Agam Berry is the Founder and CEO of Quantified Commerce, a digitally native and vertically integrated e-commerce company concentrating on the rapidly growing Indian market. Berry is a serial entrepreneur with experience working in everything from digital advertising to cryptocurrencies, giving him a broad base of knowledge from which to draw.
One of the challenges currently facing Quantified Commerce is hiring and maintaining a great team of employees. The following tips are illustrative of how Berry gets the most out of his staff:
Implement an open management style
India traditionally has a very hierarchical corporate culture that makes it virtually unheard of for team members to approach their superiors with questions, let alone any problems that may arise. Unfortunately, this cuts down on transparency and encourages team members to avoid taking responsibility for their actions.
In an article on Times of India, Berry explains that he teaches his employees various techniques to get out of this frame of mind, including the principles discussed in a book called The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack. The book encourages employees to treat business like a game. Wins should always be celebrated to improve morale, and “score” should be kept to encourage healthy competition between departments. This encourages employees to communicate with each other so that everybody can get on the same page.
Berry also fosters transparency by minimizing the degrees of separation between himself and his proverbial boots on the ground. All team members answer directly to their superiors, so there are no middle men to obscure lines of communication.
Train (or retrain) employees for the digital age
As low-skill jobs become automated and all sectors of the economy increasingly emphasize technology, team members need to have 21st century skills to remain assets in the modern marketplace. Berry believes in re-educating and retraining his existing team members in these skills instead of starting fresh with new hires because it improves employee satisfaction, morale, and productivity.
India’s education system is not keeping up with the times, so this is even more important for Quantified Commerce’s Indian team members. In an Economic Times article, Berry discusses how he spends 1-2 hours a day making sure that his entire team has the skills they need for success.
Leverage both creative and analytical minds
Creative and analytical individuals both offer skills that businesses need. Creatives can design advertising strategies and branding that really resonates with their intended audience, but may not have the quantitative skills to measure what works and what doesn’t. Likewise, analytical employees excel at crunching the numbers but often lack the imagination to create something truly memorable.
Quantitative Commerce brings both skills under one roof as part of its vertically integrated model. The two groups may struggle to communicate effectively, but daily Scrum meetings help ensure that everyone knows what other parts of the company are up to. Berry also explains how uses a strategy called 4DX (Four Disciplines of Execution) to help each team member explain their progress and goals in terms that the rest of the team can understand.
Get more startup tips from Agam Berry and his team
If you’re interested in learning more business tips, you can follow Berry on social media. He also provides more in-depth discussions on a variety of topics on his personal blog, Agam-Berry.com. Finally, you can visit QuantifiedCommerce.com for more information on adapting to the digital business landscape.
