In business the people you, surround yourself with often will determine your success. This especially goes for the team you pick to help build and run your business along side you. This article will go over three tips to help you create the perfect team. It is important to remember that this article isn’t about hiring the perfect team because there is a slim chance you are going to hire a stranger who fits you and your companies exact ideas. The perfect team is attainable, but can you expect people to blindly follow you without having trust in you and your vision? Making strategic moves, so you and your team grow together, and get the most value from working with each other is hard, but it is the only way to build the perfect team.
Over-Communicate!
Communication is critical in building trust if your team doesn’t know each other there is no way they can understand or ultimately trust each other. Remember communication starts with the leader, you must build individual relationships with each person on your team. Building relationships with each individual will make it easier for each member to trust you, making it easier for them to believe in you as a team. Make sure to promote communication within your team, creating opportunities to share ideas whether it is publicly or individually.
Speaking up is only half of communicating though; remember that it is equally as important to listen. I know it may sound obvious, but listening is something that is missing in a lot of conversations. Although many people think they are listening to understand, in fact, many are just listening to respond. This will cause a communication block when you don’t understand what you are being told two things can happen; either the misunderstanding will cause frustration, or something will get done incorrectly. Creating a culture of listening in your office is going to make it so much easier to communicate.
Invest in people and skills
Your team is the life of your business; if you don’t invest in them, there is no way your team can grow, there for your business can’t build. You can invest many different ways, whether it be education, team building, or helping with personal development. But the point is to make sure your team has all the tools, not only to physically work with but the knowledge and ability to handle anything thrown at them. As you put more time and energy into building your team the more time and energy, they will put into growing your business.
Think of when you are starting out a new business, once money starts coming in, do you pocket it or do you put it back into your business? If you keep the money for yourself your business is going to lack the resources to create massive change. If you take that money and put it back into your business, you will be more prepared to build a future for your business. The same principles apply to investing in your team; the more you put back in, the better you will be prepared for the future.
Use Your Team
Each person in your team has specific skills, strengths, and weaknesses. Knowing what each member of your team is good at and what they need to improve on will allow you to systematize. Once you communicate well enough to learn your team members strengths, you can invest in their weaknesses, and place them in their strengths. Placing each member of your team where they can thrive will boost their morale, and create better results for your business. This will help decrease avoidable mistakes that people make due to their weaknesses. Would you put someone who hasn’t used a computer, or has no interest in computers entering data all day? If that’s what you’re doing, then you may need to rethink your structure. When someone isn’t interested, or passionate about what they are doing they are less invested in that task. Putting each member of your team into a role that interests them, the task will be done more efficiently, and in most cases more quickly.
These three tips will help your team grow together, and grow your business. Having an honest and open line of communication will, in turn, make it easier to invest, and help you use your team in the best possible way. The members of your team build your business, although you can get new people, building up the right team member can bring your company to a whole new level. A famous quote to remember is “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” -African Proverb.
