In the final part of this mini-series based around what Henry Ford said about the importance of team work we consider that last phrase - “Working Together”.

Yes all three parts are vital - “Coming Together” and “Keeping Together” but neither of these would bring success in business unless they were tied in with working.

These principals are something we instill into Enigin Distributors when we train them regarding the setting up of their own energy saving businesses. We also apply these three vital team building principals at Enigin.

Toiling towards a common goal is vital - with a clear perception and understanding by all involved of what the end purpose is going to be, or is supposed to be.

If it is a single project, everyone involved within the team needs to know what the purpose of the project is supposed to be.

If it is working as a team for the greater good of the business, the staff and management, again their needs to be a clear and unambiguous mission statement, setting out what the aim of the work being done is.

Yes we all know a business wants to make a profit and the employees a good wage, but how is this to be accomplished and what standards are to be held up as important.

It is unlikely to be a case of profit at any cost, as any business owner or manager knows that to have continued success you need to care for your service, product and your customers - so those principals need to not only be stated but explained to everyone involved in the team.

Once they are understood and people know how to apply these goals to their duties it is a case of working together to achieve this - and like I stated before everyone needs to do their part, a little bit like the parts in a body, all are vital.

Although some may have more responsibilities and even titles, the lowliest of staff need to be given the diginity due to all team members. Again, your hand may seem more important than, let’s say a rib, but if the rin is suffering you cannot perform so well.

In other words, the receptionist is as vital as the MD to the smooth running of the business - often she or he will represents the company far more than he does, or anyone else within the business. The receptionist is part of the team and vital to the ultimate success of the business and should not be dismissed as unimportant by anyone.

Even the start of the team cannot succeed without the support of the rest - so Henry Ford is right - “Working Together” is vital to success.

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As we considered in the last post we again turn to the quote above made by Henry Ford referring to Team Work. Last time we looked at the first phrase, now lets us consider the middle phrase, “Keeping Together” and how this is vital to progress through team work.

“Keeping Together” may seem implicit with team work, but that is not necessarily so. A team can function, get results and perform to a limited sense without being “together”. Every member of a team will have a role to play and as long as that role is fulfilled, to a greater or lesser degree, a target can be reached, eventually.

But to really progress “Keeping Together” is vital, as Ford stated - because a team should be more than it’s constituent parts and progress further than just a bunch of individuals. Team work at its best is a group of individuals coming together and then functioning as one body.

Each member of the team is vital - just like in our own bodies, a hand may seem very important compared to let’s say a toe, but is a toe is missing movement and balance becomes more difficult, so the whole body suffers, Each member of the body is needed and to function at its best the body needs to be complete - to keep together.

So a team needs a head, it needs hands and it needs toes, all these parts - people - need to work with one common purpose and not override each other but allow each part to do its bit.

If a team works in this way, with clear communication, there is no end to what they can accomplish.

Hence to make real progress, and not just complete a project, a team needs to “Keep Together” - morphing into one seamless body.

So, Enigin Distributors are advised to form their teams, like the airliners crew we discussed int he last post, and make sure everyone knows their role and pulls together and keeps together, working for and with each other and hence progress to higher achievements in the energy saving business.

At Enigin training new Enigin Distributors are encouraged to build a close team as that brings success.

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So said Henry Ford about team work, and he be described as successful in business!

At Enigin we realise the importance of team work, it is a vital element of our success as a quality energy saving business.

As a globally operating company we also realise the importance of teaming up with distributors - hence we have a close knit team at Enigin PLC head quarters and a looser team working towards success around the world.

We also encourage Enigin Distributors to build up their own close knit team - again this is a critical success factor for their own energy saving business.

As Henry Ford stated, from experience, at the beginning it is vital to “come together” - through team work a common direction and goal can be set, with everyone pulling in the same direction. Without that you are floundering and soon everything will fall apart.

But how do you come together? Communication and clearly defined roles for each member.

Now the “boss” - the entrepreneur who sets up his Enigin Distributorship - may feel he can crack the whip and HIS team will head off in his direction, but if he is not careful he will face rebellion and mutiny if he is too authoritarian, as it will not lead to a “coming together.

To illustrate this reference to an airliner can be useful. A plane flies from London to San Francisco, a regular well traveled route. Does it get their automatically? No - a pilot has to fly the aircraft to its destination, we accept that.

