When an entrepreneur starts a business, it often starts out as a solo venture. The entrepreneur does just about everything, filling roles that he or she may not actually be good at, let alone know how to do. As businesses grow, however, most entrepreneurs start to recognize that a great team is key to helping them succeed.
When you come to the realization that you can't do everything and you need a team to back you up, you need to look at the roles that need to be filled. Be honest with yourself about the things that you're not good at and the things that you don't have time for. If you're not very good with people and don't have time to write code for your website, then those are areas where other people can take over. If your primary role will be to oversee strategy and that's it, then you'll need to figure out what roles are most pertinent to your business. The roles pertinent to a Web design company will be far different than the roles pertinent to a small local bakery. If you're on a tight budget, you may want to consider bundling roles. Maybe one person does everything related to working with customers while another takes care of all internal operations.
Now that you know exactly what roles need to be filled, you have to find the right people to fill them. The people that you bring on to your team should share your same vision. You don't want team members who don't care about or disagree with your vision. Everyone needs to be on the same page working toward the same goals. Look for people who are enthusiastic and willing to learn. Candidates should of course attain the basic skills sets that you're looking for, but an enthusiasm for the job and a willingness to learn can often make up for deficiencies on a resume. Because you're looking to create a team-driven atmosphere, personality also needs to be taken into consideration. Will people?s personalities mesh together? Will they mesh with yours? Do these people have team-centric attitudes?
Hiring the team is half of the equation; getting them to work and feel like a team is the other half. One of the first things you can do is encourage team members to get to know each other. Sit and chat in groups. Go out to lunch. Do whatever you must to build camaraderie among them. Set common goals for the team on top of individual goals for each member. Team leaders should then acknowledge and compliment both group achievements and individual achievements. By recognizing both you'll make each member feel like he or she is an essential part of the team and therefore boost productivity and performance all around. You'll also want to make any part-time workers you might have feel like they are also a part of the team. This will give them even more motivation to do a good job. Team members must cooperate and always make decisions and achieve goals that are in the best interest of the company. When your team does achieve its goals ?celebrate!
