Building a great team requires strong leadership. The basic building block of good team building is for a leader to promote the feeling that everyone is unique and adds value. It takes a special kind of leader to build great teams.
A successful team has communication, motivation, morale and productivity. They know one another well and recognise each other’s strengths and weaknesses. There are things you can do as a leader to develop this type of unit within your company. Here are some of our best tips for a leader to consistently build higher performance teams.
Consider your own actions
You need to look at your own behaviour before you can put anything in place for your team. Look at your leadership style and techniques and be critical about areas you can improve on. It is important to lead from a position of strength and responsibility, not fear and abhorrence.
Get to know your team
In order to increase the performance of your team, you must first get to know who they are. Through this, you can understand the positive assets each team member brings to the table. You will also get to know their weaknesses and create ways to help improve the individual drawbacks to generate a stronger overall unit.
Investing time into your team members will motivate them to excel beyond what is expected. They will feel grateful and loyal towards you and your company, assets you need for a productive and successful team.
Be constant with feedback
It is common for leaders to wait until a problem occurs before giving feedback. However, it should be communicated consistently and proactively. You don’t need to set up a formal meeting for feedback all of the time, add it to your natural dialogue and give more informal feedback. This creates continuous improvement.
Celebrate achievements
Celebrating achievements go beyond simply acknowledging them. People love recognition and it motivates them to work harder to achieve more. They will appreciate the respect from you and feel they are actually making a difference to the company. When people are acknowledged, their work brings them greater satisfaction and becomes more purposeful.
Set up corporate events
Team-building events can really unite a group of people if the exercises are planned and carried out strategically. Spend some time thinking about the current strengths and weaknesses the team has then set up team building activities that help improve the dynamic of the group. These events build trust, friendships, loyalty and productivity. Be sure to hold them regularly and you will see the benefits.
Define roles and responsibilities
You should clearly define each team member’s roles and responsibilities within the team. This gives each member a sense of importance as they know that without their input, the team wouldn’t operate successfully. It motivates them to work hard and effectively contribute to the overall success.
Build successful people
Clear expectations are important to clearly communicate to your team what your expected outcomes are. You team members should understand fully why the team was created. Communication is also important and all team members should understand the complete context for their existence within the company and be encouraged to bring diverse opinions to the table.
Spend time and attention on each of these things and you will encourage a working attitude and dynamic that contribute effectively to your business. The way a team plays together as a whole determines its success. Always remember the most important part of building a business is building successful people that are going to help you build that business.
[The author, Maise Hunter, is a successful business owner and entrepreneur. She has built a strong team herself and has tried and tested many leadership techniques to ensure she has a motivated and proactive unit of employees for her thriving business and profitable company.]