But is it only the pilot who achieves the successful flight? Again - no. On a modern aircraft he will have assistance galore! The second pilot, a navigator, engineer maybe a communications officer are there on the flight deck.

That is not all - his goal is to reach his destination, in this case San Francisco, can he do that with the team we have listed - yes but his ultimate aim is greater than his destination. He is also charged with transporting a plane load of passengers - people like you and me, all who are a bit squashy and squidgy when it comes to crash landings. So he has to get us there safely and unharmed, and in fact in comfort.

To achieve this goal apart from his close knit technical team on the flight deck he needs the cabin attendant team to care for the needs of the passengers on a 13 hour, 5,371 mile flight. That’s a long time and way and they require food, drink and entertaining - all this is part of the captain’s responsibility.

He needs his team to come together to achieve their goal in each aspect and he needs ot be able to delegate and allow his team members to operate to fulfill their roles.

Hence policies and processes are put in place early on to allow the everything to run reasonably seamlessly - but first everyone needs to come together to define who is doing what.

On a plane they do not meet for every trip as they have well defined areas of responsibilities. Hence we do not find that the pilot is pouring your drink as they have decided just before take off at a meeting that the stewardess is going to fly this time.

By the same token, the Captain, the leader and the one with ultimate responsibility on the flight does not need to sample recipes or check the temperature of the white wine - meanwhile cabin staff are not analyzing the engine operation data.

They work together to produce the desired effect, of landing the passengers safely and comfortably in San Francisco.

They would fail is they did not come together first, if the captain decided he had to rule on everything, or was left to, the rest of the crew would not extend themselves if they were not dignified with an input and say on their duties or how others work impacted on them - soon everything would break down and the team wouldn’t care, because they are not a team, just a bunch of individuals.

By coming together and sorting everything out and with good communication everyone will pull together - there will be hiccups but a strong team spirit overcomes those more difficult occasions.

So like we do at Enigin, build your team but make sure you “come together” - the boss will have the ultimate decision on matters - but he needs to remember he doesn’t know it all nor can he do it all, he needs his team for success.

So “come together” but it is just the beginning - in the next article on this blog we will consider the next part of Ford’s quote “Keeping together is progress”

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The south west was often the first point of contact/return for overseas travellers heading east and the last point of contact/departure for those heading west across the Atlantic. Hence it is closely tied in with the discoveries and eventual colonisation of the much of the globe by the British.

Sir Francis Drake, a west-country man, made his name by sailing from Plymouth to circumnavigate the world and raid Spanish gold ships, returning with th booty for his own wealth and that of the Tudor court of Elizabeth the first.

The Pilgrim Fathers last departure point was Plymouth, with their arrival at Plymouth Massachusetts and Captain James T Cook set off from the same location and discovered Australia.

Industry has a rich history throughout Cornwall, in particular, with mining and mineral extraction providing much wealth and many jobs in the past.

The heavy mining industry of the past has wound down with tourism taking over in this beautiful region of Britain.

It is a wonderful area to live and work in and the Enigin team count themselves blessed to be in the far South West.

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THE World Cup has started in South Africa and Enigin’s Marketing Director Troy Wrigley emailed the Enigin team inviting all to compete in a Fantasy League - you know what I mean, a Fantasy Sport Competition where you choose your players and they get points for various things they do through the season or competition.

I mention this on the Sunday afternoon while a World Cup match is being played because I currently lead the table with my wise and astute choices! That will soon change but we are doing it for a bit of fun. Choosing a team name and the players made me think about Enigin Partners and their venturing into an energy saving business.

With Fantasy Leagues it is all fantasy, there is skill in picking the right players and then changing them atr the right time depending on who is on form etc. and like all such sport games it is easier than the reality.

To coach or manage a soccer, rugby, baseball, hockey, basket ball team etc. is a tough job, particularly as you have every fan of the respective teams giving you advice - it is easy from the sidelines, as a spectator it is simple to give advice and do well in a Fantasy League or on a computer game, in reality it is a lot harder.

The same applies to running an energy saving business - we have Enigin Distributors come to Enigin for training and they are full of positivity about what they will achieve - but to be brutally honest it is fantasy.
Ian Wrigley during Enigin’s Mindshare Training soon disposes them of such views! Not that he’s negative but he outlines what they will experience, and often just during training let alone in the longer term.

