How to build management team.
Andriy Dvorchyn, Head of Business Development

Vector Software is an experienced IT outsourcer, established in 2014 by enterprising professionals with strong IT backgrounds. The 65% of shareholders are based in Oslo, Norway and 35% in Lviv, Ukraine. Today, Andriy Dvorchyn, HR Director talks how openness to cooperation and high professionalism assure the company’s success and long-term customer satisfaction, and defines the key competencies for top managers of a modern software development company.

VECTOR SOFTWARE IN NUMBERS:
92% growth in 2018
90+ employees at the moment
55% employees have a senior level of competence

The people аre the main asset of any company, that is why successful entrepreneurs invest in the development of human capital. For managers, continuous learning and professional development is a precondition for success in a highly competitive environment.

The core of our management team is made up of heads of departments that do not intersect with their functional responsibilities and are directly subordinate to the CEO of the company.

Our team is united by the common goal and shares challenges associated with it. Therefore, working on various projects, each of us shows higher productivity rates than an average individual united in a group through cooperation would.

Any team is a reflection of its leader, and Vector Software is not an exception. All of our employees have been selected by Igor Vershynin, our CEO. He has a special approach to managing people: using the social dynamics of the group while managing its individual members. At the same time, Igor gained his credibility on the basis of trust, not formal authority. Given that his area of responsibility goes beyond the group, the ability to cooperate with those who are not his subordinates is extremely important for efficiency in his position.

Professionalism starts with being able to manage yourself, but being able to inspire and develop this quality in other members of a diverse team – is a completely different task for a manager. For many, understanding this is intuitive, to others it comes with experience. The key points you have to keep in mind for effective management are the following: leadership, responsibility, and relationships.

LEADERSHIP

Being an effective leader means:

• • Understanding your role and contribution to the achievement of common goals of the company.
• • Defining and understanding the goals of a team you are a part of.
• • Establishing basic rules of teamwork: management focus and style, monitoring quality and deadlines, as well as communication and cooperation.
• • Effective communication. Team members should feel that their opinion is important, and each of them
  can influence the result.
• • Being able to inspire and spark interest. For effective teamwork, a leader should be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of every individual. If a person lacks certain expertise – a leader should be there to help find a way to develop or acquire it, test out new strategies or methodologies.
• • Delegating responsibilities and solving problems. Successful delegation is not enough. It’s important for leaders to encourage problem solvers, inspire them to create, and think of out of the box approaches.
• • Positive focus. While maintaining productivity, a good manager should create favorable working conditions for the team, make sure nothing distracts them from achieving their goals.

RESPONSIBILITY

Taking responsibility for the result is a key to success at all levels:

• • Manager.
  In addition to being responsible for external communication, a manager is responsible for each of the team members individually. Being able to trust the team leader is a precondition for success.
• • Team.
  Understanding your importance in the organization helps you recognize your personal contribution. Identifying yourself with the team makes you want to succeed together.
• • Individual.
  Through effective delegation, each team member is responsible for the overall success of the team. Working on group goals and professional development also fosters collective achievements.

RELATIONSHIPS

A team should always be a part of the solution, not the problem, therefore, we always pay attention to relationships between our team members. Diverse ways of thinking and decision making are our competitive advantage, and thanks to teamwork, we achieve better results together than separately.

We have built strong connections in the team thanks to:

• • Using consensus and collaboration to build a united community when discussing plans, goals, and practices. Everyone has the opportunity to express doubts or alternative points of view, which allows achieving transparency of work processes, action plans, and productivity.
• • Resolving problems professionally. In case of any misunderstanding, we communicate and help to reach a consensus.
• • Team building on a permanent basis, and not only when the moral spirit has fallen or there have been changes in the team. Team building activities are aimed at:
• • Developing communication skills in an informal atmosphere, which in the long run positively influences further work communication.
• • Establishing cooperation and support in group tasks, that can be applied to work between team members and collaboration with other departments.
• • Strengthening social and emotional communication in the team, reducing tension, minimizing individual and group stress.

For our team members “we” go first then “I”, based on mutual understanding of the company’s mission. The purpose and its goals unite the team. Without clearly defined goals it’s just a dream. Outlining what our mission and goals are wasn’t enough, therefore we also made more specific:

• • Roles and responsibilities of team members;
• • Processes: how the team works and makes decisions;
• • Values, norms, and standards that determine what team members expect from each other;
• • Types of feedback and indicators needed to evaluate progress

All of us do quality work not because the CEO requires it, but because our colleagues expect it. Mutual support prevents the team from failures and mobilizes it if any of the team members need help.

Each member of our management team is the leader at Vector Software and provides supports, sets an example with effective behavior patterns, contributes to the professional development of teams and evaluates their effectiveness.

Ihor Vershynin believes that the human capital makes a major impact on the future success of the company: “We invest a lot in the development of our people and future leaders for the company. It is a contribution to the future growth and success of Vector Software which, moreover, brings employees satisfaction. This process is an integral part of the company development strategy, and the volume of investment directly depends on the dynamics of the organization’s growth.”