It’s always an endeavor of all managers and entrepreneurs to create organizations that are high performing and workplaces that are engaging. It’s been my quest for years to help organizations beam with vibrant energies that create such places. The “law of the farm” that controls this process is simple and straightforward – “what you sow so shall you reap”. There is undoubtedly a methodology to create vibrant organizations and let’s discuss this in a structured manner.
- Hiring the right talent is very crucial. Look for energy; ask yourself a question would I enjoy working with this person in the long run. If you feel good about the person; look for capabilities that are in line with the job description. It is so imperative to hire exciting people who wish to work for results. They are a rare breed; they love weekends and weekdays both. Patience is surely the virtue to find such people.
- Nourish the curiosity of these people. Let them do their work their own way. Allow them to use their creative minds. An empowered workplace surely adds to creating a great culture. People must know that what they are doing is actually benefiting the organizations. The big picture is very crucial.
- Teach people to enjoy work. People like to win at work. Coach them to become successful. Invest in their development. The more they learn, the better they feel about themselves. The more they win, the more confident they get. Unfortunately, we are not born with the idea “work is joy”.
- Create and recreate collaborative teams where people work with one another. Once teams are formed, they become dull and boring. Novelty always accelerates the process of discovery. This is a great peer coached innovative environment. Collective leadership is always a good idea. Help and teach people to enjoy conflicts. Creative conflicts are very good for organizations. Help them to enjoy failures. Mind you please learn to differentiate between callous, casual mistakes, and failures. Like it is said by the learned “failure is a great teacher”. Be tolerant of failures. Collapse the hierarchy. Pyramid breeds clusters and resultant power games. Breakdown silos and do away with designations. Keep organizations flat and let people run projects across teams in a cross-functional setting in a time-bound manner. Age is in no way a driver of success; creative minds are the ones creating success.
- Let people travel together. Meaningful travel creates a great bonding. Joint client visits or travel for work/projects are definitely a good idea. Don’t cut corners on the travel budget. People understand each other better when they spend productive time together. They get anchored to have fun together while they work. This can only happen when they travel together.
- Watch out for toxic employees. These are employees who are lazy, unethical, power-hungry, greedy, political, and downright incompetent. Do not endlessly invest in counseling them with the idea that they will change someday. The fact is they never change. They are rot in the system. Be kind when a performer fails. Don’t be kind to toxic people. Keep your system clean.
Needless to say, energy and passion are highly infectious. It must flow from the top. Keep a watch on falling energies in the organizations and take immediate corrective action. Organizations try and do everything right at the technical level. They need to focus on 
After all the “Universe gives you only what you deserve”. So visualize your business goals and decide the critical parameters and characteristics of your team. Create that culture and competencies, and there shall be no down-trend in your business ever. So go ahead build an infectiously exciting workplace that people would love and aspire to be a part of.