Strong teams are an amazing thing to watch. Whether it's in sports, business or family life, effective teams get better results, faster than ineffective teams. There's a synergistic magic that happens when all parts come together to create something that is greater than their sum. But how do you create a successful team?
1. Define Business Goals
Each and every project is different. To succeed your team needs to have the skills and capabilities that support the overarching goals of your project. While you may be tempted to use the same people you've relied on in the past, the reality is that it may not be the most efficient use of their individual and collective skills. Create a needs map to make sure that you don't overlook any critical areas.
2. Assess Project Needs
Review the needs map and list the specific backgrounds and skills that are required to meet those needs. Contrast those needs with the skills of your available resources and evaluate who can and will get the job done. This is not a place to cut corners. Review the needs of the project from A to Z and select team members that meet all of the project requirements.
3. Select a Team Leader Based on Leadership Qualities
A common business mistake is to use leadership roles as reward for hard work. Tenure, technical knowledge and hard work are wonderful traits and should be rewarded with financial compensation, public praise and other means. Management and leadership roles should not be seen as a reward. Nina Conti from GentleDentalCenters.com says, "Team leaders must manage the personalities, goals, milestones and more. Selecting based on the wrong criteria could ultimately result in chaos."
Choose a leader with an ability to understand the project scope and subject matter. "At GentleDentalCenters.com we make sure our consultants understand service and have strong people skills before promoting them. They must have demonstrated leadership skills, and the ability to multi-task and keep projects on schedule."
4. If Your Team Members Lack a Needed Skill Hire Another Resource
Rocky Balboa said it best when speaking about his marriage to Adrienne, "I got gaps, she's got gaps, together we fill gaps." If your existing employee pool has skill gaps for your project fill them with qualified personnel. Temporary agencies and consultants are a great way to fill key gaps if you're not looking to hire additional full-time staff.
5. Assess Team Progress and Adjust Along the Way
Tony Robbins is quoted as saying, "Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach." There are subtleties that you cannot forsee as you embark on a project. Don't be so focused on your pursuit of creating a great team that you forget to assess where that team is in relation to the overall business goals. Don't be afraid to move people around in order to stay on track. As the needs of the project change, so should your team.
Anthony Vultaggio - Anthony Vultaggio leads the New Thought Revolution Mondays at 8 PM Pacific on KLAA 830AM Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and ...
