do what's required to help the team succeed.
3) Open Communications - Clear and timely communication helps members coordinate and stay on track. Better communication leads to better results!
4) Clear and Specific Goals - Ideally, the 'game plan' has been developed with input from all team members, with full understanding of responsibilities, time lines, and needed resources.
5) Cooperation & Collaboration - Teams need to work together. To be successful, each member needs to bring their best efforts in order for the job to get done.
6) Positive Attitude - When we are enthusiastic about what we’re doing, we will take set-backs as a challenge and find an innovative solution.
7) Professional Behaviour - Positive teams demonstrate mutual respect for fellow team members. They overcome individual differences to work together and achieve their goals.
I've enjoyed working within teams and helping to build effective teams. Teams may be large or they may be small ... even as small a Mentor and a Mentee, working as a team of two. The important thing to remember is that in order for a team to work well together, each of us must choose to work as a valuable team member! Adopting a Mentorship mindset will help.
At Pro-Vision Solutions Inc., it’s been our experience that ‘there’s more to be gained by working together than can be achieved on our own.’
Let us know if you'd like to further explore Team Building and the use of Mentorship for your organization or business.
We welcome your comments to this Post.
FYI: If you’re also interested in business, you may wish to access the FREE information on our Business Success BLOG and tap into some of the many FREE videos on our YouTube Channel where you'll find a wealth of helpful suggestions on both Mentorship and Business Success. These can all be accessed from the "Resources" tab on our website at: www.pvs4u.ca
2 comments:
Thanks for participating Jim, we really enjoyed having someone with your extensive background as one of the experts at the table. If I were to add to this lst, I'd make #8 Do Something. People also want to see action/results as the fruits of their labour and all too often today we have meetings about our meetings. So #8 for a highly effective team is definitely ACTION!
Thanks for the mention, Jim. It's always a pleasure to talk to Ken, and an even greater pleasure to chat in front of an interested and interesting audience.
I am currently involved in mentorship in two ways, both as a mentee and as a mentor. I find each experience is helping me get better at the other role, so that might be something to consider. We all have useful experience, and we could all benefit from someone else's experience — that's certainly what we built Capital Ideas on, and I'm happy to keep living that idea today.
One more note: My current mentors are younger than me, which may be a reversal of the way we usually conceive of mentorship. But it has worked out great so far. If you can find someone smart and supportive to be on your team, bring them on board, regardless of age!
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