Much is spoken about the importance of harmony in a team of people. If harmony is not appreciated for what it is it can often be sought at great cost. The cost of attaining harmony can lower productivity, lower creativity, lower attractiveness and even lower harmony itself – what an oxymoron!
There is a certain drive within all existence to seek harmony and its paradoxical as to how harmony can be amplified. It was Doug Floyd who is quoted as saying “You don’t get harmony when everybody sings the same note.”. Harmony is not achieved by making everyone the same. This is a mistake found in many areas of inter-relationships between individuals within groups.
Do you hire for similarity? Often we find ourselves seeking the company of those who are like us, who like what we like, who see the word as we do. Surrounding yourself with ‘yes men’ is a sure-fire way to grind your practice to a halt. A team of people with everyone singing the same notes just gives a loud noise. How would it be if you are an extroverted expressive person who likes difference and variety so you bring on a team of like-behaved characters around you? You would all have a good time but I doubt whether much would be done in the organisation department.
If we take a leaf out of nature’s book and consider the biological expression of life as a human. The cells, tissues and organs that make up the body are very different and yet they perform their unique design and resonate to a common organisational force which keeps the being in harmony.
We require the different ‘notes’ to be sounded to produce the harmony of a great symphony. In order to create the different ‘instruments’ that will make the ‘music’ in your practice ensure that the following are attended to:
- Identify the roles and responsibilities that you need to have covered in your practice.
- Go to thein8model.com and have the team do the questionnaire and make sure that you have all areas covered across all team members. If you need help assessing this yell out and we will provide some guidance.
- Make sure that every essential task, job and service is identified on your storyboard.
- Select a profile of the character traits and skills that will be required to service that role or responsibility with excellence.
- Appoint existing team members with those pre-requisites to that position or hire someone who has them.
- Set procedures, policies and scripts for every function in your practice.
- Ensure that every procedure is tied to the overarching values of your practice.
- Put training procedures in place that drill down every aspect of function.
So, embrace the disharmony that exists between your team members and reap the rewards that come as a result of this oxymoron in action.
