Tag Archives: team

The 3 Major Principles of a Great Team for Entrepreneurs

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If you’re an entrepreneur, chances are your past experiences with teams are something like mine were:

a.) the jumbled, mismatched team at Mr. G’s Handy Hardware, where you worked summers during high school. The team at Mr. G’s was pasted together with relatives of the owner and people no one knew what they really did anymore.

b.) the boilerplate corporate team of ACME Amalgamated, your first “real” job, where your team included people with skill sets hired by HR who were secretly plotting to sabotage and overthrow each other. You got who you got, and most of them really didn’t want to work together as a team.

In your own small business, you’ll probably want to do better than that. You’ll need people on your team who can support you and who share your values, philosophies, and work style. The following three principles will get your team going in the right direction.

1.) Build a culture of interdependence. This is a departure from what you may have known in the past, and it’s key to keeping people loyal, happy, and committed in businesses with small teams. Instead of valuing people who can work independently, start valuing interdependence — people who can work well in a team.

Interdependence is fostered by information sharing, team meetings, encouraging input, and modeling the behavior. Teams that depend on each other have less project hoarding, internal jealousies, “prima donna-ism,” and complaints.

2.) Get your people to think and act like owners. Team members who have an idea what it means to run a business and are appreciated for their input will bring much more value to the company than those who don’t.

Regular communication and understanding of the direction and vision of the company, training, team building, and a plain old “thank you” every once in awhile will do much to prevent the sense of entitlement that can creep in, as well as the games people resort to when they don’t feel valued as part of a team.

3.) Focus on each person’s value to the organization. Know your people and their strengths, and let them do what they do best. This includes pushing down decision-making and problem solving systems, which will keep you from being the bottleneck in your own company.

This approach means problems get solved before they end up on your desk — if you can let team members work out their own solutions — and yes, occasionally fail. And as you know from your own failures, these lessons will be invaluable to your team members.

Marcia Hoeck teaches entrepreneurs strategies for creating businesses that will run without them. Want to know more about creating a business that will run without you? Read Marcia’s business and team building tips and claim her popular free special report “From Problem Team to Money-Making Machine: How to Turn Your Existing Staff Into a Successful Team That Makes Your Business More Profitable” at => http://www.mybreakthroughbusiness.com .

Team Effectiveness – 5 Factors to Manage

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1167779_row_of_towelsTo improve a team’s effectiveness, it is first necessary to understand the factors that impact its performance. Once you understand these factors you can determine when and what team development is needed.

In order for teams to function effectively they must manage how they work together and how they interact with the rest of the organization. As a result of his studies, Richard Beckhard (“Optimising Team Building Efforts”, Journal of Contemporary Business, Summer 1972) states that for teams to be effective they must manage four areas internal to the team: goals, roles, processes and relationships. Further research has identified a fifth factor impacting performance: how the team manages its interaction with the organisational environment. Within these factors is a hierarchy with some factors affecting all of the others. These five factors become the focus of attention for the manager who wants to raise team performance, because teams that effectively manage these areas function more effectively than teams that do not.

Environmental Influences – the impact of the organisation and the outside world on team performance.

The organisation creates the context within which the team functions. The policies, procedures and systems within an organisation can either support or hinder a team’s effectiveness. An excellent example is the impact an organisation’s reward system has on teamwork. Organisations typically reward only individual contribution. Few organizations have found ways to reward teams.

Signs to look for: The team is physically distant, not given enough resources to do the job, individuals are not recognized for team effort.

Goals – what the team is to accomplish

A team exists when members have responsibility for accomplishing a common goal. An effective team is aware of and manages:

1. The extent to which goals are clear, understood and communicated to all members
2. The amount of ownership of team goals
3. The extent to which goals are defined, quantified and deliverable
4. The extent to which goals are shared or congruent
5. The extent of goal conflict or divergence

Signs to look for: The goals are unclear or not communicated, everyone is doing their own thing and not participating in goal setting.

Roles – who does what on the team

Do all members understand what they and others are to do to accomplish the task? Do they know their individual responsibilities and limits of authority? In new teams time should be spent discussing and defining roles and responsibilities. As the team develops it is typical for individuals to build expectations and assumptions of others which are seldom recorded anywhere. These should be discussed and agreed upon.

Conflict may occur as a result of differing expectations among team members. Overlapping roles can create conflict, especially when two or more team members see themselves as responsible for the same task.

Signs to look for: Responsibilities are poorly defined, there is a power vacuum, members act independently and avoid responsibility.

Work Processes – how members work together

Once team members know what they are to do and who is to do it, they must determine how they will work together. Typical considerations are:

Decision making – how will each of the team members participate in decision making. Communication – what should be communicated within the team, to whom, by what method, when and how frequently? Meetings – what is the team trying to accomplish, what subjects are to be covered, who is responsible for the subject, how will the meeting be conducted, who should attend? Leadership style – the leader and the team need to agree the best style to meet the situation and the leader should be open to receiving feedback on their style.

