Running a business well involves a lot of different challenges, and few bosses will be perfect across all the various skill sets that a manager can have. Some bosses are inspiring, others are good at leading by example, while others still have the ability to bring the unsung heroes to the forefront. It’s tricky to balance all of those things together, which is why it is essential to be good at one thing above all others – putting together a team which will hit all the right notes.
Bosses will often stand and fall by their hiring decisions, but it’s every bit as important to be good at the bits that come after you hire a new employee. Putting together the best team is a kind of alchemy that will bring the best out of you as a boss – and is a journey that will have highs and lows along the way. In the end, you’ll know you got it right when you see a team that works for one another and gets the best results consistently. The following aspects of team building are key.
Consider what you already have
When considering how to get the best results from your team, remember that hiring the right person is only half of the challenge. It’s every bit as important to deploy them, and the staff you already have, in the correct way. It may help to think of it as like a sports team – sometimes the best footballer in the world isn’t the player you need. If you have a poor defence, buying a great goalscorer won’t fix your glaring problem. Equally, if you have a team of extroverts and there are customers you still aren’t reaching, maybe you need to pick an introvert who can speak to those customers.
Always be ready to redeploy rather than let someone go
It happens in business, from time to time, that you hire someone and they never really hit the ground in the way you were hoping. This is not a sign that you’re a bad boss, or even that they were a bad hire. The feeling you got from them at the application and interview stages wasn’t for nothing. They clearly have skills, but maybe the fit in their current role isn’t right. Using performance management software to find and address their needs as a staff member, and potentially placing them elsewhere in your organisation, might well give you the results you were looking for. It’s much better to hone their skills than lose them.
Listen to the feedback you get
One of the most important aspects of building a team is harmony. Getting the right people together and letting them work as a collective is the way to ensure that, over time, you see the best results. It therefore makes sense that when you come to make decisions about the team you have, they inform the decision to some extent. It’s wise to ask your staff what they think about a potential new hire, a rearrangement or some similar decision; how they feel about it is, in all likelihood, a good guide as to how the decision will play out in the longer term. For this reason, it’s a decent idea to have respected senior colleagues sit in on any interview to get a feel for anyone who might be about to join the business.
Building the best team isn’t something that happens overnight, but considering the ins and outs of any decision along the above lines is something that will always be beneficial.
