Creating A Cohesive Team For Your Business

While you might have started your home business as a one-person entity, your freelancing may have taken off in such a way, that you now need to expand to cope with demand. It doesn’t matter whether you write copy for local businesses, whether you provide accountancy services for SMEs or whether you import and sell ball bearings from Hong Kong, you need a cohesive team to help drive your business forward.

Moving from a freelancer to an employer can be a difficult transition. However, get it right and you could have an expanding business that is making profits and surpassing its rivals. If you are looking to hire employees for the first time, you need to make sure that you seek those individuals that buy into your business vision and uphold your ethos. At the same time, it’s crucial that you can show your team that you value them, respect them and that you reward them for their efforts. As a new business, you won’t have the highest wages, but you might have the best working environment. Take a look at how you can create the cohesive team that you crave.

Praise

Ensure that you don’t turn into one of those bosses that remains out of view and aloof at all times. You may become the mythical character that people begin to resent. Instead, get out on the shop floor, be present and talk to your team. Get to know your staff by name and take an interest in their lives. While you might not want to know the ins and outs of your admin assistant’s divorce proceedings, just knowing that they are going on may account for their lack of focus or low mood.

Ensure that you have a briefing every Monday to discuss the targets for the week. This can be a forum for your team to air their views and provide ideas. Most management tips put communication at the heart of conflict management and productivity. This is crucial to ensure that your team can become cohesive. Every Friday, send out an email summing up the progress that the team has made. Namecheck those team members who have gone above and beyond. This tiny bit of positive praise can boost morale and increase productivity. At the same time, don’t reduce efficiency by holding too many meetings, as this is a trap that many businesses fall into. There are solutions for too many meetings, so embrace them if you feel you’re going too far in that direction.

Environment

If you have a workplace that has seen better days, there’s mold on your window seals and it’s never warm enough, it’s time to give your office an overhaul. As an employer, it’s up to you to create an environment that facilitates productive working. No one wants to head into work every morning worried about their WiFi cutting out, their hardware breaking or their feet getting frostbite.

Get rid of the subpar laptops and get in some decent hardware. Give your routers and servers a facelift and ensure that your equipment and working practices are sound. The immediate environment also needs to be pleasant. Whip in some greenery, sort out your mold, swap the strip lights for more focused and energy efficient LEDs, and get rid of the desktop booths in favor of some collaborative meeting pods. This enables your team to have a more inclusive environment to work in. They can bounce ideas off of one another, the atmosphere will be more productive and your team will be more inclined to look forward to coming into the office every morning.

Hire Well

Forget about going for those candidates that have decades of experience and Ivy League college degrees. These individuals will expect an exceptional remuneration package and you will be under more pressure to placate their concerns. Instead, go for those job hunters that want to gain experience in a smaller firm, that are eager to take on responsibility early, and that are more concerned with working environment and teamwork than money.

Get the candidates in and see how they get on with existing colleagues. A sense of humor and a shared ethos goes much further than someone who has great PowerPoint skills. These business skills can be taught, personality and work ethic cannot. Interview by asking specific scenario based questions. Just because they have a witty answer about their favorite animal doesn’t tell you a lot about their ability to give a strong and persuasive oral presentation. Consider the skills you need and match them to the employees you hire. By being upfront about the package and rewards you can offer in return, you are more likely to secure the commitment of a long term employee.

It can be difficult to hire employees for the first time. However, follow this guide and you will create a cohesive team that will help your business thrive.