You might be the best at what you do. The thing is, that won’t matter in the long run if you don’t know how to build a great team around you. Your startup could be just what your community needs, but if your team members can’t work well together, it’ll flop. You could be thrilled to get promoted to team leader at work, but if you can’t build trust with the people you manage, you won’t achieve your team goals.
That old saying, “Teamwork makes the dream work,” is always going to be true. A group of people in sync can build something great from the ground up. Together, you can take advantage of each other’s strengths to do what you never could alone.
Pulling people together might seem easy, but it takes skill to create a truly successful team. If you want to know how to build a team, recognize that every great collaboration starts with a talented, motivated leader.
That kind of leader knows how to harness each team member’s talents so that together, you can accomplish your biggest goals. If you want to be an effective leader and learn how to build a dream team, you’re in the right place. It’s definitely a process, but we’re here to show you how to build your team in nine different ways.
Define roles and skillsets required
Now that you know what your goals are, you can determine the skillsets required to achieve them. Knowing each person’s responsibilities will also guide you in writing accurate job descriptions and determining what success looks like for each person.
You may also identify what work should be handled by independent talent versus an employee so that you can effectively allocate resources. For example, a content team is made up of people managing the operations and people producing the content. You may find the most efficient way to generate quality content at a reliable pace is by contracting independent writers and graphic designers.
Establish expectations from day one
The phrase “nature abhors a vacuum” is a bit of a cliché, but it’s true. New employees and new team members tend to arrive as relatively blank slates—open to an array of company cultures—but they will quickly start seeking cues for how to operate as a member of your company. Take advantage of this.
Set ground rules, and let your expectations be known from the start—not just in terms of sales goals or a five-year plan, but in terms of the type of team environment you’re looking to establish. Do you want to create a culture of shared responsibility, shared problem-solving, and shared decision making? If yes, then say so. An effective leader will communicate such values from the very start; this lets new team members understand what they’re signing up for.
Define your values and goals in team
Before recruiting employees, define and write the values and goals you wish to uphold within your team. When you plan ahead, you can easily create policies and tactics that align with your goals and values.
You can also figure out what you want in your workers and know how to train them according to your values. Besides, having a predefined set of values can help your team understand their roles and your expectations. Workers who cannot follow through will resign, and those who stay can become valuable members of your team.
Establish a fair policy
Policies determine what standards and principles teams want to uphold. These policies also explore individual and team roles, and how these two relate. You should try to set fair rules when establishing procedures on work ethics and decency, professionalism, corporate expectations, and resources.
No worker should feel unsafe, unsettled, exploited, or manipulated. No matter how friendly a team is, these relationships should not affect the minimum standard of respect and professionalism. Examples of fair policies include ensuring that workers receive fair treatment and equal pay.
Set SMART goals
Your team can prioritize SMART goals by choosing objectives that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based. For example, you may want to exceed your quarterly quota by 10% by the end of the second quarter.
After implementing these objectives, track progress regularly. Since every member shares the same team-specific metrics, your team can monitor advancement and celebrate accomplishments. Measuring progress with a single metric rather than applying their own definitions of success helps individual team members more accurately understand their progress.
