The Secret to Building a Successful Team
How do you build a successful team? Creating a successful team goes beyond bringing people together. In this episode, you will learn the secret to building a thriving team. Andrea and Michelle lay out the key factors that help your team perform better. From improving communication, optimizing skills, and incorporating team-building activities can all drive team success. Explore the benefits of building successful teams and how to achieve it here.
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Expand Your Leadership Skills.
How to Build a Successful Business Team
Many factors play into having a successful business, but no matter who you ask, team building will always be one of the top business priorities for leaders to work on.
Every great business needs a strong team, from large corporations to small startups. To achieve success, organizations mustn´t have just any team but a group of committed professionals who work together toward a common goal. However, building an effective team is easier said than done.
This Leadership Hustle episode discusses the importance of effective team building and how this will benefit our company in the long run.
What Is A Business Team?
The first step to building a successful team is understanding what a team really is. Sure, a team can be any group of people, but that's not the kind of team we want for a business.
For entrepreneurs, a team is not just persons thrown together to complete a task. A dedicated business team Is a group of individuals with unique skill sets who work together, complement and support each other toward achieving the company's goal.
How Do I Lead A Team?
Being a team leader is more than just establishing tasks and telling people what to do. In reality, most business executives don´t really lead a team; they just lead a group of people and give instructions.
Sure, that is, in a way, the job of a team leader, but giving directions, it´s not the only thing. As a good team leader, you motivate and guide your team toward achieving common goals. It's about building trust, setting clear expectations, encouraging collaboration, leading with empathy, and celebrating successes.
Don´t Lose Sight of The #1 Team
In any organization, there will always be more than one team, and even though we might be part of all of them, we need to establish our #1, the team we owe our loyalty to.
Most people think the team they lead must be #1, which makes sense since that tends to be the team we spend more time with. However, the team we lead should always be #2.
Team #1 is about decision-making, setting direction, paste, and establishing company expectations. This team is usually formed by owners, directors, team leaders, the CEO, CFO, etc. On the other hand, the rest of the teams and departments should work with the shared goals established by the #1 team.
All This doesn't mean the other teams aren´t as important; it means that our job is to ensure that our team meets company goals.
Focusing solely on one team makes it easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. You may develop tunnel vision and miss out on important information about the company's overall strategy. By staying connected to the #1 team, you'll better understand how the team you lead fits into the larger picture. This knowledge will help you make better decisions and take your team towards more significant achievements.
Consciously Build A Team
Why is team building important in leadership and business? Team building encourages communication, collaboration, trust, and respect among team members, leading to a more productive and positive work environment.
Creating a team is an intentional activity, like building a house. The foundation must be strong for the structure to stand tall.
By understanding the importance of team building in the workplace and taking the time to do intentional activities, you can build a stronger team and deepen work relationships; This can be as simple as going to lunch, playing a game, or doing integration exercises.
By establishing a culture of teamwork, employees can trust that their colleagues are working towards the same goals and can rely on each other for support when needed.
What Are The Main Components Of Building A Solid Team?
Once you have created a good work environment and a strong team, how do you maintain it? How do you keep your team strong?
These are the main components that keep a solid team working:
Clarity Of Expectations:
One of the most crucial components of building a solid team is ensuring that all members clearly understand what is expected of them. This means holding them accountable for their work and setting clear boundaries of what is acceptable and not in the company.
Mind Your Words:
Words have an immense impact on the individuals who hear them. As a leader, you must be mindful of your language when interacting with your team members. Some words can unintentionally create division, while others can inspire and motivate. Leaders should choose their words carefully and always strive to communicate positively.
Clear Communication:
Effective communication is paramount when building a solid team. Every team member should feel comfortable speaking up and having open conversations. As the leader, you should facilitate open communication by setting up regular meetings and encouraging feedback.
By understanding who is your #1 team, setting clear goals, and doing intentional bonding activities in the workplace, you can contribute to the overall success of an organization. So don´t be afraid to invest your time and resources in building a stronger team.
About the Hosts
Andrea Fredrickson
Andrea Fredrickson is a thought leader and consultant at Revela, an organization based in Omaha, Nebraska specializing in the development of leaders, culture alignment, and business strategy for private and family businesses of all sizes. Revela is one of the region's most experienced thought challengers, helping individuals and companies find their greatness. Andrea has built an amazing team by believing that fundamentally people want to be successful and become better versions of themselves.
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Andrea has degrees in education, management, and business. She is the author of Insight Unseen; How to lead with 20/20 business vision. She helps people see things differently, self-reflect, and never stop looking for ways to improve themselves on a personal and professional level. Andrea has spent more than 30 years researching and developing methods to help people communicate and lead more effectively.
When Andrea isn’t working with clients, you’ll find her spending time with her family & friends and making memories by exploring new cities.
Michelle Hill
Michelle Hill is a master facilitator and coach at Revela, an organization specializing in the development of leaders and aligning the culture of privately held and family businesses of all sizes. Revela is one of the region's most experienced thought challengers, helping individuals and companies find their greatness.
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An ambitious leader, Michelle has the natural ability to create forward momentum to build teams and get results. She inspires others to look within themselves and to challenge the status quo. She helps create high-performing environments. Michelle brings a diverse background: operations, employee development, and sales in the steel, hospitality, and consulting industries.
Outside of work, you will see her competitive side engaged in her daughter’s sports and ISU athletics. She loves life, her four-legged companions, and captures all the moments through her camera’s lens.
TRANSCRIPT
Andrea Frederickson: You've hired the right people, you've put them on a team and things are not going as planned. That's your fault. In this episode, we'll show you how to make your team work. Hello and welcome to the Leadership Hustle. For executives whose companies are growing fast and need leaders who are ready. Welcome back to the next episode of The Leadership Hustle, a podcast for executives whose companies are growing fast and need leaders who are ready. I'm your host, Andrea Fredrickson, and I am here with my co-host, Michelle Hill.