You can’t just snap your fingers and have your entire organization switch from a hierarchical organization to a TEAL self-managed team – although I thought it would be easier than it has been.
I thought “wow, no bosses and everyone does what they do best – what an awesome way to run a business.” Uptown Studios is getting ever closer to the perfect most beautiful TEAL color.
Some people love managing people and could not figure out what to do with themselves when that hands-on management left. Our support did not help them to find a new road to self-fulfillment within Uptown Studios and they found other jobs that were more traditional in style.
I discovered people are very connected to their titles – some of it becomes entitlement and so the elimination of titles was one of the last things that we implemented. They still crop up when we are submitting an RFP and it calls for us to identify the Project Manager and other team members.
For us a project manager is part of the team that works extra hard to keep a steady organized flow to their teams. The person on the team that communicates with the client and keeps the flow moving – not telling the members of the creative team what to do but setting the project up to be done easily. The project manager takes care of the project not managing the people working on it.
Who says yes and who says no?
This has taken a while to figure out, when you are pulling your team in to review some work or help you over a hump the answer still lies with you.
I used to have a red stamp for proofs stating, “This is the very best I can do” and the creative would have to sign it. If you look at your project and can state that – you are good to go.
It is so nice to have your team validate and raise questions about the project, a great way to check in and make sure you are on the right road.
One of the most important pieces to have a model like TEAL operate and run well is that everyone on the team knows who their immediate team members are, and have have written agreements on how to communicate.
They DO WHAT THEY SAY THEY WILL DO, WHEN THEY SAY THEY WILL DO IT – no matter what, you get your promises met and you communicate all along the way.
This is what builds the trust you need within the team and throughout the whole team.
Take a look at the graph – what color is your operation? Please send me your comments: Tina@UptownStudios.net
