Solid ONboarding to Build a Strong Team
Strong ONboarding System is the Key to a Strong Team
If you are part of a team, do you remember the onboarding that you went through?
Was it solid or were there still a lot of questions to be answered at the outset? Do you feel like you have all of the answers now or are you continually asking questions?
As the leader of that team, do you have an onboarding process that will allow your administration and your team members the flexibility to make decisions on their own without constantly bombarding you with questions on how to move forward?
The Concept of Decentralized Command
Jocko Willink broke on to the scene about 5 years ago, I’ve been following him for 3 of those five years and have learned a lot about leadership and effective ways to structure a team and business.
Decentralized command in the military sense allows for the operators on the ground to make battlefield decisions without having to go up the chain of command to get approval to make a move.
This concept only comes with immense hours of onboarding, training and with that comes an incredible amount of trust.
You could also relate this concept to sports, specifically football. A perfect example would be the audible that is called by the quarterback.
If you don’t watch the game, an audible is a change in the play made by the quarterback when he is at the line of scrimmage.
He sees something in the defensive scheme that he doesn’t like and changes the play. He yells out the new play in code that only his players are going to understand.
You see, the plays are already set for the team, typically the first play of the game has been rehearsed over and over and over again. They have a game plan and know the offensive and defensive schemes they want to play but every once in a while those plays need to be changed or altered on the fly.
How Does This Relate to Business?
Having a robust onboarding and training system for your admin and team members will allow you more time in your day to focus on growing the business by giving the team the power to make the changes that need to be made.
By allowing your team this leeway you are also showing them how much you trust their judgement, they in turn truly feel that they are part of something bigger and that they have a say in the direction of the company.
Now that said, the military, a football team, your sales force, all have a mission. You have a vision for the company that everyone has bought in to. You have goals that you have laid out that your team is striving to hit.
Every decision that is made by you as the leader or by the team member has to be done within the parameters of the mission. They have to be a part of the overall game plan, the point is to have everyone driving towards the same end.
How Does This Help me as the Team Leader?
Simple.
What is the one commodity we all have access to but we all seem to be running out of?
Time.
Some run out of time at a faster rate than others.
The concept of decentralized command, allowing your agents, team members, admin staff to make the calls that you would normally make will ultimately give you greater time and freedom to concentrate on pushing the business forward faster and with greater efficiency.
It will also help to solidify the culture of the company where everyone is truly a team player, they have buy in because they are given the opportunity to call the audible.
Zappos is a perfect example of a company utilizing decentralized command when it comes to their customer service line.
They have a game plan (mostly to make sure the customer is happy and wanting to come back) and their customer service reps play within those parameters.
The difference between a Zappos and let’s say a Shaw or Telus or some other service provider is that they are the last stop when it comes to disarming and pleasing the customer.
The words, “I want to speak to a manager or your boss” never come in to play with Zappos as their customer service reps have the leeway to make sure the customer is happy. They don’t have to put that customer on hold to see if what the customer is asking for is ‘doable’.
They make the call, they keep the customer happy which in turn keeps the customer coming back time and again. This in turn has built a strong culture of ‘ownership’ within the employee community at Zappos.
Build a robust training platform for your team and make sure to communicate and deliver the mission and what your overall vision is for the company. Only after training and maximum trust is achieved, allow your team members the ability to call the audible and deliver an exceptional experience to your customers, vendors and partners.
I will leave you with the core values of Zappos, make sure to see and understand point #1:
Living Our Core Values
In one way or another, the concepts of integrity, honesty and commitment contained in this Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (the “Code of Conduct”) are already touched on in our Core Values and currently exist in our company culture. Our ten core values are:
Deliver WOW Through Service
Embrace and Drive Change
Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
Pursue Growth and Learning
Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
Do More With Less
Be Passionate and Determined
Be Humble