How build an unstoppable team..... #62
- Adrian Dionisio - business737 owner
- Apr 4, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 2, 2024
A business cannot grow without assembling a team. It will be static and there will always be a limitation to how big the business can get. The failure to assemble a team is one of the main reasons why businesses fail.
However, building a great team is not easy. It involves more than just randomly assembling a group of qualified individuals. Building a team is a huge problem for many business owners. Recruitment and staff issues are persistent. It's not unusual for a business consultant to hear these types of questions;
How do I find the best staff for my business?
How do I get the best from them?
How do I make sure they don't leave?
How do I get the team to unite with the same vision?
How do I get them motivated to bring that vision to life?
Here you will learn how to build a team that share clear, measurable goals, and are committed to each play their part in the overall success of your business.
6 Steps to build an unstoppable team
Make a plan
Assemble the members
Define responsibilities
Monitor and review
Acknowledge and Reward
Feedback & Improvement
1. Create a clear plan
In life and in business you have to know where you want to go. Have a clear plan how to get to the end goal. Determine your priorities. Know how you will measure progress along the way.
You plan should;
Clearly define what you need to accomplish
Highlight what your standards for success are going to be
Establish clear time frames.
Map out the responsibilities and roles of different members of the team
A compelling purpose is also important. It will be shared amongst your team. It will help unite them and ensure everyone is striving for the same thing.
This is the foundation. Exactly what you want to accomplish has to be clear and measurable. For success to follow you have to start with this
2. Select team members
Look for integrity and a strong work ethic
Select motivated people
Choose people with talent
Look for high-performing individuals
Choose people with initiative
Hire employees who follow the rules
Does the person fits your culture?
Understand yourself
Be aware of how you work when selecting others to work with you. Be aware of yourself. Self reflection is an important part of the process.
Evaluate yourself and be critical about where you can improve, especially in areas that will benefit those whom you are a leading. How you work may not be appreciated by those who work for you. Hold yourself accountable. Modify your approach if necessary. Ask yourself how will your leadership style and techniques be accepted by the team? This is an important factor to consider when assembling your team.
Know who you are as a leader. Lead from a position of strength and respectability
Understand team members
Try to understand the needs of potential team members. Getting to know your team will be an ongoing process. Invest time to understand how they are wired to think. What is required to motivate them to excel beyond what is expected?
All great leaders know exactly what buttons to push and when to push them. Will you be able to activate the talent of these team members? What defines their strengths and capabilities? Productivity and harmony will increase when you understand individuals on a more personal level, when you know what makes them tick and what is important to them.
Desirable characteristics
Qualifications, competence and experience is obviously very important. Equally as important is passion and motivation. You want team members to embrace your vision. It is important that they are dependable and will do their best.
Remember this important concept - skills can be learned through training, development and experience. It is much harder for people to learn how to be;
motivated
loyal
dedicated
disciplined
determined
Often these are the most important traits to look for in potential team members. It is hard for people to 'learn' to have these personal characteristics. The job requirements can be learned. It's worth keeping this in mind. Find people you trust.
Select members with complementary skills and abilities. Also bring a diverse range of viewpoints and ideas to the table. Achieving a good balance of personality types will enable the group to work together harmoniously but also challenge each other when necessary.
Unique strengths and differences can convert into a powerful force
3. Define Responsibilities
Outline the roles that each team member will play. Ensure that they understand what is expected of them. Often people’s ideal or perceived roles lie outside their job descriptions. This is why their position must be clarified and defined.
Make the vision clear. What do you want to create, improve or change? Set the foundation for successful teamwork by providing a clear and inspiring vision . It helps guide the direction of the group when they face challenges and decisions.
A team is stronger when everybody delivers on their individual roles.
You gave already defined the overall outcome that the team has been brought together to achieve. Now establish the purpose of each person’s role in the team. Break the vision down into smaller, manageable goals and tasks. Assign roles and responsibilities to each team member. Make this evident and transparent.
you have to keep reminding your team of the priorities, even if it feels repetitive. People often have to hear something a few times before they truly remember it.
