Built a great team? How will you keep them?

Having an effective team who are fully engaged is crucial for any organisation…

And 1 of the biggest challenges for any leader is creating a team which is the right fit for their own organisation. They could be running a hospital department, the local fire station, a primary school, a charity or a business. The same principles apply in pretty much all circumstances.

The aim is to build a team who are bought into the organisations vision, who understand how they can influence things and are all heading in the same direction. Do this and you can achieve great things.

On the flip side. Build a team that’s dis-jointed, in-fight and are pulling in different directions. It will prove very difficult to move your organisation forward and do great meaningful work.

Now I can’t tell you who should be in your own team, as each team is unique to their organisation. And what might work for 1 organisation, may not for another. As a leader this is your job and no one said it was going to be easy.

But I can share with you the things we look for in our team members. And before we start, it’s got nothing to do with age, gender, religion or nationality…

For us it’s about honesty, respect, reliability, help, integrity, drive & determination, having opinions, a great work ethic and ability to bond well with others. Yes, they need to have the skills for the job too. But that’s the easy bit.

Now you have your perfect team, how the hell do you keep hold of them?

A good start is to make sure you’re not making some of these mistakes…

Micro-managing your team

While it’s easy to say you’re not a micro-manager, it’s harder than you think not being 1. It’s all about control and lack of trust. Although I’m sure no-one means it this way, but it can come across like you don’t trust your team to do a great job. So you do it for them.

This not only removes any opportunity for your people to grow, they will end up resenting you. It also means you’re not focusing on the strategy and growth of the business, because your meddling in operational things. Trust me, it’s a really bad strategy and 1 that I used to do too.

Not listening to opinions & ideas

Stop the press. Yes, your team might have some better opinions & ideas than you. Shocking isn’t it…

Past leaders always wanted to be in charge. But leaders today need to inspire their people into becoming great thinkers themselves. Why? Because business is way too competitive, and your business can create many more ideas through the whole team than you on your own. Giving you a competitive advantage.

Non inclusive thinking

Inclusive thinking at its core is the act of considering all the information about a specific action, topic or situation before making a decision about it. If you’re not thinking inclusively (being open-minded in the face of differences of opinion or diversities) you need to start being more conscious of your thoughts and how they might make others in your team feel. 

Failing to give autonomy

Without autonomy, your team can’t create a work day that works for them, and their performance will suffer. Some people are morning people, some night, and others may need to work in silence. If your team don’t have the freedom to work in a way that is right for them, they’ll suffer and probably leave.

Not modeling self-awareness

Without self-awareness, you aren’t aware of the impact you’re having. Self-awareness is key for knowing what parts of yourself need development. It’s also important to model this for your team so that they get to know themselves, too. Lack of self-awareness contributes to lack of confidence and can lead to low motivation. Knowing yourself is the starting point for true success.

Not promoting fun

Fun in the workplace is essential. Yes the team needs to be professional and make sure that the work gets done. But this should not stop them having some fun. We spend most of the week, either asleep or at work (and it’s hard to have fun when your asleep) and your team will be much happier at work when fun is encouraged.

Don’t not reward

This is not about money, this is about showing the team when they do great work you appreciate them. You might buy them breakfast or lunch on a Friday if certain goals have been reached. Or you may have just missed the monthly target, instead of doing nothing lift the teams spirit with a fun dress down day, where they can bring in their own music and have party food. It doesn’t cost the earth to show your team you appreciate their efforts.

Don’t let them personalise

Your team is at work 8 hours a day and will be much more productive and happier with some personal possessions around them. Don’t be 1 of these grey corporate organisations that class personal possessions as clutter. Let your team personalise their work-space with photo’s, plants and soft toys.

Don’t be flexible

Things happen sometimes that you just can’t do anything about, and a little flexibility to a team member will go along way. It might be letting them have an hour off first thing for an appointment, so they don’t have to use a days holiday or letting them finish a little earlier because it’s parents evening. These little touches of flexibility will make the world of difference to your teams commitment and motivation.

We try our best to look after our fantastic team, and if you asked them I’m hopeful they will say good things about us. But we know we’re not perfect yet and there are still areas in our business that need improving. And as our team help us grow the business the fun and rewards will grow with them.