Building Teams In Small Business |
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By: Aaron Parsons Posted: 2008-04-28 08:10:18 |
| If you own a small business and you are hoping to expand it, you are probably aware that you can't do this on your own. Running and growing a company is rarely, if ever, accomplished by a single person. You have to have a good and motivated team of people working for you if you want to succeed. Why do you think every other company makes the claim that their employees are their most valuable assets.The thing about good teams is they don't just miraculously form on their own. Committed and motivated teams are a direct product of the business owner's efforts to provide and establish encouraging working conditions for the team members. Building up a good team is no easy task. Frequently, people just can't seem to get along or a destructive, competitive sentiment takes over the workplace. Here are a few tips on how you can ensure that your team-building process is a successful one.Define Roles in the WorkplaceIt is crucial that each person in the workplace is aware of what his or her role within the organization is. As a business owner, it is your duty to ensure that this is the case. There are a number of ways in which you can achieve this. First of all, make sure that you provide all your employees with a detailed and updated job description. Also, be sure that you distribute organizational charts and hold regular staff meetings that allow for discussions of role ambiguities.Establish Communication ChannelsCommunication is vital to any group of people working together. If the communication process breaks down, the team will break down as well. You must establish adequate, open, and effective means of communication in the workplace. These channels must achieve two primary goals; your employees must be able to freely and openly communicate with you and they must also be able to do so with each other. The latest advances in communication technology such as email, voice mail, and instant messaging make this much easier. Nevertheless, it would serve you well to keep an open-door policy so that your employees feel comfortable enough to approach you with any problems they may have.Conflict Resolution ProceduresEven the best of teams will experience conflicts at one point or another. Rather than focusing on avoiding conflicts in the workplace, you should focus on establishing structured ways of resolving them. Your employees should have a way of voicing their opinions without offending anyone. Face-to-face confrontations should be allowed in a moderated setting. You needed to take a hands-on approach to resolving these issues and you might even need to sit down with the conflicting parties to work out their differences. Never take sides and always make sure that you stay objective. Ultimately, you should use the conflicts that arise as an opportunity to uncover any underlying problems that may exist within the team as whole.A Positive AttitudeOn a closing note, remember that a good leader should always set a good example for his team members. How can you expect your team to be motivated, upbeat, and committed if you aren't? Your team looks up to you for guidance and direction, and any negativity or cynicism on your part will be directly felt. So, maintain a positive attitude at all times, even if you have to force yourself a little.More strategies on building championship teams are covered in our million dollar business manuscript, which is available from our website. Claim Your FREE copy NOW at www.TheBusinessCommandos.com |
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