Building teams that flow at Nokia (and beyond)

We spoke to Pasi to learn how he makes his team flow, and find out how he manages to work so effectively with other organisations.

What can you tell us about your team?

“We are a small team based in Finland and the UK, sharing a passion and belief in collaborative marketing. Each team member manages specific parts of the partnership marketing portfolio and the relationships with those given partners. However, building on the experiences and varied backgrounds of the team members, our aim is to collaborate on topics where cross-fertilization of ideas and competences clearly adds value.”

You spend a lot of time working with other organisations. Do you see these partnerships as a team, or is it more of a collaboration?

“In most cases, relationships start as collaboration, but in the most successful cases collaboration can lead to genuine team work, over time. A lot of time and effort is put into finding partners who are genuinely keen to work with Nokia and who see the benefits of collaborating to add real value for consumers. These days, the focus needs to be on creating new value and innovation for consumers, and this requires deeper collaboration.”

How does technology help you to collaborate with your team at Nokia, and with other organisations?

“Whilst there is no replacement for face-to-face meetings, particularly at the beginning of partnership projects, most communication and engagement happens using technology. In an office environment, computers, emails and conference calls do the job, but are carried over by team members using mobile devices outside the office regardless of location and timezones. In today’s mobile working lifestyle, where the need for spontaneous updates, comments, and discussions is frequent, mobile devices have become central to all collaboration. Not only within the team, but also between partners, where in most cases it is not always clear where people are located at any given time.”

Are there any apps, devices or tools that you’d recommend to help people collaborate better?

“From a teamwork point of view, share points for asset sharing and transfer are becoming more interesting and adding value to daily work. Lync calls, presentations and chat functions have replaced traditional video conferencing, traditional phone conferencing and file transfer habits. Having Microsoft Office available on your mobile phone, with Lync, calendar management and fast internet access has really become a hygiene factor for all our work.”

What’s the most important piece of advice you can give about building great teams or partnerships?

“Fundamentally, success is built on a having mutual vision and agreement on what needs to be accomplished. Likeminded souls think alike, so spending enough time on finding the right partners and calibrating mutual expectations upfront pays off in the long run.”

What do you think makes a team flow?

“I think the modern team enjoys having a clear vision which they believe in, coupled with a clear sense of accountability and responsibility for each team member. Having transparency on these points, and also across team members, leads to a team culture that is built on trust and where people become proactively interested in achieving the goals, together.”

Can you give us an example of a particularly strong and successful Nokia partnership? What do you think is the key to its success?

“One of most recent examples, for which we are very proud of, is our collaboration with National Geographic. Their professional photographers trusted Nokia, to offer them our latest mobile camera devices, to be used in photographic assignments in the iconic West of the United States. Compared to traditional photographic assignments executed using DSLR cameras, the results have been excellent, leading to new behaviors, creativity and perspectives in professional mobile photography, which have not existed before. It has been a good example where both parties have been willing to put their brand signatures to an experimental project, which has not been done before, and where both parties have seen the value in working together.”

What do you think makes a team flow, and what are your experiences of collaborating with people from other organisations?