Signs to look for: Meetings are unproductive or poorly attended, decision making is dominated by one or two people, actions taken without planning or communication is one way.

Relationships – the quality of interaction among team members

As team members work together, relationships often become strained. Members need ways to resolve problems and to assure that a good working relationship continues. Sometimes relationship problems occur because of a difference in values or a personality or management style clash. Managers may need to take an active role in soothing relationships during times of conflict. The more energy that is siphoned off because of bad feelings, attitudes or strong emotions, the less energy is available for the team’s task.

Signs to look for: Personality conflicts, or members are defensive or competitive.

Team development is a process aimed at improving team performance in any one or all of the five factors in the team hierarchy. After examining your team’s performance in these areas, your role as a manager is to identify where your focus for team development needs to be.

Copyright © 2009 Chiswick Consulting Limited; Pam Kennett is Founder and Director of Chiswick Consulting Limited a management consultancy which provides advice and direction to clients in marketing and human resources. Pam has more than 20 years experience working with teams and leadership groups to raise performance. Contact her at pam@chiswickconsulting.com or visit http://www.chiswickconsulting.com .

How to Write a Great Business Vision Statement

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852252_the_eye_of_a_peacockAs a small business start-up coach and consultant, one of my favorite things to do is help my clients write vision statements for their businesses. However, this isn’t always easy for them to do.
Why? Because they, like many people, think vision statements and mission statements are one and the same. They haven’t really stopped to consider what the purpose of a vision statement is or why having one could be an asset.

Vision statements are supposed to be big and bold. They’re meant to inspire, energize, and create a captivating picture of where you see your business going in the future.

If you don’t write a vision statement, your business will be without direction. When you complete one, your vision statement will supply the inspiration for the daily operations of your business and motivation for its strategic decisions.

Every business needs a vision statement. Want to make sure you’ve written a great one? Just follow these guidelines, fill out the vision statement formula at the end of this article, and you will have created a vision statement that clearly articulates the future of your business and paints a vivid picture for its success!

What’s the difference between a vision statement and a mission statement?

Vision and mission statements are two separate entities that answer two different, yet complementary, questions about your business.

Simply put, your vision statement answers the question, “Where do I see my business going?” Your mission statement answers the question, “Why does my business exist?”

From the start, vision statements are future-focused and written with the end result in mind. Mission statements are focused in the present and state the fundamental purpose of your business.

Which comes first: the vision or the mission?

If you are a new business just starting up, a larger company getting ready to add a new program, or an existing organization planning to overhaul your current services, then write your vision statement first.

If you are an established business with a mission statement already in place, then let your mission guide the writing of your vision statement.

Top Five Things to Keep in Mind When Writing Your Vision Statement

1. Describe outcomes that are five to ten years out.

2. Dream big and focus on success.

3. Write your vision statement in the present tense.

4. Infuse your vision statement with passion.

5. Paint a graphic mental picture of the business you want.

There is no space limit when writing a vision statement. They often contain one or more paragraphs. Write as much as you need to in order to create a dynamic mental picture of your business that will serve to energize and inspire you and your team.

Two Vision Statement Formulas for Success

Here are two basic vision statement formulas. The first one is for businesses starting up without a mission statement. The second is for businesses that already have a mission statement in place.

1. Five years from now, _______________________________ (name of your business)

will become a successful ___________________________ (type or description of business including whether it will be local, regional, national, or international in its scope)

by providing ____________________________(description of your products and/or services)

to _____________________________________________(your customers).

Example: Five years from now, the Sierra Women’s Shelter will become a successfully run non-profit shelter serving the Greater Pittsburgh area providing education, life-skills training, and the necessary support to help women who have been previously battered or abused build self-sufficient, sustaining, prosperous lives.

2. Within the next ________ (add a number) years,

grow ___________________________________ (name of your business)

into a successful _______________________________________ (type or description of business including whether it will be local, regional, national, or international in its scope),

increasing revenues to ____________________________ (amount) by _________________ (date)

providing _______________________________(description of your products and/or services)

to _____________________________________________(your customers).

Example: Within the next five years, grow Cultural Awareness Travel into the premier North American women’s tour company increasing revenues to $225,000 by 2012 by becoming known for helping women to develop greater self-awareness and confidence and to discover a new respect for diversity through cross-cultural exposure.

Your vision statement sets the tone for your business. It defines its future. It inspires, energizes, motivates, and, above all else, describes what will be achieved if your business is successful. It is impossible to plan the direction of your business without one. Follow these guidelines, and use the vision statement formula to perfectly articulate your dream, your passion, and the direction you envision for your business.

Dr. Susan L. Reid is a business coach and consultant for entrepreneurial women starting up businesses. She is the author of “Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Journey to Business Success.”