By: Tommy Onich BBA, CTP
The notion or concept of teamwork is ubiquitous. It is the subject of numerous publications and can be applied wherever individuals work in a collaborative effort to achieve a common goal or task.
Team work involves the combined effort of individuals who each contribute their unique skills, knowledge, and perspective to a shared objective. Effective teamwork establishes a cohesive group while utilizing individual strengths. It also promotes task compliance within a defined time frame.
In the distressed environment teamwork is especially important. This environment is very different from that of a stable custodial environment .It is exigent, faces a paucity of resources, poor morale, deficient information, and a likely threat from numerous stakeholders.
Decisions must be made very quickly, usually with limited or even inaccurate information. Management information systems will have been impaired by a lack of resources. The delivery of timely and accurate data will have been impaired because denial has become pervasive.
All stakeholders will likely be dissatisfied. Both secured and unsecured lenders will have concerns and represent a threat.
An organization in decline will likely lack a culture of Performance Management (Foundation for Resilience and Platform for Recovery; by Tommy Onich Published; Secured Lender Nov 2010).
The core elements of Performance Management are: leadership, accountability, and capability.
When these are lacking the symptoms of this deficiency include;
- A lack of rigour surrounding the cash management process
- Poor or even non-existent controls
- A disconnect between financial measurements and key performance drivers
- A lack of accountability within management ranks
These symptoms indicate a lack of critical thinking, slack corporate discipline and negative or even destructive behaviour. They also create fertile ground for entrenched corporate denial.
These symptoms also illustrate that any attempt at business recovery must be made by elite teams. They also provide insight into the special challenges they face.
These teams will possess certain important characteristics: strong leadership, defined goals, communication and transparency, trust, and adaptability.
A transformation is possible and the prerequisites for and actual turnaround are: financing for recovery, a viable core product, and leadership.
The most important of these by far is leadership. Effective leadership is the essence of corporate renewal. Often a company facing decline or distress will appoint a Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) to act as a leader. The CRO provides a fresh perspective untainted by corporate history. The CRO also has experience in a distressed environment. This is important as this environment is very different than that of a custodial environment.
As the leader of a turnaround team the CRO is also an architect of change, and Implacable force for recovery. It is only with such effective leadership as part of a turnaround team that success will be achieved. The core business can be leveraged, morale restored threats met effectively and an essential culture of Performance Management be established.
The notion of teamwork is ubiquitous in our society. It describes a group of individuals who contribute and leverage their skills to meet a common objective.
It is especially important in the distressed organization where information and resources are lacking there are numerous threats, and time is of the essence.
The most important factor in forging a successful team is leadership. Often an organization will appoint an experienced Chief Restructuring Officer or CRO as team leader.
The CRO as team leader acts as an architect of strategy and an implacable force for change.
