EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
On an international scale, cyber security experts need athletes’ levels of coordination and teamwork in order to succeed in stopping attacks. This is especially true of the emerging EU-based Joint Cyber Unit. This group is slated to operate and deploy in rapid-response mode in order to help organizations mitigate and recover from ransomware attacks. The thought is that a SWAT team of cyber experts could halt emerging ransomware threats before they create disruptions. Cohesive teams not only enable faster progress against objectives, they can also yield a suite of other advantages.
Advantages of a cohesive team
- Fast, clear and effective communication, especially in a cyber crisis.
- Constructive discussions around policies, practices and procedures.
- Positive environment, sense of inclusion, content employees.
- Emphasis on collectively achieving results.
5 ways to create cohesion within your cyber security team
- If your team is currently operating virtually, develop virtual meeting guidelines. In addition, encourage individuals to engage in small talk.
- Start by building trust. Determine where you are perhaps holding the reins too tightly, and where you could let go. Consider how else you can demonstrate trust among your employees.
- Communicate well. Ensure that communication style is consistent. Ensure that messaging is constructed in a beneficial way, rather than an ad-hoc or egocentric modality.
- Give direction and feedback during a project’s trajectory. Post-project, ask teams about what worked well and what might have been executed differently. This enables employees to feel that their voice matters and can have an impact.
- Celebrate successes. As your team accomplishes major initiatives, ensure that employees feel appreciated. You can thank them for their vision, coordination, and capacity to pull the project through to completion.
Creating a cohesive group around cyber security actually goes beyond creating cohesion among direct reports. Cyber security initiatives require buy-in at all levels. As a result, creating a cohesive atmosphere among peers, executives, and board members represents a foundational element in implementing meaningful, large-scale cyber security initiatives.
5 ways to create a cohesive environment, favorable to cyber security, within your organization
- Among executives, be brief. One of the largest obstacles to executive-level buy-in around cyber security is apathy. Avoid boring your audience to tears or speaking in technical terms.
- Conduct a table-top exercise with executives. Help them see how attacks work. Moreover, it’ll literally bring executives to the table around cyber security.
- With the green light from other key stakeholders within your organization, consider sending quarterly, bi-annual or annual updates to your board regarding cyber security approaches, practices and successes.
- Get to know your CFO and convey the importance of effective cyber security management. Describe how it’s done and why anti-virus alone just won’t cut it. You need this individual’s buy-in in order to drive major new initiatives.
- If your organization isn’t quite aligned around cyber security, consider bringing in a third-party. A third-party voice may carry more weight than yours alone.
For more insights into developing a cohesive team and reshaping your corporate culture, see Cyber Talk’s past coverage. In addition, sign up for the Cyber Talk newsletter, which provides perspectives on workforce initiatives, trending topics and more.
