United States tariffs are increased on countries worldwide and then decreased!  Stock markets and bond markets go up and down and up again!  Industries go on hiring binges and then do wholesale layoffs.  The technology industry, for example, has done this numerous times.   They escalate salaries and have “hiring wars,” only to have wholesale layoffs and year or so later.   We all have specific examples of how our world has turned uncertain.

What is going on with all these gyrations?  What can organizations do to prepare for and deal with the regularly appearing uncertainties in our business lives?

Effective teams are an ideal way to create a buffer and deal with times of uncertainty. But WHY and HOW can teams help to create this buffer?

 WHY Teams Help In Uncertain Times?

 One of the most important aspects of teams is that people have the opportunity and ability to specialize.  Effective teams have people with the types of specialties needed at a particular time.  No one is an expert in all things.  Effective teams have people who are knowledgeable of issues, concepts, and techniques necessary to take appropriate action on important things on a moment’s notice.  This is essential in times of uncertainty, since decisions need to be made quickly with limited external information.  People who are specialists in the needed area have that information at their fingertips and don’t require great amounts of time to do research.  The research is already in their heads.

Another beauty of effective teams is they have people with different behavioral strengths and limitations.  For example, there is a balance between those who think and collect information and those who use the information to take action.  If you just have those who collect the data, they continue to collect the data and by the time the decision is make, the information used is antiquated or decisions are not made at all.  If you just have those who take action, the decisions made will most likely be poor decisions because the decision is made without sufficient information.  Effective teams also have people who are optimistic and help motivate or give people courage to make decisions, even though there is limited time to get full information before making decisions.  Effective groups have diverse skills and strengths that prepare them for times of uncertainty.

A third important positive aspect of teams during times of uncertainty, is that people can be psychologically or physically absent (on vacation, ill, taking care of family, etc.) when team actions and/or decisions need to be made.  Effective teams can make decisions at any time, even when other team members, including its leaders, are absent.  This is essential during times of uncertainty, so people can “step up to the plate” and take a leadership role to make decisions when leaders are not available, for whatever reason.

There are numerous other reasons why teams are more effective than individuals, but these three are key during periods of uncertainty.

We look at 10 rules we use to assist our clients prepare for and take advantage of the many benefits of teams under conditions of uncertain.

#1 – Balanced Behavioral Approach

We find the most effective teams are those with a balanced behavioral approach.  Some people are more task oriented, while others are more people oriented.  Some people are more inwardly focused, while others focus more on their external environment.  It is important to have people with all of these perspectives. We use a behavioral wheel to plot team behavioral dynamics.  If a team is overloaded with people in one area of the behavioral wheel, they are over represented with these types of behaviors.  If there are areas of the wheel without people plotted, the behaviors located in that portion of the Wheel will be missing.  We work to have people behave in all areas of The Wheel, or ask people within the team to volunteer to do behaviors that are currently somewhat outside their comfort zone, but in a needed Wheel behavioral area.  When this balance is present in the team, more appropriate information is collected and analyzed, and more accurate decisions are made.

#2 – Driven to Understand

We use a model that in addition to behaviors, looks at the “why,” or the motivators that drive people to do what they do.  One of the most important “whys” during uncertainty, is for some team members to be “driven to understand” the task and/or the people doing the task.  This “understanding” is second nature to team members who are Driven to Understand.  For example, one team member has an understanding and is an expert of doing a necessary task.  Another team member fully understands what motivates  people to do that task.  This latter team member is fantastic at minimizing conflicts between team members and getting team members to focus on the task at hand regardless of any intra-team conflicts. Teams that have an expert on the task and/or another expert of the people doing the task, enables the team to do things quickly and effectively. Why?  Because the team already has someone ready to competently do the task and another person who knows how to motivate that team member to do what needs to be done.

#3 – Gather & Use Data Appropriately

In times of uncertainty, there is usually a tendency to want to collect more data than is needed.  There is a certain behavioral style that pushes others to collect more and more data, for the fear of being wrong and making a wrong decision.  If it was their choice, all risk would be mitigated before a decision is made.  There is another behavioral style that is willing to take risks and make decisions without all the necessary data.  Effective teams balance this desire for data and aversion to risk with others on the team who are willing to move forward with decisions even if they don’t have all the data.  The Abelson Group measures the team’s willingness to take risk and assists team members determine the appropriate risk level and how to move forward at the appropriate time regardless of the risk.

#4 – External Focus – Internal Decisions

In times of uncertainty, it’s important to focus on your external environment, quickly looking for information and data that affects you and your team.  At the same time you are focusing on the happenings outside of you, there is a need to quickly process that data within your team and make pertinent decisions.  One of the key reasons decisions aren’t make in times of uncertainty is because people are not confident in their decision.  At these times it’s important to focus and know what’s happening outside your team that impacts your team.  Share that information with your team and integrate it with other information to make that decision.  If the decision is wrong, continual external focus will tell you it’s wrong.  You will have the time to regroup, reexamine your decision, and take corrective action.

