How Membership Organisations Can Create Powerful Teams.
Many membership organisations face the challenge of delivering high-impact services to their members while operating with limited resources. We know that most must remain agile, innovative, and adaptable, all while managing functions such as event planning, member engagement, advocacy, and more.
To meet these demands, building effective, powerful teams is crucial. One effective approach is using the T-shaped expertise and experience model to recruit and develop teams capable of driving growth and success.
This article explores how membership organisations can leverage the T-shaped model, how Membership Bespoke can assist in this process, and the potential role of interim talent to create a flexible pathway toward building high-performing teams.
Understanding the T-Shaped Expertise Model
The T-shaped expertise model represents a combination of deep knowledge in one specific area (the vertical bar of the "T") and broader skills across multiple disciplines (the horizontal bar). This model, originating from industries like tech and creative fields, has gained traction as a powerful approach for organisations needing versatility and adaptability.
The vertical bar symbolises deep specialisation in a particular domain, such as marketing, data analysis, or event management. This depth allows individuals to excel in their core function, contributing high-level expertise to complex problems.
The horizontal bar represents broad knowledge across other areas, such as project management, finance, or technology. While these skills may not be as deep, they enable the individual to collaborate across teams, understand diverse perspectives, and tackle a variety of tasks.
For membership organisations, which often require staff to handle multiple roles, the T-shaped model helps create a versatile, nimble team. This is particularly important for organisations that have budget limitations preventing them hiring a specialist for every function - but still need deep expertise in key areas.
7 Key Benefits of T-Shaped Teams for Membership Organisations
- Enhanced Member Experience: With T-shaped teams, membership organisations can offer a more holistic and enriched experience to their members. The ability to integrate various functions seamlessly means that members receive consistent and high-quality service, whether it’s through events, communications, or support services.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Membership organisations often manage diverse activities like event planning, member engagement, content development, and advocacy. T-shaped team members, with their broader skill sets, can work effectively across different functions, reducing silos and fostering collaboration. This cross-functional approach ensures that various departments are not working in isolation but are instead contributing to a cohesive strategy that benefits the entire organisation.
- Efficiency in Smaller Teams: T-shaped professionals provide deep expertise in their primary role while contributing broadly across other areas. This reduces the need to hire separate specialists for every task, allowing small teams to cover more ground without sacrificing quality. This efficiency is particularly beneficial for organisations with limited budgets, as it maximises the utility of each team member.
- Agility and Adaptability: In membership organisations, priorities can shift based on member needs, industry trends, or external factors like regulations. T-shaped team members are more adaptable, as they possess a broad understanding of various functions, enabling them to quickly shift focus or contribute in new areas. This agility allows the organisation to remain responsive and proactive in a rapidly changing environment.
- Innovation and Problem-Solving: The breadth of knowledge that T-shaped individuals possess allows them to draw insights from different fields, encouraging innovation and creative problem-solving. This is particularly beneficial for organisations that need to constantly evolve their member services and programs. By integrating diverse perspectives, T-shaped teams can develop more innovative solutions to complex challenges.
- Scalability: As membership organisations grow, their teams need to scale efficiently. T-shaped professionals can take on expanded roles and responsibilities as the organisation’s needs evolve, reducing the pressure to hire new staff for every new challenge. This scalability ensures that the organisation can grow sustainably without overextending its resources.
- Resilience and Risk Management: T-shaped teams are inherently more resilient because they are not overly dependent on a single individual’s expertise. The broad skill sets of team members mean that the organisation can better manage risks and continue operations smoothly even if one team member is unavailable.
Incrementally Building T-Shaped Teams: How we can help
Building a fully T-shaped team doesn’t need to happen all at once. Membership organisations can work toward this goal incrementally by recruiting strategically over time. Membership Bespoke can play a critical role in this process, helping organisations plan their hiring strategy, attract the right talent, and develop teams that align with the T-shaped model.
Here’s how we can help
Assess Organisational Needs: We can begin by conducting a thorough assessment of the organisation's current team and identifying where deep expertise and cross-functional skills are most needed. This helps define immediate staffing priorities and long-term growth plans. Working in partnership enables us to build teams, such as the events team we recruited for R3. We can set expectations on the availability of candidates with the combination of skills needed, so that time isn’t wasted looking for skills that don’t naturally co-exist.
Define a T-Shaped Profile for Each Role: We will help create job descriptions that emphasise both deep expertise and cross-functional skills, as well as advocating the values of the organisation we’re representing. They ensure that potential candidates understand the importance of adaptability and their ability to contribute beyond their primary role.
A job posting for a membership manager, for instance, might highlight experience in membership engagement, but also emphasise the need for broader skills in project management, digital tools, or event planning.
Recruit Incrementally to Build a Balanced Team: Rather than hiring multiple team members at once, we can help organisations recruit incrementally, filling roles based on the most urgent needs while keeping the long-term goal of building a T-shaped team in mind.
This approach allows membership organisations to bring on team members who fill immediate gaps but also possess the skills and flexibility to contribute more broadly. Over time, this leads to a balanced team where everyone has both deep and broad expertise.
Tailored Interview Process: We will design interview processes that assess not only a candidate’s deep expertise but also their ability to collaborate across functions. This may involve behavioural interview questions that ask candidates to describe how they’ve worked across different departments or adapted to new challenges in the past.
The Role of Contract (Interim/Temporary) Staff in Transitioning to T-Shaped Teams
In many cases, membership organisations may not have the budget or resources to hire full-time employees for every critical role right away. This is where contract staff can play a valuable role in the incremental development of a T-shaped team. This one of the drivers behind our online Interim Talent Hub, which gives fast access to vetted qualified, interim candidates.
Filling Immediate Gaps: Contract staff can be brought in to fill short-term needs while the organisation is still recruiting full-time staff. For example, if the organisation needs deep expertise in event management but cannot yet afford to hire a permanent event manager, a contract staffer with event expertise can provide the necessary support while the team grows.
Testing for Long-Term Fit: Contract staff can be an effective way to test whether certain roles or expertise areas are essential for the long-term success of the organisation. For instance, if the organisation is unsure whether they need a full-time data analyst, they could first bring in a contractor to address immediate data needs. If the role proves critical, the organisation can eventually convert the position into a full-time one.
Supporting Cross-Functional Projects: Contract staff with T-shaped skill sets can also be brought in to support specific projects that require broad expertise across multiple functions. For example, if the organisation is launching a new digital membership platform, a contractor with a mix of project management, digital strategy, and marketing skills can help manage the transition while the permanent team focuses on their core functions.
Bridging the Gap While Building Internal Capacity: While the organisation is gradually recruiting T-shaped team members, contract staff can help bridge gaps in expertise and workload. This allows the organisation to maintain momentum without overburdening existing team members.
Sustaining a T-Shaped Team
Once the T-shaped team is built, membership organisations should focus on sustaining and nurturing this model. This includes:
- Fostering a Culture of Continuous Learning
- Encouraging Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Regularly Assessing Team Performance
Conclusion
The T-shaped expertise and experience model is an ideal solution for membership organisations looking to build powerful teams. By combining deep expertise with broad adaptability, T-shaped teams can collaborate more effectively, respond to changing needs, and drive innovation.
We play a vital role in helping organisations define and recruit for these roles incrementally, while contract staff offer flexibility during the transition period. With a strategic approach to recruitment and team development, membership organisations can thrive with lean, high-impact teams capable of delivering exceptional value to their members.