Experts predict that returning to work will happen in waves, while continuing with social distancing measures in place. Organizations must be agile and responsive to meet changing demands and bring their operations back online.
Our new normal now requires us to identify the right talent and steps to ramp-up business goals and meet consumer demands.
Flex teams can solve this problem, suggests Tracy Brower, Ph.D., principal with the applied research and consulting group at Steelcase. Flex teams are high-performance teams assembled based on knowledge and compatibility. Employees in flex teams can be trained across various job functions. Then, they are dynamically allocated to projects where their skills and talents are most needed. Assemble flex teams now, and they’ll be ready to tackle returning to work when the time is right.
Here’s how to put together high-caliber flex teams for your organization.
Since flex teams are assembled to do project-based work, they should include a wide range of skills and compatibility. Audit your workforce skills and competencies, suggests Ben Eubanks, principal analyst at Lighthouse Research and Advisory. “You can crowdsource the call for skills, ask employees to populate their employee profile with specific interests or capabilities or validate skills using managers or assessments,” he says.
Personality and compatibility are essential. It is imperative that flex team members work well together, as they are meant to stay together across long-term projects. “For example, if you know you want someone with financial acumen, but don’t know the exact type of expertise they will need, select the person from the finance department that meshes best with the team,” says Adam Godson, chief product officer at Paradox.
Trust and communication are essential elements of a successful agile team. Since flexibility means working closely together long-term, it’s important to set expectations, objectives and roles within the team from the beginning. “HR can facilitate dialogue surrounding behavioral protocols, social norms and dealing with conflict,” Brower says. This gives the team the freedom to find their own processes as a group.
A sense of trust should extend across the organization to help the team fit in with day-to-day work. “There's often a sense of ‘this is my employee’ from some managers,” Eubanks says. “It's difficult to get managers to see each worker as a resource that can help the entire company, not just their department.” HR is instrumental in demonstrating the benefits of employee fluidity and an agile culture across the organization.
HR can foster organizational agility by facilitating flexibility between teams. Use your skills audit data to fill in talent gaps. “A single flex team may not have all the skills necessary to solve the problem they’ve been assigned. Seeking out key talent and expertise from internal and external networks gives flex teams the support they need to succeed,” Godson says.
Creating agile teams eliminate organizational silos. “There should be enough flexibility for teams to confidently interact. Keeping doors open between teams increases positive outcomes and fosters organizational agility,” Brower says.