Controlling risk is a key business priority and I would like to take this opportunity of advocating the role teamworking can play.
I think that within our businesses and business centres we have increasingly embraced teamwork in recent years due to the benefits that can be derived such as reduced risk, better cost control and a real "buy-in" and commitment to the promises and targets that an organisation is expected to deliver.
Teamwork starts at the top of any organisation. Senior managers cannot issue edicts instructing others to teamwork whilst reserving for themselves the privilege of standing aside and not engaging actively themselves.
Teamworking demands ‘leadership’, leading by example, particularly important when the team involves more than one organisation. It also requires the development of trust. It calls for the sharing, willingly, of best practice between ‘team-mates’ but can also call, on occasion, for constructive criticism between the parties.
In my experience, few companies have the teamworking experience that ABB has accumulated over the years. One recent successful example is the work we are doing as a member of the National Grid Electricity Alliance. Our aim is that no-one should ‘see the joins’ in a team that involves ABB, Atkins, Morgan Est and, of course, National Grid. It behaves as a single entity with a clear remit, and overriding focus on delivery.
All this might sound a little idealistic, but in a world of intense competition, dynamic decision-making and ever-increasing focus on areas such as health and safety, teamworking provides an excellent framework for removing cost and risk. Of course, the traditional roles of supplier and customer are not lost altogether, but those priorities have to stand alongside the priorities of the team.
Each party must have a distinct contribution to make. In our case this is usually our experience and expertise in project management, engineering and service, coupled with the full range of technologies that ABB can offer. ABB has a real track record of delivering on every front, a fact that I hope will become apparent as you read on. Certainly, if times get tougher there’s a lot to be gained by further consideration of this approach.