He asks how confident each Distributor is, they are all very confident, so he tells them they are Unconscious Incompetents, they happily believe they can easily run an energy saving business although they have never done so before, and maybe have never run their own business previously, but they do not realise they are not yet equipped to do it - it is fantasy - Fantasy Business, if you like.

As they begin their training with Enigin and it dawns on them what they need to do, and learn, they change, they become Conscious Incompetents, the fantasy goes and reality sets in. It is not going to be easy, it is going to be hard work, they now understand how much they don’t know and still need to learn. Ian tells them this will be a low point for them, they wonder if they can do it.

As they carry on learning through the training they begin to get their head around what they are being told and they start feel better about what they face, that learning process will continue once they return to their homes and start their energy saving business in earnest. They are learning and coping, they are becoming Conscious Competents, they know what needs to be done and how to do it, but they have to think about it.

As they progress and succeed in their energy saving business they make decisions, suggestions and perform activities automatically, they have become Unconscious Competents. They have experience and expertise in the energy saving business, not that they ever stop learning new things, procedures or methods but they add the new things to their fund of knowledge.

Ian often illustrates it by likening it to learning to drive, as an experienced driver you often find your self at your destination without any conscious memory of how you got there, because you are an unconscious competent as far as driving and traveling are concerned, making decisions and performing action almost automatically.

Compare that to when you started to drive, you were so excited and confident before your lesson started, unconscious of what you really had to learn - driving seems easy but as we know this is fantasy.

As you start to learn to drive you take a big jolt when you realise how hard it is, but keeping up your lessons they will become accustomed to driving and what is required. After years of experience of driving you find you can drive without thinking about it - you are now an unconscious competent.

So enjoy Fantasy Football, or whatever sporting simulation you like, it’s not real and so much easier than the real thing - but the same is true when you think about starting your own Enigin Distributorship - “It will be fun and I will make lots of money” is no doubt your initial thoughts, but the reality is that time and effort is needed to achieve that goal.

To become an Enigin Distributor is fantastic, just do not get caught up in fantasy.

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You maybe playing sports or flying fighter jets, you need a formation or shape to be able to be organised to achive your goals as a team - it is no different here at Enigin.

A formation is used by Enigin in the way all businesses use a formation, whether they realise it or not, they divide the workforce into departments.

Hence at Enigin we have sales, marketing, development, accounts, research and development and so on.

Now that is a sort of formation but can only truly called that if they work together to achieve the goal of the business.

In a soccer team for instance you have defence, midfield and attack, they will have their roles to play but it the way they interact that can truly be called the formation. Will it be attacking, defensive or holding?

The decision in sport will be made by the coach, in business it will be the CEO, owner or board of directors as to wether they focus on sales, on service or on some other aspect.

It doesn’t matter what the goal is the team needs to work together, with each department playing its roles to achieve the ultimate prize, success.

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I love going to the cinema, I also enjoy a good film on DVD or Blu-Ray at home, and like most work teams I know I am not the only one involved with Enigin.

Whether it was the writers strike, the recession or something else it has been a great 12 months for movie productions and promises to be so over the next few months, at least.

Despite this I know I am not the only one to have found the run away success at the awards ceremonies, The Hurt Locker, a disappointment.

I didn’t see it in the cinema, and maybe that makes a difference, and first started to watch it when Enigin’s Sales Director and myself flew to Florida to team up with Enigin Partner Ekon Energy in Daytona Beach. It was one of the choice on the flight - I started to watch it but soon tired of the characters and story so switched to another film.

Once it was nominated for BAFTAS, Oscars etc. I reassessed and decided I should watch it again, this time on Blu-Ray at home. I watched it with my son and son-in-law and we all started to find it boring, in fact my son-in-law and myself stopped watching 20 minutes fromt he end! My son endured but was not impressed.

I just personally think it is a pity they do not give Oscars for entertainment value becasue we have had a few good entertaining films of late.

UP - what a great film, and I can reveal that almost all the ment working at Enigin shed a tear during the film! Animation maybe, but very much for adults. Star Trek, a great film enjoyed by all, Trekkies and us ordinary folk.

Sherlock Holmes - good entertainment and perfect screen prescence between Robert Downey Junior and Jude Law.

