How to build a team!

Teamwork makes the dream work but it also makes the day work. If you do not have a good team, chances are you will not last that long in the entrepreneurship world. When you do not have a strong team, you end up having to take on way more work than you should, often leading to burnout. Luckily there are certain strategies I’ve learned along my journey in the high-rise industry that any business owner can implement to build a successful team.?

Here is are some great things to keep in mind when you start building a team for your company:

First, ask yourself: What is the Purpose of this Team?

So you’ve reached the point in your business venture where you’ve successfully found the need for a team. Congratulations! This is a very important step in every entrepreneur’s journey: building a team to help support the business they’ve created. It is fundamental to the success of your business that you consider each team member carefully, especially if this is the first team you are putting together for your business.?

Before the search for the “perfect candidate” begins, first ask yourself: what is the purpose of this team? Establish goals and expectations for this team prior to interviewing possible candidates. If this team is designed to support the marketing facets of your business, write down some jobs to be done, goals along the way and the overall intentions of this team.?

Find the Gaps

Find the gaps within your practice that led you to this decision in the first place. Part of the purpose of the team stems from current gaps in workflow and progression. Identify your strong suites as well as your weak points. After quantifying a realistic amount of work you can take on during a given time, next you need to identify the parts of your business that do not suit your current priorities and thus fall out of your field of focus. These are what I like to call the gaps.?

The gaps are the jobs that must be done in the company that require the assistance of different people. Sometimes specific jobs will require a candidate who specializes in marketing or writing, while a different job calls for a researcher. As a leader, finding different kinds of people who work well together will be essential for the longevity of your business. Identifying these gaps in your practice will be very conducive to qualifying the types of people you are looking for on this team. For example, if your team needs someone who can take on the marketing side of things, you know to look for someone creative and business-savvy. This is true for other fields of the business as well, there will always be specific people who are more well-suited for a job-to-be-done.

Understand the Gaps

Once you’ve found these gaps, the next step is to further analyze these so-called holes in your workflow and niche down on your needs. For example, you may know that you do not have the specific skills or education to fill a financial role but now you have to crack down and gain a better understanding of what exactly these roles entail.You may have realized you need an accountant, however knowing what type of accountant you need will be pivotal. The better understanding you have of the gap, the better you will understand the type of candidate you should be looking for to fill the position. There are a lot of people who may have a degree in a finance-related topic, but not all those people will fit your company’s specific finance gap.

Analyze Candidates Against Gap Needs

By understanding the gaps you have a better understanding of the candidate that will best fit your needs. Regardless of your trade, you will need someone who works well in a team environment and the candidate should fill the specific skill set required by your gap needs. For example, if you are hiring someone to work as an on-site construction worker you want them both to have construction skills but also to be someone who can work well and encourage others.

Building a team will be challenging, to say the least but if you consider your needs versus the candidates you’ve lined up things will get much easier. Analyze your company’s needs and maybe even ask your current employees what they think might be a mission from the work environment. Having a democratic leadership style might be a good idea when assembling a collaborative team.?Remember to specify your needs that way you will know exactly who you are looking for. Once you have found the right people, make sure that they’re personalities will work effectively together. All in all, building a team can be a lot like assembling a high-rise building. Make sure your foundation is strong and the rest will follow suit.?