Question

Please explain in 175-words. What are some of the common mistakes to avoid in putting together an initial management team?

Answer 1

Some of the common mistakes that should be avoided while putting together an initial management team are-

• Lack of Vision - Whenever a management team is being set up, they are created with a clear objective in mind, which at later phase translates into the vision for the team. A lack of proper team objective will lead to haphazard decision making and under-utilization of resources. It will thus also lead to competency gap and miscommunication amongst the team members.
• Information Asymmetry - Not ensuring proper information dissipation will create fractional team structure which would further lead to discoordinated and inefficient work culture. It would also lead to creating power centers inside the team which will bring negativity into it. Therefore, the team should be well aware about each others competency, expertise level &capabilities, and efforts should be made to properly draw out an information channel.
• Prejudiced decision making - Inappropriately referring to the learnings from a different sector/industry into the new sector/industry in one of the common mistakes a management team commits. They should, on other hand, study the dynamics of the industry/sector individually before making a decision. They should understand that each sector has its own sets of market established dynamics and referring to the understandings from a different sector would not help them in any case. In addition to this, while creating a team, efforts should also be made that people with relevant exposure and experience should be inducted into the team.
• One man Leader philosophy - Putting up all the decision making power in the hands of a singular entity is also one of the biggest mistake a new management team can commit. The roles and responsibilities along with the work ownership should be appropriately delegated to each member of the team, so as to ensure that the every member complement each other's work, helping the team reach its desired goal.
• Wrongfully inducted Team members - While creating a team, the leadership should not allow their personal bias to cloud their judgement. Inducting under-qualified friends and family members into the team will negatively alter the efficiency of the team and thus ensuring its failure. The team building processes should only consider the capabilities, competencies and experience of a person to evaluate his/her candidature for the team.

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