Top 5 Ways To Build A Great Team
By Kennerly Clay
The first steps to home business success involve building a great team and bringing great people on board. Invite people on your team who have demonstrated motivation, independence, and a high level of integrity. The quality of the people on your team will determine your success as much as the actions each person takes.
Then, whether you're building a sales force, an office staff, or a team of downline distributors, you have to have these five things in place for your dream team to succeed.
1. SYSTEMATIC TRAINING
What training do you offer your team? Is it on- or offline? Are you effectively directing new members to the resources? And do you have a way of tracking their training and development?
Ultimately, each person should be receiving the same information and learning about your products or business in the same way. Consistency generates order and strengthens the foundation of your group.
If you do not have a way to keep track of the training, implement a simple system that shows the person's name, the date they started working with you, and a different column for each set of training tools. I recommend using this in the beginning, to ensure your team members get off to a good start. Thereafter, they can track their own and support other new members in the process.
2. CLEAR DEFINITION OF DUTIES OR ACTIONS
Imagine you're the new member of the team. You're enthusiastic, ready to go, and eager to make money. You spend the first few days or weeks wondering what you should be doing. You get a few instructions that seem more like suggestions, but so far you're producing zero results. What's missing?
Obviously, what's missing is a clear set of duties or actions that will lead to your success!
So as a team leader or office manager, make sure your training includes clearly defined actions your team members can take to produce results. These tasks must be in WRITING. They must occur in a sequence that makes sense and is do-able for the new person.
And right away, the new team member needs to experience success so they have a sense of belonging, and they can "do it." This requires extra attention from you in the beginning. Hold their hand. Walk them through things. Demonstrate how it's done. Allow their confidence to build and then watch them take off and do things on their own.
3. ACCOUNTABILITY & SUPPORT
It's all well and good to lead the horse to water, but if the horse doesn't drink, and you didn't check to see whether the horse drank, the horse will die of thirst.
What measures do you have in place to ensure your team is getting done what it needs to get done? Consider these options:
* A weekly team call
* Individual report/coaching sessions
* An online group project management system
* A weekly wrap-up email with news, reminders, acknowledgements
* A goal action sheet and weekly/monthly assessments
Whatever your structures look like, the important thing is to make sure the person is getting the training and development they need, and that they are doing what they say they will do -- in line with the goals they have stated. And that you, too, have a sense of whether or not people are meeting their goals, and if not, what is missing?
4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
There's no other way to keep people around you than to acknowledge them. It could be anything -- especially when people aren't "performing" yet still need the encouragement.
You can acknowledge people for the way they spoke to a client, or the way they presented information in a clear and concise way. You can acknowledge them for being a great listener and for offering interesting ideas and strategies. Perhaps you can acknowledge them for being supportive of other team members or staff.
Look for something every day to acknowledge people for. It's often those "mental notes" we're already taking in our heads that we just don't SPEAK. So next time you find yourself keeping it to yourself, such as "Wow, that was really nice of him." Or, "That was so great how she handled that situation." Bring it out into communication. Let people know what's so great about them.
Acknowledgement is infectious. Suddenly it will spread throughout your environment and create a healthy breeding ground long-term relationships and ultimately higher sales.
5. OPPORTUNITY TO EXCEL AND ADVANCE
There's nothing less inspiring than knowing "this is it." You can't go any further. Done. And while you may not be the person in charge of creating an opportunity for advancement, you may be someone who can help or hinder the process.
First, look at every person as someone who will excel and advance to the highest levels of the sales force or team. Find out what their goals are and cultivate an environment that allows them to get there. Check in with them periodically to ask them, "Are you making the progress you had hoped to make?" And if not, what can be done to alter that?
Give them incentives or educate them on the incentives available. Double-check your own motives if you find yourself withholding, or not being generous with people and the progress they want to make. Are you being a genuine leader or are you leading by keeping others down?
Infuse your entire team with a success mentality, an all for one and one for all mindset. Keep the conversation going and bring yourself into it. You are all advancing together and no one makes it without bringing up other members of the team.
About the author
After multiple layoffs Kennerly launched her first business in 2001, determined to decide for herself when she would go to work each day, how much vacation she would get and how much money she would make. She now helps others recognize the entrepreneur within and launch their own home businesses. Read her personal advice and tips here. from http://www.FreeArticlesAndContent.com
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