#06 Individual and team, how to balance?

Managing a company involves knowing how to balance the various individuals that comprise it. It's about passing on the values, methods, and language of the team without nullifying what is so special about each one. In this sixth video of the Twelve Months, Twelve Topics series, Miguel Martins Santos and Sofia Cunha Pereira talk to us about people and the importance of understanding and effectively managing the dynamics of individuals within a team.

Individual and team, how to balance?

I would say that reconciling the individual and the group is undoubtedly a challenge but also the secret to the success of any team and any organization. There are some characteristics that I find fundamental for this reconciliation. Namely, communication, open communication between people, between leadership, and conflict resolution that listens to each person and ensures the place of each opinion. We will always have different people with different aspirations and different goals, in that sense, we cannot please everyone, but management should always be thought of with that concern for each individual, listening to people, and naturally trying to integrate people and make them feel that they are part of a whole. Basically, reaching out to everyone individually. Where each person feels that they are part of a group and thus makes the group work. (Sofia Cunha Pereira)

Building on Sofia's response, it is essential that we have a precise notion that each person is an individual, that is what will bring richness to the whole, to the group. Taking a bit from our example here, I would say that the secret is almost in the name we chose, Fragmentos (Fragments). We realized very early on that it was the various fragments that would make a strong whole. This idea that we were born out of a group right from the start, Fragmentos did not come from just one person, we were three and quickly became four, contributed a lot to us developing this vision focused on difference and the richness of diversity. We don't all have to be the same, think the same way. I always find it interesting to have more irreverent people, different people, and even with a bad temper — mine is not the best — but that also brings humor to the studio and to a company, it is that diversity that ultimately adds. The challenge then is to take the individuality and creativity of each person, to enhance what each person can or wants to contribute, and also to embrace the aspirations of that person, always keeping in mind that, at the end of the day, the whole is what matters. (Miguel Martins Santos)

What advice would you give to someone managing a large team?

I can't address this topic without going back thirty years to the beginning of Fragmentos. As Miguel mentioned, Fragmentos emerged with three partners who quickly became four and were indeed friends. Since the beginning, people have always been a concern; these are values that are in our DNA and that we want to perpetuate at Fragmentos. The idea that people are not numbers, they are individuals, is very strong and essential. Each person, with their individualities and characteristics, assumes their role and place in a group, and that must be taken into account. In response to the question, I would say that one of the key points in managing a large team is to ensure everyone's happiness. People seek to be happy in their workplace, and there is a part that depends on each one, but organizations have a role in creating the foundations to enhance this. It is essential that each person feels good, comfortable, and that they have a place in their company. (Sofia Cunha Pereira)

Architecture is very intense work; there is a certain intensity in the act of creativity. At its limit, we can always do better than what we have already done. And in this intensity, there needs to be spaces to breathe, to laugh, to say nonsense, to make mistakes. A company must create this space, affirm itself as a solid structure so that people can feel they have some foundation, some support there. And this can also involve creating a Human Resources department, having someone or a team whose main function is to listen to people, take care of people, and ensure that the workspace is a safe space where everyone feels good. It is absolutely essential to be happy and comfortable in a place where we spend so many hours. Whoever manages a large team must understand that they have to give time to others, listen to others, and know the aspirations of others, without losing sight of the whole. Because if the whole does not function as a whole, it will not work for anyone in particular. That is the best advice I can give. (Miguel Martins Santos)