Nicola Coleman, Executive Assistant to Doug Richard
Doug has always said that you can’t be good at everything, recognise your weaknesses and hire a team whose strengths balance your own and each others.
This belief is reflected well in our team, our skills balance each other well, we fit to make a whole. I’ve worked for companies that are nothing more than a group of individuals; we aren’t like that at School for Startups, we are a team, we all care about the company and its goals, the bigger picture. We don’t just care about our own workloads regardless of the effect it has on others, we know if one of us is struggling it has a knock on effect on all of us and the goals we are striving to achieve. When you’re part of a small team and working miles away from each other the knowledge that your colleagues are there for you and will support you is what truly brings you together.
Sadly there’s a flip side to everything. There’s a time when suddenly there’s so much more to do to take things to the next stage. The team, systems and responsibilities all need to be reconfigured to accommodate these extra needs yet your resources remain limited. Once again the team rally, after all, as Victoria pointed out to us last week; we have gained some extra hours by not having to commute anymore. We prioritise our assignments, how right you were Nancy when you said some of them never quite reach the top of the list!
Trouble is, we all have our limits and only a certain amount of capacity in our workloads. Yes, you have to be flexible but boy do you have to be disciplined too. I don’t think there is a member of the team who hasn’t been ploughing through their “to do” list or managing emails at some unsociable hour, it’s too easy when all your files are stashed in your spare room and not in the office to think “I’ll just get a head start on that”. It can become all-consuming, and can quickly become overwhelming.
This is where team work gets you through! I have discovered this feeling of drowning under an avalanche of work that doesn’t directly hit every team member at once, which gives you the opportunity to ask for help; you can delegate a few things that will give you time to catch up on tasks that the team really need your help with, and you know they understand because they’ve been there themselves.
Picking the right team means they will get each other and the business through the toughest of times.
This situation may not be unique to start-ups, it happens in larger businesses and yet there is a distinct difference; when you’re part of a start-up – like being part of a family. You don’t join a start-up for a pension, health plan and large bonuses, you join it because you believe in its potential and you have a common goal to help make the business reach that potential. Our logo isn’t accidental, that seedling has to be carefully nurtured to help it grow and bloom, just like a start-up, and this is what draws us together.
Working for a start-up can be tough but it definitely has its rewards…providing you have the right team around you.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?