9 Ways to Build the Best Team

Most small business owners and entrepreneurs know how important it is to have the right people work at a company or on a project. It doesn’t matter how good a business idea is if the wrong people are executing it. But for those of us who have never directly put together a team, we’ve undoubtedly been a part of one, and we have a sense of what makes these teams successful and what makes them “learning experiences.”

If you find yourself in a position to influence how a team comes together, or how it changes once it’s built, keep the following tips in mind. Remember that building the perfect team does not mean building one that always gets along or that simply sails through to success without a glitch.

Get the Best Next Person

If you’re leading a team and starting from scratch, the “next” person is the second person on the team after you. Because he or she will influence any yet-to-be recruited members of your team, this decision is the most important one at the moment and should not be rushed into.

It’s About Attitude

If you get people who put themselves above the team, major problems will eventually arise. Therefore, it’s imperative to find out if the people you are selecting are team players. You can do so through checking references, gleaning social media profiles and even performing background checks.

Enhance the Team With Complementary Skills

Having a variety of skills across your team is important. It’s also important to remember to not limit your search to “hard” skills (i.e. those that are teachable), but to also seek out soft skills (i.e. intangible qualities like patience or flexibility) as well. Be honest with yourself, and know your weaknesses. If you’re not a natural manager, get a good manager you can learn from. Your team will be better for it.

Find the Right Number of Members

For startups and similar projects, modern wisdom dictates that a team’s effectiveness is weakened when it has too many members. Five or six members is usually considered ideal, and an odd number of people will make decision-making easier. Keep in mind that communication becomes harder as the team grows.

Set Goals and Expectations Off the Bat

For you, this happens even before you talk to anyone else. But remember that others will see things differently from you. Instead of telling them how you see it, first find out how they see things. What are their personal goals, and what do they expect the team’s goals to be? A team member’s vision does not have to match yours, but it needs to be aligned at the very least.

It’s All About Communication

The team-building process does not end with recruitment. There is a natural progression to how people first get to know each other and how they settle into their roles and relationships within the team. This is a dynamic process that requires constant communication. Unfortunately, there is nothing easy about setting up effective communication within a team. People feel respected when they are clearly understood by their co-workers, so make an effort to bolster your team’s effectiveness and morale by listening to them with patience and respect.

Gain Wins

Set up the team to win right off the bat, even if it’s as simple as making them feel like being part of the team is a win in itself. As your work progresses, going from hurdles to wins will keep people focused and motivated.

Focus on the Future

Similar to gaining wins, focusing on the future can help your team cope with and work through periods where motivation and morale are low. It’s therefore important to have a large goal with a clear end date. A future end date can help your team rally and keep going toward the finish line.

Have Fun

Unless you’re Elon Musk, your business is probably not rocket science. People that have fun together get along much better. Sometimes a simple YouTube video will give everyone enough of a mental break to be able to refocus. Allow for these collective sighs as much as possible, especially when tensions run high.

Find out how Docstoc Co-founder Jason Nazar went about building his team in the early days of Docstoc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKvPJxZ5VXk

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It should be clear that setting up the perfect team is no easy task. Many things can and will go wrong. If one of those things is a team member who is not working out, the best way to proceed is to cut ties as soon as possible. As the old saying goes, “hire slow and fire fast.”