Ten very important points, in which managers, leading teams in small Business Units, should pay close attention to.

1. Survival Guide for New Leaders of Small Business Units
By Spiros Arvanitis – Head of e-Business Unit, GENIKI Bank (Athens/Hellas)

2. Survival Guide for New Leaders of Small Business Units
 This will be your team to win or lose in the future, so be
extra careful when you make the line-up selection. This
is not football and you will have no substitution option
soon.
 Look for “young age”, “intelligence”, “discipline”,
“ambition”, “multitasking”, “speed”, “efficiency”,
“flexibility”, “punctuality”, “precision”, “good temper”,
“thirst for knowledge” and “creativity”. Try to combine
as much of the above with “experience” if that is
possible.
 Important: Your team. Your responsibility. Your
selection!
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3. Survival Guide for New Leaders of Small Business Units
 In zero time, you will have to plan a daily routine of
operations, which should be as efficient and time saving
as possible.
 Don’t let the daily flow do that for you!
 Study your work, make a schedule, divide the tasks,
assess efficiently and make changes of improvement.
 Important: Daily operations are the basic need but your
higher purpose is business development. Minimize time
for the first and increase time for the second!
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4. Survival Guide for New Leaders of Small Business Units
 Don’t spend all your energy trying to think how do all
various daily tasks will be done. Instead, focus your
creativity in order to invent ways for things to be done
without your effort.
 Identify what can be produced automatically. If it is
possible implement it immediately. If you need to,
propose it and push for implementation. Do it
yesterday.
 Important: Fight for your and your team’s time. It is
your ammunition. Don’t let it go to waste or you will be
loosing you daily battles.
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5. Survival Guide for New Leaders of Small Business Units
 There is no room for “stars” in your team. And
remember: You have no way to know who will not come
to the office tomorrow.
 Additionally, you would not want to have days that a
person carries all the load while other sit with no work
to do.
 If all people can handle all tasks you will only have to
assign work equally or based of the need of the day. No
worries about “only John knows that” problems.
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6. Survival Guide for New Leaders of Small Business Units
 Small Departments can not function properly with one
person taking all decisions for all matters.
 All members must know their limit of independence and
act on it, without requesting approvals or directions for
every case which occurs.
 The “safety limit” is the “red line” of an issue, after
which you should be consulted. Give directions about it
and examples in every day’s work so that it will be clear
for all where it starts.
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7. Survival Guide for New Leaders of Small Business Units
 An informal hierarchy must be created within the
members of the team in order to:
A. Assure work flow in the absence of the Head.
B. Avoid conflicts for day to day matters.
C. Create incentives for improvement.
Important: Office life will create a hierarchy of its own. If
you don’t intervene you may end up with the wrong one.
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8. Survival Guide for New Leaders of Small Business Units
 It is very important to make your team feel and act like
“one”.
 During difficult situations and times of pressure and
stress, the feeling of “all for one and one for all” will be
the key to make it through.
 When a member of the team can not operate in his/her
usual standards there will be need for the others to
cover for him/her, to keep the overall level high.
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9. Survival Guide for New Leaders of Small Business Units
 Many times the load of work will be more than you will
be able to handle.
 Evaluate the importance of the tasks and prioritize.
Some things can wait and other can not.
 Make your selection, give directions and be prepared –
your team also- for changes of the plan.
 Don’t forget: Cases which have your Management’s
attention, always have a “top priority” rating.
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10. Survival Guide for New Leaders of Small Business Units
 When you lead small teams it is only natural that you
are in a constant interaction with all the members and
need to prove your self case by case.
 To keep everybody’s respect, you must have an
excellent knowledge of all aspects of the Unit’s work.
 “When the going gets tough” everyone will be expecting
for you to “push the wagon out of the mud” and this will
require more than your leadership skills. It will require
your knowledge also.
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11. Survival Guide for New Leaders of Small Business Units
 You may implement all nine previous points
successfully but you must never neglect to adequately
supervise operations and control the quality of work.
 Even the best employees lose their pace from time to
time. Don’t let the level of your unit deteriorate. Act
with the first sign and wake people up.
 Even if you see that everything is going as planned, be
absolutely sure that there is space for improvement.
Keep looking for it every singe day!
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12. Survival Guide for New Leaders of Small Business Units
Thank very much for reading this brief presentation!
I hope you found it useful.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me using
my LinkedIn page:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/spirosarvanitis/3/517/6a7
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