For ambitious business owners, the dream of expansion, increased market share and sustained success is a goal they always have in their sights. In amongst strategic planning, goal setting and operational excellence, one of the linchpins of success is a strong and cohesive team.
As organisations drive forward, the importance of nurturing and fostering a robust team can’t be overstated. A strong team isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity.
Read on for Bill’s key advice on how to build a strong team and the behaviours to adopt that will cascade throughout your organisation, increasing your business success.
Defining your Team’s Purpose and Goals:
‘What gets measured gets done.’
Bill says it’s imperative that businesses measure the right goals and KPIs and share them, so the team has clarity on business-critical activities. If your team is clear on activities and they’re measured, they’ll get done.
Once these business-critical activities are successfully completed, the individual or team should be rewarded, and this means the business-critical activities will get done over and again. A key decision is to choose the right things to reward to make sure people stay focused on the right behaviour and right outcome.
Fostering Effective Communication:
Open, honest communication is a two-way street, and successful businesses create a culture where everyone feels comfortable about discussing anything. Effective communication makes sure that everyone understands what they’re responsible for and having open and regular conversations about their roles and responsibilities within the business. Effective communication also celebrates successes.
Cultivating a Positive Team Culture:
This, Bill says, is about taking risk. In a positive team culture, team members should be enabled and supported to take risks. Sometimes they’ll take risks and will make mistakes, whilst other times they’ll excel.
‘Motivate by celebrating business success, and for those times when the risk hasn’t paid off, analyse and work out what can be done better next time and let people have a go. Sometimes it won’t work, and that’s okay.’
Building a Diverse Team:
This is about celebrating differences. A successful business needs different types of people and personalities for different roles. Identify the different roles within the business and the different skillsets required for them. Once you understand what the job is and what needs doing, find the best person to do that job.
Establishing Clear Roles and Responsibilities:
It’s critically important, and should really go without saying, that for any position, the team member knows exactly what they should be doing, how they’re being measured and what the expected output is. There should be an expected level of performance for every role in the business and if the team member over-achieves, they should be rewarded for doing more.
Performance reviews are an essential tool for a successful business. This is a two-way street and is for the business owner or manager to give feedback but also for the team member to assess where they think they are. An easy way to do this is for both parties to identify the key responsibilities in the role and score current success out of 10.
- Valuable for self-awareness
- Identifies clear areas for growth and improvement
- Helps the team member monitor their own performance
- Makes them responsible for their own performance and development
Scoring out of 10 and discussing the evaluation areas gives a clear view on areas for improvement and increases personal ownership and investment in success.
Using Reward to Align Behaviour:
Using reward to align behaviour towards a common goal helps to increase a strong team and strong business. With a common goal that’s visible, and team members all understanding their purpose and what they do that has a direct impact on that goal, it’s important for them to know what achieving that goal will have on them.
Following on from what gets measured gets done, what gets rewarded gets done. Again and again and again.
If there’s a clear line of sight for a team member between how their performance affects the business performance and how that subsequently affects them, they’ll work more proactively towards that goal. Rewarding and communicating success reaps great benefits.
Supporting Professional Development:
When building a successful team, it’s important to identify what professional development individuals need. This goes back to performance reviews where areas of improvement have been identified from the scale of one to 10. If a team member is sitting at a seven, what’s the role or responsibility-specific training that can be delivered to help them do their role for the business better?
Identifying professional development needs also leads to more effective succession planning for the team member and the business as a whole. Training and professional development will help them in their current role but also give them a roadmap for the future which supports the long-term plan for the business.
Promoting from within will allow the business owner to step back from day-to-day operations, letting them focus on strategic planning and growth. This can be achieved by back-filling roles through a strategic professional development plan for team members. By giving team members their own five-year professional development plan, they’ll know they have a place in the business and that they’re able to progress, fostering loyalty and ambition.
Providing the Right Tools and Resources:
Equipping team members with the right tools and resources allows them to complete tasks more efficiently. Time spent searching for – or adapting to – inadequate tools is valuable time wasted. The right tools and resource streamline processes which leads to increased productivity and higher output. It also empowers team members to take ownership of their work, boosting confidence, motivation and providing a proactive approach to problem-solving.
In summary, the importance of building a strong team can’t be overstated. When businesses build a strong team, they lay the foundations for innovation, growth and profitability. By creating a culture of trust, clearly defining roles and responsibilities, recognising and rewarding success and investing in professional development, business owners can drive their organisations forward, meeting strategic goals and targets.
If you’d like help in building a strong team to drive your business success, contact us for a no-obligation chat and let’s discuss how you can set and achieve your goals in 2024.
