Recently, I led our team on our Fundamental for the week. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Fundamentals, they are action statements associated with a company’s core values. For example, our core value “Commitment to Excellence” entails the Fundamentals, “don’t cut corners” and “practice fanatical attention to detail.” Each week, someone on the team “owns” the Fundamental and is responsible for instilling it across our contracted team.
We are currently focused on the core value of Communication. The four Fundamentals within this value are:
- Remove barriers that create excuses.
- Meet deadlines.
- Proactively communicate the status of deliverables.
- Do what you say you will do.
My Fundamental was: Proactively communicate the status of deliverables.
This is significant for us. Allow me to explain!
Team Connectivity Depends Upon Communication
The Communication core value is the most difficult one for our remote team to live up to.
Whenever we have any internal struggles, it’s largely because of the challenges created by lapses in communication. In fact, when we launched our intra-team coaching program, every single coachee struggled with this core value.
Communication is a circular core value as it relates to our Fundamentals. One Fundamental leads to the other, and they all work in tandem. We need to eliminate obstacles that create excuses in order to meet deadlines. Along the way, we must proactively communicate the status of deliverables. Doing what we say we will do is what builds trust. And trust is what sustains us. This is critical for operating at a high level as a remote international team in the social media management industry.
The message I presented needs repeating, not just to my team but to all teams. Communication is a huge ongoing issue for any team, let alone one that requires every person in the process to remain laser-focused on details and vigilant in their role in the production of the deliverables.
You may have heard Benjamin Franklin’s saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This is a very important message. As an outsourced team of remote professionals, we must be proactive. It’s the only way our clients will trust us to handle any and all responsibilities given to us. It’s our promise to them. And it’s our promise to each other because we are only as good as the sum of our parts.
We are making critical changes as a growing company. To fulfill all our core values and produce significant results for our customers, we can no longer accept apathy or excuses. In the past month, we transitioned several team members because of their reluctance to align with our values — particularly Communication.
A work ethic in tune with our core values is non-negotiable. It’s absolutely necessary for us to grow in the right way.
Committed to the Core
When I think of any frustration I experience in business — whether with the team or clients — it’s because someone dropped the ball on a core value.
My husband notices when I am stressed. He asked me recently if it was true stress or pressure I was putting on myself. I told him, “It’s one and the same.” I live and breathe our core values. If I didn’t, what kind of a leader would I be?
As I said in my post, Why Core Values Are More Than Fancy Speak On The Wall, core values should be put in writing and put into action every day. They are the lifeblood of a company, and they are only as good as the degree to which people on the team embody them.
Does your company struggle to gain commitment to your core values from everyone on your team? What challenges has that brought to your business and how have you overcome them?
