When you first start a business, often you find yourself wearing many hats in the early stages. It’s easy to become trapped in the mindset of “solopreneur” over time, but eventually you reach a point where it’s impossible to go any further without help. There just aren’t enough hours in the day. If you truly want to grow and expand your business, you’ll need a stellar team in place.
To help lessen the learning curve and avoid costly missteps, here are 10 team building secrets you can use right now to boost your business:
1. Talent and skill is great, but you need team members with character and social skills.
Yes, you need to hire someone who knows the ins and outs of marketing or web design, but that is secondary when it comes to building a team. To get it right the first time, choose candidates who are honest, have integrity, and communicate well with others. All the talent in the world is useless if your team is filled with liars, cheaters, and socially inept people.
2. Your team members should like and enjoy working with one another.
One of the best indicators of potential success is how team members feel about one another. On average, negative interactions should be kept to a minimum. Team members that openly show enthusiasm for each other’s success cooperate better and achieve goals more quickly.
3. Sometimes, you just have to let them go.
Hopefully, if you have paid attention to the first secrets, you won’t have to resort to this one too often. It’s important to recognize when someone is not a good fit for the team and to address the issue as quickly as possible. Perhaps, they just need some help adjusting or maybe you need to remove them from the team. Don’t hesitate to let someone go if they are continually sabotaging team efforts. Everyone will be happier in the long term.
4. Mentors are a must-have.
Why struggle if you don’t have to? Surround yourself with others who have forged the path ahead of you. These people are a key element in the success of any team.
5. Encourage interaction to naturally build trust among team members.
Make sure you are encouraging regular interaction to build trust among team members. Set aside time for team building activities and seminars to regularly assess how well your team is working together. Consider using a company like Team Tactics which specializes in team building events and activities.
6. Define roles for your team members.
Once you have set forth goals for the team, each team member should be made aware of their part in creating success. Every member has different strengths and weaknesses. Define team roles accordingly.
7. Diversity is the key.
To achieve the best results, you need a mix of both old and new players. These are often the most creative teams. The new players bring fresh ideas while the old players provide structure and comfort. Melding the two together creates new and interesting outcomes.
8. It’s okay to recognize excellence.
As long as recognition is warranted, it will not hurt your team. If you have star players on your team, it’s ok to recognize their efforts. It’s also ok to hold them to a higher standard of scrutiny because you know what they are capable of. Often, this type of recognition this will motivate and push other team members to improve their games.
9. Focus on efficiency for the quickest path to success.
An efficient, smooth process brings results more quickly. When team members are not so focused on speed, they can master the processes. Once they have mastered the processes, speed will naturally follow.
10. Clear cut goals are required for effective team performance.
If your team doesn’t know what you want, it’s going to be a difficult road to success. Not defining goals not only kills performance, but it breeds frustration as well. Make sure you are not losing key players on your team because you neglected this important step.
Takeaway
A team is an essential part to any business and it goes so far beyond just employing people who you feel are right for the job. At the end of the day, you’re relying on those people to work together to achieve targets and ultimately boost your business so it’s vital that you ensure they work well together and not just individually. Hopefully, by following these 10 tips you’ll be well on your way to success.
