How to make your team wow like a well co-ordinated firework display

It’s officially autumn,

Which can only mean one thing; pumpkins and Halloween closely followed by sticky toffee apples and bonfire night!  I don’t know about you but I love this time of year, it’s the start of the run up to Christmas and all the fun and anticipation that comes with it (and in some cases panic as we realize how unorganized we are).

Of all the wonders of autumn, the firework displays are particularly interesting to me.   They provide so much anticipation and excitement beforehand as you get wrapped up warm, don your wellies, meet up with like minded people and trundle over to a cozy bonfire in the middle of a field for the main event – the firework display. The potential to WOW or to truly disappoint always hangs on a fine balance.

Like people and teams, firework displays are not created equal

At it’s most basic, a firework display involves sending a few paper tubes filled with explosive whizzing off into the night sky, and at it’s brightest and best, well lets just think about New Years Eve in London-now that has the wow factor.  A truly awe inspiring firework doesn’t come from nipping to the local shop last minute to buy the left overs and igniting them in your back yard.

Great planning underpins a great wow

To really leave your audience with a wow, takes great planning, the right environment and skills, the perfect support activities, great timing and the ability to adjust to all conditions on the night.  Most of all they need someone to take the lead, someone with vision and passion who can communicate and lead others.

A team with WOW impact

Firework displays remind me of teams

Teams have the potential to WOW customers and clients like a perfectly timed sequence of rockets or deliver the disappointment of a catherine wheel nailed too tightly to the fence so it fizzes and putters out without a single spin.

I my next blog I will outline my toptips to make sure your teams are designed to WOW your customers