Five Tips For Building A Strong Team In Your Small Business

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The saying, “No man is an island,” holds true in business. After all, it is impossible to do everything by yourself. The sooner you recognize this, I believe the closer you get to achieving any goal you set for your company.

That said, while two heads are always better than one, having the right two minds is imperative. Building a dynamic team, both externally and internally, is the cornerstone of any successful business. For your company to experience significant revenue, you need help. These five tips keep me on pace in my business as I continue to build my team:

1. Create a hiring plan.

You must have an effective plan of action when building your team. Onboarding new members can be a challenging process, and hiring the wrong people can be costly and negatively impact the culture of your company.

This is why it’s important to create a hiring plan and assess what will be expected of the new hire in the open position. For example, what skills do they need to possess, and what will their responsibilities be? This way, you know what to look for in candidates.

Then, you can start planning your interview questions. Asking the right questions can help you separate good candidates from the bad. A few questions I recommend include:

• Do you enjoy interacting with people? Give an example.

• How do you interact with people when you’re having a bad day?

• How do you keep motivated when the job becomes routine?

• Which of your strengths would serve you best if hired for this position?

• Which of your weaknesses would need further development? 

Checking background and references is also key. Verify all the information that was presented to you from the candidate. Furthermore, consider whether the candidate fits within your culture. As a leader, you must hire the best candidate who can fit the culture and perform the job, so it’s important to determine whether your potential employee, with the right training and mentoring, will be a good fit.

2. Delegate and trust your new hires.

Once you have onboarded your new addition, you must empower them to do the job you hired them to do. To start, explain what your expectations are and what you need from your new hire. Then, provide them with the tools, resources and support necessary to complete the task. Make sure you have checkpoints and progress reports along the way. The worst thing you can do is not follow up with your staff. 

Finally, trust your people. You must release control and let them do what you have trained them to do. I believe this is the hardest thing for entrepreneurs, especially if you have been doing things yourself. It’s like having your first child and having to let someone else take care of your baby; it’s difficult. I get it. However, you must trust your team.

3. Anticipate challenges.

I know there’s no such thing as a crystal ball to get in front of potential disasters in the workplace. However, your business must possess the ability to pivot and adapt quickly. You can anticipate problems and prevent them by implementing a few best practices for communication.

In my office, active and effective communication is one of the tools that we use to be proactive. It is important that the overall culture, mission, vision and goals are shared with your team on a frequent basis. Clearly communicating your outcomes and expectations will translate to consistency, respect and transparency among your team. This will ensure that everyone is able to extend the same level of commitment to compliance as you would.

I also ask my team what their thoughts are on things that are happening and give them the opportunity to speak and give insight. We have daily group sessions that enable us to tackle things head-on and give everyone a chance to contribute and discuss issues. We also roleplay to train team members on any potential problems that could come up in the office. Having a team of people from different backgrounds can definitely help with predicting future catastrophes and learn from past lessons. 

4. Appreciate your team.

As children, we learned the power of saying thank you. Offering a hearty, “Way to go team!” or a token of your appreciation can be the difference between a good day a great day. This doesn’t have to be a costly endeavor. A simple certificate or card can go a long way with team members. You might even bring a batch of cookies to work to see your staff light up.

In the office, you can provide opportunities for team members to lead training and give others a chance to advance. Consider creating traditions in your office space or taking your staff to lunch. Last, if the business is performing well, share the wealth with your team. Financial incentives can be anything from a quarterly to a year-end bonus. The bottom line: People want to feel appreciated. 

5. Finish strong.

“Finish strong” has different meanings for many organizations. For me, it’s about perspective, fortitude, determination and attitude. These are characteristics that you want to be the foundation of planting the seeds of success today so that you can have the freedom to reap the harvest of the powerful team you’re building.

One piece of advice that I would give leaders who want to build a “finish strong” foundation would be to look for ways to continuously improve. In my office, we have daily feedback sessions. In these sessions, we determine our approach for improvement in service. We look at what we did right and what we did wrong. This helps us identify the areas we need to improve, analyze our processes and make necessary changes. 

These steps help us to ensure continuity as we onboard and develop a strong team, and I believe they can help other entrepreneurs as well.

Citation
Jones, Anissa. “Five Tips For Building A Strong Team In Your Small Business.” Small Business, 14 Oct. 2022, Forbes,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2020/10/14/five-tips-for-building-a-strong-team-in-your-small-business/?sh=4c76e8194952.