Any great digital company is built on partnership. The efforts of an individual contributing to something larger than themselves and the achievements they generate bring success to the whole team.
But, selecting these individuals is an entirely different matter. And for your digital business to be truly successful, you will need to put together a winning team. Here’s how you can go about it.
Construct the Core
A digital team has predetermined positions that are critical and allow the process to function. This is the executive level of your company, the people you will rely on to implement major strategies, enforce policies, and manage different areas of operation.
The main roles are the CEO, CFO, CIO, CTO, CMO, and CSO. Each chief has a significant part to play in the formation of a winning business. Like any great cast of players, they need a leader to be the cutting edge of the company’s business performance. So, who is it?
Based on an article by Sherilyn Shackell, it’s the CMO. CMOs are best-suited for the job because they approach IT and digital from the end user’s perspective and scale it accordingly. They are able to make quick assessments of different situations at various stages of development and react in the best interests of the company, both financially and strategically.
However, this doesn’t mean they have complete control over every segment of operation. The role of the leader is to steer the team in the right direction, increase cross-sector collaboration, and when called for to ground the team and make them see the reality.
As for the rest of the executives, choose them based on practical experience, but also trust and loyalty. Regular team meetings are essential to determine this. If someone can’t be 100% on board with either your, the team’s or the CMO’s decision, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate their place in the grand scheme of things.
Bring On the Outsiders
It’s easy to see what is right in front of you, but it gets proportionally harder as each team member gets head-deep in the organization, its culture, and day-to-day operations. You have blindsides that you need to accept and address. That’s where a fresh new perspective can really shake things up.
An outside expert is the first obvious choice. The advantage here is that the person, or organization, has no baggage and no previous ties with the company. What they do have, however, is a completely different outlook to yours and experience in the industry to boast.
Another way of doing things is thinking outside of the box to find a completely different perspective. It may come from using disability employment services to find innovative talents struggling to get into the industry, or a recent graduate full of determination.
And, don’t underestimate other industries. Finding a person completely outside IT and digital world, like academics, arts or sciences can spark crossovers. You can easily end up applying methods from another field and using it for different ways of engaging with what matters at that moment.
Remember, even if you bring an outside professional for a single project, they will know how to get in quickly, ask the right questions, and leave you with solutions you might have overlooked.
Also, objectivity is extremely important when creating a winning team.
Fill in the Gaps
After you have put together the core of your team, it’s time to fill in the gaps. This is the moment the outside resources pay off since they understand what your team is lacking and requires an extra set of hands.
What you might think is the end of the executive branch of the company might not be true. In fact, there is every possibility you overlooked hiring an emerging executive position referred to as a chief digital officer (CDO).
A remarkably low number (just 6% in 2015) of IT organizations have CDOs on their payroll. But the trend is already picking up traction because companies that have this executive position covered generally outperform their competitors both in terms of operational output and revenue.
Companies in digital and IT have an aversion to these people because they come from sales or marketing, but you shouldn’t. The job of a CDO is to improve operations by implementing tech innovations to digitally transform the business process and drive more performance from your staff.
Another position you should look to fill from the start is the chief human resources officer. Even for small business teams, a CHRO with a background in psychology can create a winning mindset simply by interacting with staff on a regular basis. And, you should never overlook the role the human mind can play when you are determined to succeed.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, putting together a winning team will require an extensive amount of effort on your part. But running a digital business was never going to be easy. Still, with the right mindset, direction, and talent, you, the team you assemble and the company are set for success.