My favourite was Avatar, in 3D, yes a predictable script but a great yarn and wonder effects and filming - I thorughly enjoyed it and already have the Blu-Ray.

I have recently seen Iron Man 2 and thought it was great and I am looking forward to Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, Prince of Persia, The Last Airbender, Four Lions and so many more.

I know some will disappoint, as Clash of the Titans already has, but I am looking forward to the high standard from Hollywood and elshwere keep the industry rolling.

With evermore financial constratints on movie production I assume they are being careful aboput the films being produced, hence a lack of rubbish and an increase in better quality.

I know at Enigin we will be discussing the new realeases when they come out, comparing notes and arguing over our own criticiams.

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I am just reading an American modern classic - The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe.

Although set a few years back it could have been for today, or at leats covering the last few years.

Wolf wanted the book to be the ultimate New York novel, and he certainly achieved that, but it is the world he portrays that is interesting.

A world where there is a huge gap between the haves, the middle classes and the under classes. It is interesting to read how each group finds the others sphere of existence completely alien.

One of the main characters, if not the main character, Schuman McCoy is a bond trader on wall street where he makes loads of moneyn an immoral amount of money, doesn’t that sound like bankers and traders of recent times who have led us to the current financial crisis?

The people of Harlem, in the novel, are little different to the populace of the poorer areas of the U.S., Europe and in fact many other burgeoning city in the developing world.

The outstanding feature is that all the characters, from all areas of society, are initially driven by their own agendas - with the inevitable victims from amongst the most vulnerable.

I still have a reasonable amount to read - but from what I have read so far I would soundly recommend it as a window into our lives today, giving us pause for thought, we never learn form history.

At Enigin we try to do things differently - we very much have the philosophy that there are more important things than just work, there are more important things in life.

Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy work and the company exists to make a profit, but it is not the sole aim of our lives at the cost of family or principals. Hopefully this attitude is spreading and we can steer away from the Bonfire that raged through the ’80s and the noughties.

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Whatever industry you are in you need to work with a tight team - that is a team that work tightly together and not pulling against each other.

It is very easy within the work place to find team members working individually, either due to poor delegation or selfishness.

If the management isn’t open enough and communication regarding a project isn’t clear, members of the team will go off to do what they think is right but return with a portion of the project that doesn’t fit with the rest of the work that has been accomplished.

Management need to be clear and involve all team members as much as possible so everyone is working as a single team, not individuals, hence they need to see the greater picture, what is the point of the project, what are they trying to achieve and how it fits in with the aims of the business.

The other block to tight team work is individualism due to selfishness.

This happens when people are trying to get ahead of other members of the team for their own career goals - they could even undermine work done by others to be able to shine themselves - this is very destructive.

They will not share information with “team mates” so they have an “up” on the others, who they see as competitors.

Here lies the problem - instead of seeing the challenge as the hurdle to overcome and complete, they see everything from their own view point and how it affects them, with little concern for the project or often the company.

Which is why it is good to have a team that work together at Enigin - working together to promote Enigin and help their distributors around the globe.

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Sports is so often used to illustrate life, because the effort and determination put in during a reasonably short sporting match, event etc. leads to success.

Formerly working within professional soccer I have often used that to illustrate points - even during Enigin training.

With success and goals or targets involved in sports it is even more often used to illustrate business life and practices.

Plus, to really succeed needs consistency, to win a championship, a series, a season, a challenge cup all requires not just one battle but many and generally winning more than you lose.

It may seem a bit hackneyed, I know of some people who ban sports metaphors, particularly football or soccer, because they feel they are overdone.

I understand the point of view, but why are they ubiquitous?

Because they fit, they are easily understood by all, as long as they do not get too technical, and are readily visualised by the audience, and isn’t that the point of an illustration. It is no good using some comparison and the majority do not know what you are talking about.

Some will argue they have no interest in sport but they understand the concept.

We could use anything to do with domestic life as an illustration, maybe bringing up children - but does that rule out understanding from those who do not have kids? Maybe they will not all the nuances, but then if you use an illustration in a presentation, lecture or training you must keep it on a basic level.

If you go beyond basic application you open yourself up to misunderstanding and peopl second guessing wrongly what you are trying to get at - then you have lost them.

I am happy to hear sports used to illustrate life, business or anything come to that matter but KISS - keep it simple stupid - and then you will make your point with all who listen.

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