How do you merge two small businesses to work together as a team?
Summary
Problem
Noisegate Media and Orchis, two small technology companies specialising in web applications decided to join forces to pool their talent and open up new opportunities for their clients.
Neither company has an office base and although the individuals in each team had met and collaborated virtually on projects, they needed to get to know each other properly and understand how to work together effectively.
Investment
This project was relatively light in terms of Brilliant Minds involvement and costs to the client. The entire project involved:
- Six LAB Profile interviews
- A half-day workshop
- A few hours of consultancy time to write reports etc
- At 2023 prices this would cost around £7,500
Results
A cohesive and confident team!
[If that’s all you need to know to be interested in how we can do the same for you, please click here to contact Sharon Smith, my PA, and request a free consultation]
Background
Noisegate Media is a small, friendly, diverse team of experts in web development, communication, design, project management and media production. Every member of the team can be involved in every project and since they are a virtual team, good communication is vital.
Business owner Liz, was starting to look to reduce her working hours and maybe take longer periods of time away, but seemed to be involved in everything and unable to detach for any significant periods of time.
She wanted to be able to exit the business eventually and it was important to know that the business could continue without her and the team would not be redundant.
Joining up with local firm, Orchis, offered an opportunity to increase the knowledge and experience in the team as well as reducing the pressure on Liz to be involved in everything.
Why Brilliant Minds?
This project taps into some of our core capabilities:
- We know the tech sector and have worked with specialist companies of all sizes over a long period of time
- We knew a feel-good bonding experience wasn’t going to be enough to build this team, they needed something more tangible and practical
- Liz was already working through a coaching programme with Dianne, as part of her overall agenda
We know each other well, because Noisegate looks after the Brilliant Minds website!
What we did…
We used a tried and tested process that we have used with many other teams. Each member of the team had a one-to-one session with Dianne to compile their LAB Profile, which uncovers both motivation triggers and productivity patterns. By collating the individual profiles, Dianne created a Team Profile, to highlight the strengths and diversity within the team.
That was followed by a half-day team workshop, which included:
- Exploration of the LAB Profile results and implications for the team
- Discussion of individual strengths and how to use them for the benefit of the team
- Highlighting potential areas of conflict and how to deal with them
Having completed the workshop, team members had a clear sense of their own strengths, other people’s strengths and what each can best contribute to the team.
The conversation continued over lunch and long into the afternoon…
Results
There are good results for the team and for Liz as the owner of the business. The key indicators of success were in the way members of the team began to interact differently and the consequences for Liz’s workload:
- In the immediate aftermath of the workshop, attendance at morning meetings was markedly increased and people felt more engaged and productive
- During the workshop, it became clear that whilst everyone wanted to provide great service to customers, some team members were more able to maintain the boundaries of a project and flag up the need for more budget when requirement went outside of scope. This recognition ‘legitimised’ the point of view of those people and made it easier for everyone to balance service with profit
- Liz has been able to delegate more work and detach from the day to day detail in many projects, giving her confidence in her team and in the longevity of the business
- There is closer collaboration and a culture of ‘one team’
What to do now…
If you would like to find out more about how your team can benefit from this type of team event, your first step is to book a free 30-minute call with me. We’ll talk about your situation and the changes you want to make. From there, I’ll make some suggestions about how we can work together. There’s no obligation and the exploratory call is completely free, so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
To book your call, email Sharon Smith, my PA: sharon@brilliantminds.co.uk
Or you can call her on 01480 861569
