As a small business owner, you rely on your team to produce their best work every day so it’s important to surround yourself with the best people for the job.
5 Qualities Needed for a Strong Team
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Encourage Teamwork
Foster a culture that values teamwork and collaboration. Encourage group effort and a sharing of ideas, concerns, suggestions and feedback amongst staff. When colleagues enjoy being in each other’s company and feel they are a valued member of a team then efficiency is more likely to increase in the workplace.
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Open Communication
The days of top-down communication from managers to staff have long gone. Don’t take it upon yourself to make every decision for the company, but encourage your staff to exercise their best possible judgement at all times. If you want to motivate your team and have them feel invested in your company then it is important to encourage two-way communication.
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Empower Individuals
It’s important that your staff members have a clear understanding of what is expected of them in their role but it is equally important that they are equipped to meet these expectations. Empower people to make the right decisions for your business and they will become your biggest brand ambassadors.
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Regular Feedback
Take time to listen to feedback from your team and learn lessons about what does and doesn’t work for your business. If the team or an individual experiences a particular success then try to establish a business process that helps to increase efficiency and allows everyone to repeat that success.
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Be Flexible
Recognise that your team members have personal lives and encourage a healthy work life balance in order to get the best out of your staff. Try to be flexible with working hours and conditions and take time to celebrate birthdays and workplace anniversaries so help build loyalty and ensure that everyone feels valued.
Regularly evaluate staff performance against agreed goals, provide training and development opportunities where possible and on a day-to-day basis simply remember to give credit where credit is due. Remember that everyone wants to feel a sense of achievement so it’s important to recognise effort both formally and informally if you want to retain the team you’ve taken the time to build.
