What makes a great team or team member (F.I.T.)

Adventures in Businessing: Entrepreneurship, Small Business, and a Healthy Dose of Humor

Show Notes

• [0:00:47] Episode Summary | Intro

• F.I.T.ness Overview
• • Faculty
  • Initiative
  • Temperament
• A Place for Alliteration

• [0:04:45] Understanding Why Team Members May Be Unhappy in Their Role

• They may be in the wrong place, doing the wrong work, or have the wrong temperament for the type of work they’re doing.
• • You have to be flexible as an organization, hopefully without differing straight to letting the employee go.
  • Though it’s important to acknowledge not every individual will be a fit for your culture and organization.

• [0:08:00] Does X Person Have the F. I. and T. to be on Your Team?

• Analyzing & Measuring Faculty, Initiative, and Temperament
• • Determining F.I.T. May Mean Something Different to You and Your Organization
• For Our Company, We’ve Found Temperament to be the Most Important Measurement
• • You Have to Determine What’s the Right Temperament Your Team
  • Temperament is the Hardest to Teach...and Change
  • • It’s Also the Most Sensitive Topic

• [0:16:26] Recommendation: Hire Slow, Fire Slow

• Take Time to Determine F.I.T.
• • You Can Train Over Most F.I.T. Challenges
  • • You Should Be Trying to Help Team Members Through the Obstacles
    • What Do They Have Going on in Their Lives, How Can You Help?
    • • Even if we don’t want to admit it, personal life can and will bleed into work.
      • Empathy and communication are key.
      • You HAVE to ask questions about connection, collaboration, and clarity.

• [0:20:24] How Do We Measure & What Does F.I.T.ness Look Like in Practice?

• Recommended (Recurring) Quarterly Check-in
• • But keep the conversation going in between quarterly check-ins.
• F.I.T.ness Changes
• • It changes, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for worse.
  • F.I.T.ness is never static.
• Confirm F.I.T. on the front end: during hiring and onboarding.

• [0:25:34] Closing Thoughts

• F.I.T. Operates with the ‘C’s and ‘P’s, Not in A Vacuum
• • Clarity
  • Collaboration
  • Connection
  • Passion
  • Purpose
  • Progress
• If you don’t take the time to figure out your ideal F.I.T., you’ll end up putting square pegs in round holes.
• • This ultimately hurts the new hire, and the team at large.
  • • The ripple effect here doesn’t stop when you let someone go.
• By acknowledging and keeping up with F.I.T. you can minimize the repercussions of not getting it right...because you’re not going to always get it right.
• Companies & Culture Change Over TIme
• • What’s F.I.T. Today May Not be F.I.T. Tomorrow