Each year, a countless number of companies are launched worldwide, and the sad reality is that the vast majority of these businesses collapse. Why do some enterprises prosper while the majority fail within several years? There are numerous factors to consider, such as investment capital, understanding the market, innovation, ability to build a strong team and last but not least, good old-fashioned luck. However, one major consideration that almost all business entrepreneurs can influence may instantly ascertain long-term productivity and profitability: recruiting the best people and bringing them together to form a powerful and influential team.
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What is Team Building?
Unlock the essentials of team building with Tuckman’s Model. Watch our video for insights into forming, storming, norming, and performing stages. Enhance your team’s dynamics today!
The Purpose of a Team
A strong team is at the heart of any company’s success. This strategy applies equally to startup companies and global powerhouses. A company like Elite Tape has been offering its services for years. Their tape service is the best due to their product standards and because they constantly have a team that works fast, is dedicated, and is passionate about providing customers with the best experience. A team exists to enable a venture to develop, scale, and prosper in ways that would be physically impossible for a single person to accomplish. Acquiring the right people for a successful team begins with attracting top talent who value collaborating toward a collective purpose, are purpose-driven, and honor the hierarchical system that most companies expect. Once the best personnel are in place, the idea is to bring them all together to form a unified front.
Building a Strong Team
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Establish Expectations
New members of staff typically come into the company as relatively blank slates. They are open to a variety of the organization’s cultures. But they will immediately begin looking for indicators on how to function as a representative of the company. One should use this to their advantage by setting basic guidelines and making the expectations clear from the beginning regarding sales targets or a five-year strategy. As well as the kind of team atmosphere they want to create. Does the employer want to foster shared accountability, decision-making, and problem-solving culture? If yes, they should make it clear. An excellent leader will convey such principles from the start. And this will allow new team members to understand what they are getting themselves into.
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Create Connections Within Your Strong Team
Although it is critical that one values and honors every individual team member, it is also essential that the staff members show the same respect and concern for each other. One should encourage people to see each other not as a person sitting next to them at the workstation. But as business associates who will collaborate toward a common objective of business growth, individual achievement, and team goals. Hence, a part of the strong team you establsihed.
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Motivate With Positivity
Strong leaders also believe that “one can get more flies with honey than vinegar.” In practice, this implies that positive reinforcement is more impactful than negative reinforcement in shaping behavior and attitude. One should refrain from criticizing team members’ missteps. Employers should Instead; foster a positive team atmosphere by highlighting events and behavior patterns that they particularly appreciated and encouraging their team to bring more of the same. Positive reinforcement is much more effective than vilifying those who make mistakes in inspiring team performance.
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Communicate
Everyone wants to know where they stand as living beings. Are their coworkers pleased with the job they are doing? Is there anything they need to work on? If others sense that one of them is unhappy but do not say anything, it can lead to anxiety and even discontent. And this can cause a decline in performance. Alternatively, if they believe they are doing a wonderful job but their boss is not satisfied, it can result in undesirable surprises when they are told that they have been underperforming. Therefore, employers should brush up on their communication. For a strong team establishment, good communication keeps working relationships strong for years, whereas silence can rapidly break things down.
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Reward Good Work
People crave validation for their efforts. If someone has the ability to give financial incentives, this is a wonderful way to show their appreciation. If they are a startup with limited funds, they should consider other ways to express appreciation and trust. Entrusting is a simple way to get started to build a strong team. One can allow a team member who demonstrates excellent judgment to make some major decisions that they may have previously reserved for themselves. Allow them to use the corporate credit card if they are especially responsible with finances. Employers should find a small way to demonstrate that they are paying attention to their workforce and that their initiatives are valued.
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Develop the Culture of Your Strong Team
Even if they aren’t brought up in conversation, every family has a set of core principles. When it comes to how everyone is going to get along with one another and spend their time, there are some behaviors that are praised and others that are chastised, much like the laws of the road.
The strong teams don’t diverge all that much from one another. When you gather a diverse group of people together to work on a project, that group will inevitably establish its own culture. And that culture will be as unique as the individuals that make up the group.
You may adopt a hands-off approach as the head of the team. And then just hope that everyone will get along well during the course of the project. Alternately, you may search for chances to establish some common parameters for the way that individuals will operate together and then pursue them.
Ananya Prisha is an enterprise level Agile coach working out of Hyderabad (India) and also founder of High Level PM Consultancy. Her goal has been to keep on learning and at the same time give back to the community that has given her so much.