Business

Make Your Team Into The A-Team With These Tips

Written by Chloe Harwood

For anyone who wants to have the most successful business they can, it is essential to make sure that you have a great team to work with you. If you have a supportive and inspiring team by your side in business then you can achieve anything and your business will grow and develop much more quickly.

When you first hire your team, it can take a while to get your bearings and get used the the responsibility of managing a team of other people. It my take you a few months to get your grip on the position, but once you have: you can start turning your office into the ultimate tam who can conquer any issue together and will be able to achieve great things.

Make it personal

The first thing you need to remember when you are put in charge of a team of people is that they are all people. You are not any better than the others in your office, and you need to accommodate for each person and make the office feel like a second home for everyone. You can do this by letting your employees decorate their workspaces and even helping you pick out new things to add to the office. Remember that this is a place you will be spending a huge chunk of your week so it needs to be personal and comfortable for everyone. Let everyone make a contribution to the space and this will help them feel respected.

Team sprint

Although you don’t need to go as far as to buy matching shirts with a Custom Center Iron on Patch for your team members: you do want to make it feel as if you are working as a cohesive team throughout. When you work for the same business you are all working towards the same thing: so you can instil some spirit into your team by holding meetings every week to discuss the business as a whole and let everyone weigh in on your problems. Two heads are better than one, and if you show your team that you want their input and opinions, they will be more loyal to you and the company too.

Understanding their goals

The key to bring a great manager and having a close knit team is that everyone knows their place and their personal goals within the team. In business you are working as cogs in a huge machine, every cog has its place and has its own specific aim. You should make time every week to ensure that each member of your team knows what they are working towards and that they know their role in the bigger picture. This will help you to stay in the loop on what everyone is working on, and it will give everyone a clear direction to work in which will garner productivity.

Have some fun

Remember that a workplace should not just be a boring, dingy space where no one talks and nothing ever happens. You spend so much time in your workplace every week that you need to make sure you have some fun every now and again. For example you could set an hour every Friday afternoon where a different activity is carried out with the team. One week it could be a yoga class in your offices, and the next week it could be a beer at your local pub. These activities create a fun environment for everyone in the team as well as allowing you to bond outside your work. You will become much closer as a result and this can have a great impact on your team.

Communicate

The most important thing you need to remember is that you must always be transparent with your team. If anything ever goes wrong in the company or you face an issue you can’t resolve yourself: don’t keep it to yourself. Involve your team in every part of the business and let them know when things aren’t going to plan. The only way you will be able to trust each other and solve an issue is to get together as a team and work through it. You could find that a fresh mind will be able to solve the issue much quicker than you can, and it will show our team that you trust them completely.

Everyone is seen as unique

If you want your employees to be happy and develop within your team, you need to treat every member of your team like an individual and not tar them all with the same brush. Remember that every single person in your team will develop at a different rate and they will all have unique skills. If you want to create the ideal team going forward, you need to make sure you take these skills into account and utilise them to their full extent. For ex sole you may have a member of the team who is outgoing and great at speaking- which would lend them brilliantly to a sales role or a buying role where they have to mingle with clients a build relationships. However another member of the team might be quiet and creative, which would lend them to a social media marketing role or a graphic design role. Make sure you talk to each member of your team one on one every now and again to see how they are finding their role and how they see themselves progressing in the future.

Provide training

The best quality you can have as a leader is the willingness to invest in your employees future. A lot of the time managers can feel threatened by their employees and therefore won’t allow them to progress with training from fear that the employee will one day overtake them: however this is no way to lead. If you take the time to invest in your team’s training and development they will be able to grow their skills, be happier in their jobs and stay more loyal to you and the company.

About the author

Chloe Harwood