As I draw near to 20 years since I first set up Quest, there have been a number of lessons to learn as the business and team have grown over the years. More recently we have seen movement with Amy, my Business Support Manager, leaving and so we have had Kelly join us to replace Amy and also added Naomi to the advice team. We also had Lauren join us who is the first hire we have had in a pure marketing role which is a very different brief to the delivery roles we have in the business. All this equals a shift in the well balanced and finely tuned apple cart!
As a self-confessed control freak, my first challenge is always to build trust quickly so I feel I can allow the team the freedom to fulfil their roles without them feeling Big Brother is watching. I recognise in me this is a default setting that if left unchecked achieves the polar opposite of the culture I want to maintain here which is to allow the team the autonomy to manage their own time and work in the way that gets the best from them. Being a business owner doesn’t make you a great Manager – work on yourself and be honest about the areas you need to work on to get the best from others.
One of the first things I did with the new team in December was to complete a DiSC profiling workshop so we could all see the more dominant styles we naturally take in a work environment, so we started to build a better understanding of how to get the best from each other and remain cohesive as a team. There were a few surprises and eye openers at the session, but we all benefitted from this insight and all the team are taking this information into their development plans.
It is difficult to build a positive culture and a shared vision unless you have absolute clarity on what this looks like so I spent time planning for my first team day in January to ensure I can communicate the vision and values clearly but more importantly, share the why with the team.
View our 5 top tips for Introducing Change in Your Business here: https://mailchi.mp/questconsultingservices.co.uk/uhp8bhc5qd
You can read the full version of our blog here: https://www.questconsultingservices.co.uk/growth-changes-to-team-dynamics-by-sarah-birkenshaw/
Having worked within businesses as a Line Manager, I know first hand some of the frsutrations faced…