Building a Great TEAM – First Steps

Finding the right people to work with – whether for your own business or the various projects you’re running – is less about warm and fuzzy feelings of ‘teamwork’ and more about generating productivity and values alignment.
Let me explain.

It’s one thing to get a group of volunteers or staff together to participate in a team building adventure course that identifies the leaders and followers of your team. It’s a whole other story to take serious time out to really investigate the skill gaps of your team and then fill those gaps with people who share the same
values and business vision.

So STEP ONE to building a great team is to conduct a ’skills audit’ of your existing team (which may only
consist of one person so far – you!). Do you and your team have all the vital business roles like accounting,
marketing, strategy, IT etc, covered? If it’s time to expand then it’s time to fill some of those gaps.
Start
plugging the holes where your business or project will most benefit – either in terms of sales/income or
productivity/delivery/service. No use hiring a web guru to build a funky new website if your main product is
denture cream for over 60’s!

STEP TWO – don’t choose staff based on their skills alone. You need to create a ‘values match’. Not unlike
the perfect match of dating, you need to hire people who value the same things as you and your biz/project.

So think about your biz/project’s vision … can this potential new person help you to reach that goal? Are
their dreams and ambitions aligned with yours – both personal career goals and the goals of the biz? There’s
no use hiring a great finance guy who could care less about animal rights if you’re trying to find homes for
stray pets.

On a less obvious level, if you value integrity, freedom and creativity, you want to find teammates who share
those similar philosophies. A clash of values is one of the key reasons people quit their jobs or become
de-motivated and unproductive.

The other key to building a great team around you to help you achieve your goals – and this applies in
business as well as life – is the value of networking.
Networking is still a bit of a dirty word, implying
endless sessions of Friday night drinks and self-absorbed schmoozing. Not so. Effective networking is
about accepting invitations to events and opportunities that directly help you to build your own skill set and
mix with like-minded people who you can learn from and share experiences with.

The more people you meet and genuinely share your experiences and contacts with, the more business
opportunities naturally come your way. The key word there of course, is ‘genuine’. If you’re just attending
networking events to plug your own biz people will quickly lose interest. If you’re interested in learning new
skills, swapping ‘war’ stories, and helping others out, ‘biz karma’ brings it right back to ya.

So before you draw up contracts and job descriptions, think about what you need and what values you are looking for.