Every start-up is as strong as its weakest link. This old saying is particularly true about the impact of teamwork to a start-up.
You can have a great idea and work out a formidable marketing plan but the overall success of every start-up is in the strength of its team.
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How Can You Build a Great Team?
It begins with the leader.
“Talent wins’ games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” -Michael Jordan.
Resist the urge to be self-reliant. Many leaders unconsciously try to control everything and, in a way, they create a counterproductive environment that deters team spirit.
Not often is the saying through that: “If you want something done right, you must do it yourself.”
Employees commit more to a team when they feel they are part of something way bigger. Make them feel like a part of the dream. No, make them a part of the dream and they’ll commit to it.
Humans can function at individual levels, but with adequate teamwork, productivity can be multiplied.
Yet if you’ve ever worked with someone that slowed down your effort, then you’d understand that teamwork isn’t natural; it is a skill that can be developed.
Humans by nature are emotional beings. This attribute makes our psychological composition more complex than machine intelligence. Yet, like Machines, humans can be reprogrammed and with sufficient exercise of our social skills, we can operate at optimal levels, for effective teamwork.
Building a Team Spirit
When working with a group, often times the problem isn’t about the task but about synergy.
Encourage team members to build social interactions, in other to enable them understand their colleagues and create empathy for one another.
When people understand themselves, they work better.
Skills That Enable Teamwork
The key to the success of a start-up team is trust. Can you trust your colleague to do their part diligently or?
1. Communication
Open and clear channels of communication ensures that no one is left out of the workflow.
It has also been discovered that neutral grounds help boost a healthy work environment. Too much formalities in office communication can great communication gap especially in modern work environment where there is a fusion of various generations: GenZ, X, and millennials all in same work space with baby boomers.
Ageism is real and if not checked it festers and destroys teams.
2. Empathy
The greatest deterrent to teamwork is selfish interest. When one member tries to outshine others or when one member is self-absorbed and obnoxious and becomes a burden on the members of the team.
Encourage teams to engage in other social activities outside work. Birthdays, and holidays are moments that encourage team members to bond.
We tend to empathize with people we know. Yes, you can have empathy for strangers too but this is different for team members that become more than team.
SEE video for team bonding games.
3. Agreement
There’s an old saying among Christians that two cannot work together except they agree. It is as simple as that; productivity increases when team members can easily reach an agreement over decision making process.
Blind agreement often points to a problem. If team members constantly differ to a single person’s opinion it often means they
4. Structure
Often start-ups struggle with maintaining a structure. I have learnt from experience, and I can authoritatively say that it’s better to structure your business from the scratch even if there are only two staffs because as the business grows, it follows the imprinted structure. Accountability, Priority, Leadership is essential part of the structure of any start up.
Team members should be encouraged to prioritize the company’s work ethic and values and should be accountable to leadership over every little details. As your start-up grows and new staff come onboard, you’ll begin to see the impact of structure to the team.
Learn How to Build Systems and Structures In Your Business
Final Words
A well synchronized team creates a healthy work environment because such synergy promotes balance in the life of team members.
See: Top Skills to Include on Your Resume to Increase Employability
