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Business Bites: Building the ‘Dream Team’

Author: By Ellen Morley, Principal of The Business Company, Shrewsbury
Last Updated: 10/10/2011 12:24:36 PM

Summary

A group of like-minded colleagues working together towards a common goal will achieve more success than a single individual. Yet if you are the owner or leader of a small business you will know how easy it is to try and 'wear all the hats' yourself.

Article

But that can be a big mistake if you: (a) hope to build a thriving and sustainable business that does not always require your physical presence to keep it afloat (b) hope to eventually sell your business, retire, or at least have those options available to you (c) want a life and some semblance of balance outside of your business

If you can identify with any of the above things you need to plan and pro-actively build a' dream team' in  whom you have complete trust. 

Step One to building the dream team is to look at the existing skills and latent talent within your business. Review your team and the jobs they do. Identify shortfalls, gaps or overload which might be affecting efficiency and preventing the business from achieving its maximum potential. Also look for unexploited potential.

Through a skills analysis of everyone involved in the business you will be able to identify what staff you may need to train, engage, fire or hire, to ensure that you have the right expertise in place to support your long term strategic business plan. Remember, your people are your key business asset and your success can be affected by their performance.

Do not forget to include yourself in the skills review. Take a critical look, especially at your planning and communication skills - do you have a clear plan for developing the business, have you shared it with your team? The way your staff react, do their jobs, show commitment, is all down to how you communicate with them. 

Identifying skills and talent in your people is, however, not enough on its own. You must also put plans and strategies into place to create accountability and engage people with the core mission, values and objectives of the business.  This is where the services of a good team facilitator can be beneficial, acting as a catalyst to build trust and communication and provide mentoring and coaching to ensure business goals are achieved.  External facilitators can bring the benefit of broader business experience without the full time investment in salary. Unlocking the potential in your staff will unlock the door to greater profitability.