Facing Startup Chaos: How Do You Keep Your Team Together Amid Constant Changes?

Hi Guys,

How are you? I would like to have your opinion on the issues people face when working in a new startup organization. There are many issues that arise at the beginning, leading to major problems in getting the whole system in place.

Just to give you an idea, every day, there's a new idea that pops up and disrupts the current job flow. The Sales Team is hired and waiting for the product to be ready. The Marketing Team is also preparing and waiting for the product to be ready. It becomes a big problem to keep the whole team together as some feel that this is not going to work and start looking for a change.

Because of such people, others also start looking, which in turn makes life more difficult in terms of recruiting and results in a waste of time spent on training and development.

I am confident that many of you have worked in a startup at some point, as it presents its own challenges and difficulties. I would appreciate it if you all could share some information or case studies on how we can overcome these hiccups and try to retain all employees nationwide.

Looking forward to hearing from all of you.

Thanks

Regards

Nimit

Nimit,

A very interesting poll, at least from my end it seems, as i work for a start-up organization.

But running this poll may not help you, as it's very situational to answer "Yes" or "No".

It thoroughly depends on:

What kind of an entrepreneur you work for?

What is his vision for the organization?

Is there a solid value system that he has built the organization on?

Has he started because of varieties of assignments?

or..has he started & then seeking assignments?

Would you handle the department you work for all by your self?

Or..will you work for a team?

What does the team comprise of, where do they come from, will they add value to your career growth or are they empty vessels?

Is that particular industry in boom?

Based on the satisfaction you get from the answers to these questions, you can take a decision.

I joined the start-up, coz it was more challenging to set it up, and the conversation I had with my CEO, gave me a feeling that it will grow up to be huge...

But it has not grown much, yes profit wise, task wise we have, this has not resulted in large volumes of employees.

Thus I being in HR find it very difficult to spend time now, as I have done all the setting up, there is no need for recruitment till next quarter. Hence am going through no challenge phase.

Now I'm killing time going through books that are not relevant to my field.

Whereas my collegue from the previous organisation has joined the process, hence he is keeping himself very very occupied in 1.5 years he has made 2 trips to the US.

So more than where you are what you are in a start-up matters.

Cheers,

Gayathri

Hi Gayathri,

How are you? That's nice to hear from you. I would also like to hear your views on the setup. The initial conversation to join with the Country Head was different from the way it is shaping up now, which is disturbing. I have already set up 6 branches for sales, but I am yet to start selling as the product is not ready. It is now a challenge for me to retain all these employees, and the worst part is how to reach out to them as it currently does not make any sense traveling up and down.

What are your views on this?

Regards,
Nimit

Hello Nimit,

I agree with Gayathri's point of view. Initially, I would like to know why did your management hire sales and marketing guys even before the product is ready?

Yes, I had been a part of a startup company. To be very frank, it's always a pleasure to be a part of a startup, but it has its own pros and cons. If you are with a startup that is not ready to shell out money for employees, then it's very tough to avoid attrition in today's scenario. At that moment, you really feel that "if I had been with a biggie."

The topic which you have thrown can really be used for a group discussion in interviews. :-)

Regards,
Devaiah A M

Nimit,

I'm glad it's disturbing you because it's a natural process to worry when things are not in place. Unless you have realized it, you will not make an effort to correct it.

Here, there is hardly anything in your hands to change the procedure. It's not a new concept to have the country manager promise and fail. They have their own reasons to delay. Whether it's right or wrong is not what we have to focus on now. We need a challenge to keep the team going, which in turn keeps you on your toes.

I'll give you a live example of one of the leading call centers - 24/7 @ Bangalore. Guess they started as a 3 or 5 people team, and now they have multiplied to thousands.

Reason? One gentleman I personally know was not involved in the business generation process. He, of course, strategized everything in operations but was closely involved in hiring employees.

They started the process, things hit the floor, but for how long? There was a change in the client's management end, hence the process was taken back. They had 500 employees on board to answer, to feed, to pay, to take care of.

They decided to wait, to hunt for other process migrations, whatnot. But who was answering in time? None but the gentleman I knew. He decided to ask his staff to browse the net and made them familiar with computer access because they had recruited fresh graduates who weren't well-versed in computers three years ago.

Now they had small firms in the US sending them very tiny assignments to make orders from their end. For example, individuals mailing them asking them to deliver flowers, chocolates, or gifts to a particular address.

There were many such small things they did over a three-month period to retain staff. They conducted courses with certificates that would enhance their skills to put into use later or in the market. Once the course was conducted, they had to stick with the firm for six more months. Meanwhile, lots of things changed.

They are happy and BIG now (Big is an understatement).

Try getting your task force involved in other areas that can be capitalized.