Teamwork at Silas Partners

By Duncan Rein
July 1, 2006

I played soccer in high school, which is one of the reasons I’ve spent the last month glued to the television set, watching the World Cup – the once-every-four-years spectacle that stirs up patriotic fervor in the hearts of citizens from around the world while building bridges of understanding between diverse peoples and cultures. Who can forget the scenes from city squares in Rome, Paris, and Mexico City, of tens of thousands of people waving flags, singing songs, cheering every promising opportunity, despairing together over missed chances and costly mistakes, and celebrating raucously when their team scored a goal?

What is it about soccer that so captivates much of the world’s population? This is a puzzling question to many Americans, especially when considering that this year’s World Cup averaged a meager 2.45 goals per match. Much has been written about this topic, and I won’t attempt to provide a comprehensive answer, but I think at least part of soccer’s appeal is in its artistry, both in the individual brilliance of sublimely skilled players, as well as in the creative combinations that are played and the lyrical harmony that results when individual strengths play off of each other, draw each other out, and propel each other towards a common goal.

More than any team, it is the Brazilians who have popularized the notion of soccer being the “Beautiful Game.” One does not need to be a soccer fan to be awed by the talents of the great Ronaldinho. And then Ronaldhino’s talents become even more pronounced when combined with the great goal scorer Ronaldo, the talented prodigy Robinho, and the unheralded, workmanlike defender Ze Roberto, my favorite player of the World Cup.

I write about the World Cup because I think there is no better example of teamwork than a world class soccer team. While there are moments of individual brilliance from superstars such as Ronaldinho, these moments are made possible by his teammates putting him in a position where he can be most successful. And Ronaldinho, in turn, is a master at setting up his teammates and allowing them to shine.

While teamwork has always been important within the context of an organization, today I believe it is more crucial than ever. By unifying functions across many departments, new technologies are breaking down organizational silos. Increasingly, they are also forcing people with different skills and strengths to collaborate and work together in cross-functional teams, where communication and teamwork are at a premium.

And the web is at the forefront of this trend. First, within an organization, the web touches virtually every department. There are many stakeholders, each with their own wish lists and agendas, and these competing demands can be difficult to balance. Even more significantly, successful online communication requires complex interactions between many different practice areas, including communication strategy, content development, marketing, quantitative analysis, creative design, technology, and implementation. Since there are very few people who are good at all of the above, success on the web requires many people working well together. In short, success on the web requires teamwork.

While Americans are oftentimes bored by the low scores in soccer games, the difficulty of scoring a goal is part of the appeal for the rest of the world. One of the goals scored by the Argentinian team was preceded by a series of 24 precise passes perfectly completed, each providing incremental progress and together building up to a goal. One mistake made along the way, and there would have been no goal.

When we design a new website for a client, or design an email campaign, or launch a new blog or podcast, there is a visible product and there are end-results that we are driving toward. As a company, we are extremely focused on the end-product, on driving results, and on helping our clients realize success. At the same time, as in soccer, the process of getting there is also something to be appreciated and valued. The casual observer may only see the new website when it is launched. From where I sit, I get to see the artistry, the wizardry, the individual brilliance, and most importantly the teamwork that produced it. This is the best part about my job.

While you may still know our company primarily as a provider of web-based software, we have grown over the past couple of years into a full-service web agency, possessing expertise in the areas of web strategy, web design, email marketing, online fundraising, online promotion, technology evaluations, blog strategies, and more. Most importantly, we work hard to bring about collaboration and teamwork between our experts, so that we are able to deliver a product to our clients that none of us could produce on our own. For more information about Silas Partners services and our value proposition, download a pdf overview.

But it’s not enough for us to work together internally as a team. We must also collaborate with our clients and partners. A successful web presence supports the overall mission, vision, and strategic priorities of an organization. And who knows that better than you do? In a rapidly changing world, priorities often get reshuffled, and partners need to bend and shift according to new realities and circumstances. The more proactive you can be about communicating shifting priorities, the better able we will be able to adapt. By doing this, you put us in a position where we can be most successful. In turn, this improves our ability to maximize the success of your online communication efforts.

In summary, it’s very important to me that we produce work of the highest quality, but it’s also important to me that we’re a pleasure to work with. As a company, we aspire to be responsive, courteous, and proactive in building our relationships with our clients and partners. We understand that while there is a relationship between two organizations, there are also personal relationships between individuals that are developed, and we work hard to develop trust within these relationships. These relationships form the foundation of the teamwork we hope to foster between your team and ours.

All that being said, please take the time to become acquainted with our team. Silas Partners and the team of people that make it up are inseparable. For this reason, when we designed our website, we spent a lot of time working on our team page, which provides a profile of every team member. I think you’ll be impressed by the diverse collection of talent, abilities, and experience that is represented on our team. I certainly am. And the expertise of each team member is amplified when practiced in concert with other team members having complementary skills. While we’re not exactly the Brazilian soccer team, we do aspire to play the “Beautiful Game,” and we invite you to join with us.