Rules are important. They help establish a set of values, behaviours and cultural guardrails so that everybody knows how to work together. Specific is better than vague but don’t make your long lists or make things authoritarian.
Outline the required tasks in a schedule, with agreed deadlines, milestones and responsibilities. Be sure to also consider resources required in terms of time, materials, space, support and money.
Define a standard of conduct for the team. Setting clear standards from the outset will ensure that each member’s conduct and contributions are appropriate.
Communication should be frequent, open, honest and transparent.
Contributions should be encouraged, valued and recognised.
Conflict should be handled in a constructive way.
Team decisions and feedback should be respected.
Monitor and review
Monitor and review progress. This allows for adjustments and improvements to be incorporated along the way. Regularly review performance through team meetings and one-on-one catch ups. Ensure that progress is being made. Good questions to ask are:
How are we doing?
What have we achieved so far?
What have we learned?
What isn’t working so well?
How can we improve?
A shared scoreboard creates a clear goal for the team. This scoreboard helps to track progress and focus everyone. It helps increase a greater sense of “us” on the team rather than the “us and them” dynamic that can often divide a business.
Metrics are a way that you can harmonise people. In the absence of that simple, shared scoreboard, people will make up their own ways to measure their success.
Be clear how to keep score. Be clear on the game being played. Anything else is counterproductive.
.
Feedback & Improvement
Giving feedback is an opportunity to get things out in the open. This helps issues to be resolved. It allows the team find ways to work together better.
Feedback is key to improvement within a business. It helps a team stays on track.
Unfortunately many business owners wait until a problem occurs before they give feedback. This is not the way. Be proactive and constant with feedback, it will guide day by day development.
Feedback is the art of great communication. It leads to the path of improvement
Feedback can be both formal and informal. In either case it has to be authentic and impactful. Allow proactive feedback to serve as your team’s greatest enabler for continuous improvement. Take the time to remind someone of what they are doing well and what they could be doing better. Learn from them. Don’t complicate the process of constructive feedback. Feedback is two-way communication.
Difficult discussions aren’t anyone’s idea of fun — but they are necessary for running a successful team.
Feedback is valuable information that will be used to make important decisions. The best businesses consistently search for ways to make their best even better. Get feedback from the entire organisation – customers, clients, employees, suppliers, vendors, etc. Feedback is helpful only when it highlights weaknesses as well as strengths.
Feedback is always there
Feedback can motivate
Feedback can improve performance
Feedback is a tool for continuous learning
5. Acknowledge and Reward
With proactive feedback comes acknowledgement and reward.
People love recognition. They appreciate respect and accolades they have earned and deserve.
People want to feel as if they are making a difference. Paying attention to their efforts. Genuine in your recognition and respect goes a long way towards building loyalty and trust.
When people are acknowledged, their work brings them greater satisfaction and becomes more purposeful.
Understand why they were successful and how their success reverberated and positively impacted those around them.
Regularly recognise, reward and celebrate both team and individual performance. This will help to build morale and motivation of the group. It will help ensure they continue their hard work. If team members don’t feel recognised and respected, they won’t be motivated to bring their best ideas — and their best selves — to work.
What is the most appropriate way to celebrate team milestones? A personal ‘thank you’ at a team meeting, an email, a team lunch, bonuses? Make sure that recognition is consistent, and that the method you choose inspires and reinforces the team members to continue their positive contribution to the team’s progress.
Motivate with positivity
Communicate
Reward good work
Celebrate Success
Help team members experience their significance
Optimise your team's performance; Quick List
Consider each employee's ideas as valuable
Be aware of employees' unspoken feelings
Act as a harmonising influence
Encourage trust and cooperation among employees on your team.
Encourage team members to share information
Delegate problem-solving tasks to the team
Facilitate communication
Establish team values and goals; evaluate team performance
Set ground rules for the team
Encourage listening and brainstorming
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