#5 – Effective Internal Communications

Effective communication is always essential to a team.  It promotes trust and allows for more confidence within the team.  In times of uncertainty, it is paramount that we trust our team member’s words, actions, and motives.  The extent trust is absent is the extent the team will function poorly.  Different people communicate in different ways.  Some like to talk while others like to be brief and to the point.  Some people  prefer to listen, while others prefer to talk.  There are as many approaches to communication as there are people.  People who are different and do things differently, typical distrust, not trust others.  One of the tools we use at The Abelson Group, is a spreadsheet that shows how each person in the team is similar and different.  When people see this behavioral spreadsheet, they all of the sudden, realize people’s behaviors are because THAT is the way they behave, communicate, motivate, manage and lead.  Their behavior is usually NOT personal, or meant to be prejudicial.  It is done because that’s THEIR BEHAVIORAL STYLE.  Once it becomes obvious that people are not behaving judgmentally, even people who communicate very differently suddenly realize the communication is done in a way because of who THAT PERSON is, not because of who the OTHER is.  People start realizing communication is NOT personal, it IS behavioral. Trust improves.  Because of this improved trust, the “uncertainty” and “why” a decision is made, becomes less controversial and more accepted.

#6 – Systems That Motivate Non-financially

In times of uncertainty, every penny is important and valuable.  The best organizations have “slack” in their budget as a way to prepare for uncertainty or surprises.  Organizational staff at all bureaucratic levels see this “slack” and want part or all of it.  We call this raises!  An organization with no financial slack in their system puts itself at financial jeopardy.  We saw what happened with this lack of slack most significantly in the 2008 financial meltdown throughout the USA.  It put the country into a huge financial crisis.

What would happen if reward systems were built around what motivates that individual.  Not everyone is motivated only by money.  The Abelson Group uses two different reward systems when working with clients.  One has six primary motivators and the other has 12 primary motivators.  Money is only ONE of those six or 12 motivators available to EVERY organization.  Our clients have the awareness and wherewithal to use these other non-financial rewards as a way to motivate people.  The outcome?  People are more motivated.  They are less likely to leave.  They enjoy their work more.  The outcome for the organization is better performance, less reliance on the scarce resource of money, greater profitability, and the greater ability to deal with uncertainty because of greater financial slack.

#7 – Elevated Sense of Urgency

In times of uncertainty, there is a need to make decisions quickly.  Because of risk under conditions of uncertainty, the most effective organizations take smaller steps initially to see what the road ahead looks like.  If that road is promising, the pace gets faster. If that road hits a dead end, detours are planned quickly and significant investments (money, time, personnel) have not been spent.  For organizations that combine this “rule” and our #6 “rule” above, the money spent becomes minimal, and financial coffers are still intact.   Those people who have a high sense of urgency are usually given leadership roles to make these types of decisions, while people who have other skills, such as analytical prowess, are in support roles to supply the data used to make these risky decisions.

#8 – Not Freezing – Taking Appropriate-At-The-Moment Actions

It’s just natural to “freeze” or slow down behavior when the environment is uncertain.  The more uncertain, the greater the likelihood that people will not want to take action.  While your competition is frozen and retrenching, it’s a great time to take advantage of the opportunity.  Your clients are probably looking for solutions to their problems and their uncertainty.  The more pain they are experiencing, the greater the likelihood they will be open to solutions you have to their problems.   Match your product, service, and people strengths to your clients needs.  Taking appropriate actions that assist your clients helps establish and cement a stronger bond with clients.  They want help.  You are there for them while your competition is worried primarily about retrenchment and cutting back expenses. Your focus on client needs, at-the-moment of their greatest need, cements that positive bond and joint commitment to you and your organization. The added revenue to your organization and connectedness with clients, actually decreases YOUR uncertainty.

#9 – Ready, Fire, Aim

You are now aware of the benefits of an elevated sense of urgency (Rule #7) and being more assertive, not freezing and taking appropriate at-the-moment actions (Rule #8).  But specifically, how do you do that when everyone in your organization and environment is reminding you of all the uncertainty you are experiencing?

You take small steps, spend small or no money, and do it quickly.  It’s like being at the starting line of a race.  You are getting ready to start, the starting gun goes off, and you take off.  You take small steps initially because there are so many people around you.  You don’t know any of them, and don’t know what they will do, but that doesn’t stop you from moving forward.  You assess the racing situation and environment, and take steps moving forward all the time.  The environment changes, because of other runners, and you react.  It’s the same with uncertainty.  It’s just a different type of race.  Keep moving forward, adjusting whenever appropriate, and manage your way through the barriers and mind fields.  You don’t know how to “aim” first, so you react first, and modify as you go.

#10 Conserve Cash

One of the most elementary and proven rules of uncertainty is to wisely manage your cash.  For many, that means cutting expenses.  That works some of the time, but in most environments, it’s very difficult to conserve or cut enough cash without depleting your human resource.  The key is doing other things that “conserve” your cash, and use your cash the wisest way possible.

For example, make sure you “balance the behavioral approach” of staff with the needs at your organization and the field (Rule #1).  Be driven to understanding (Rule #2) and gather and use data (Rule #3) wisely.   Focus on what is going on around you, but make those internal decisions and move on (Rule #4).  Always effectively communicate because there is a potential for a huge waste of resources if you need to take corrective actions.  Why is there such waste in those situations?  First, you have spent resources to make the mistake, second,  you have spent money to correct the mistake, and third, you then spend even more money to deliver a new solution (Rule #5).  While you are cutting expenses, also look for non-financial ways to motivate staff (Rule #6).  It doesn’t cost you cash to motivate staff in that way and they will appreciate your interest in rewarding them when times are tough. Elevate the sense of urgency so you take advantage of opportunities when they are made available to you (Rule #7). Don’t freeze (Rule #8) and be ready to fire and then aim (Rule #9) as you take action and adjust to your environment.

Conserving cash (Rule #10) is always a good idea, but if you really want to survive and thrive during uncertainty, you really need to follow as many of the other rules as possible.