Building your dream business team

23 Mar 2015

To understand the meaning and importance of a dream team, use this handy acronym: T.E.A.M. - Together Everyone Achieves More.

As every successful entrepreneur knows, human capital is the greatest asset of any business. A dream team makes it possible to accomplish the business' overall objectives, be more productive and, ultimately, more profitable. But, more importantly, a great team in place frees the business owner up to concentrate on further growth.

Image: www.freedigitalphotos.net

One of the biggest complaints of business owners is that they cannot find qualified, competent help. Entrepreneurs asked to critique their own businesses point out how much more they could do if only they had more capable and enthusiastic employees who were also invested in the growth of the business.

The first step in finding your dream team is to realise that the staff you get are the staff you deserve. This means that the staff you employ is a reflection of either your ability or your inability. The people you attract into your life are a mirror of where you are in your own life. If you are a skilled business owner and a great leader, you will attract great people to work for you. Then, when you get to this level, it's rarely necessary to look for people: they usually look for you. All too often it's the business owner who is the weakest link in the chain of command.

Attractive incentives

Business owners complain that their sales teams are not professional enough, but often they refuse to provide adequate sales training or attractive incentives. Others think that if their employees would just be more productive and make fewer mistakes, revenues and profits would increase. However, these same owners have no adequate systems in place to help eliminate human error or maximise efficiency. Then there are business owners who want to control everything and battle to delegate to their teams. Then they wonder why their staff cannot assume a greater leadership role and shoulder more responsibility. Until business owners acknowledge their accountability for the teams they create, these complaints will continue and employees will remain stifled.

Here are four factors that contribute to the success and synergy of a well-rounded team:

Unleashing the power of vision: Before you place a recruitment advert, clearly define a vision statement for your business so your team can all play by the same rules. Without one, a business is like a society with no culture. A vision statement serves as a framework and guide for everyone working in the business. It defines acceptable behaviour and forms the central theme or philosophy regarding customer service. It becomes a road map for executing every detail of the business from a specific agreed-upon and shared premise. Shared vision becomes the backbone of the business and the glue that keeps teams working cooperatively and successfully through any challenge and in any environment. Teamwork fuelled by the power of vision can make a company a wonderful place to work and learn;

SMART goals: Achievement depends on the underlying infrastructure of clearly defined and realistic goals. Goals offer direction to keep the team focused on the mission and vision of the business. Goals should adhere to the acronym for S.M.A.R.T: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-oriented and set within a reasonable Timeframe;

Rules of the game and action plans: Define boundaries and areas of quantifiable responsibility so that your team knows its unique and specialised roles, to prevent unnecessary overlap. Provide an action plan. Give each new employee an appropriate title, a written contract, a detailed job description and line of reporting; and

Risk taking: Business teams are like trees - they are either growing or dying. Without being open to some degree of healthy risk, it's impossible for a team to flourish and push the limits of creativity and performance.

Putting all this altogether, plus supporting your team with tools, training, technology and systems, will free you up to operate your business from a distance and concentrate on your next profitable venture.

Harry Welby-Cooke

About Harry Welby-Cooke

Leading business and executive coach and SA's Co-Master Licensee for global franchise company - ActionCOACH. For more information visit www.actioncoachsa.co.za