Building Your Most Important Asset – Your Team

Posted 20 Oct

Building Your Most Important Asset – Your Team

When you’re running a small business, you’re only as good as the team around you. Hiring the right people is a start, but how do you turn your employees into a well-oiled dream team?

Our employees all have different personalities and different ideas about how to do their jobs. It’s important to recognise this because having a deep understanding of people is worth its weight in gold. If you can enable each employee to channel their strengths and shine in a way that benefits your business, then you’re on the right track.

Here are some tips to get you started:

• Explain your business vision – Start by setting the scene for your employees. Let them know what they’re aiming for and help them to understand the goals of your business. This will include talking about the culture you want to build, describing your future plans and explaining the business environment such as relationships with customers, prospects and partners. Use ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ when talking about your business so your employees feel included and part of the team.

• Involve them early and often - It's important to quickly get your employees involved in the day-to-day running of your business. Keep them active and use their strengths to help them integrate and develop. Celebrating wins along the way will give employees a sense of belonging and help them see the impact they have on your business.

• Define roles clearly - Everyone needs to know their job – what's expected of them and what's not. If you don't make this clear, the morale of your employees will suffer, which will affect progress and efficiency. So be sure to update roles and task lists frequently. Then your employees will know what they're supposed to be doing.

• Keep negatives in check - Spotting and resolving problems early on is critical to keeping team culture alive. Personality clashes, micromanagement and competing agendas can really damage a team. Be aware of the potential for these problems to arise and do what you can to prevent them.

• Team-building that won’t break the bank - While playing paintball or go-karting can be a great way to get your employees to gel, team-building doesn’t need to be elaborate or expensive. Knocking off early on a Friday for drinks and nibbles at the local pub can be equally valuable.

• Let your team know that you value them - This is important and quite straightforward. You simply have to take an interest in your staff. Show them you care, focus on personal growth, invest in your employees, celebrate the little victories, be positive and stay positive.

For your team to thrive you must be approachable, friendly, authoritative and responsible. In other words, a good manager and leader. You may need training to help you become a better manager and there's no shame in that. Running a business is a learning process – and just like your employees, you can learn and improve. After all, the better you are at managing people, the better your team will perform and the faster your business will grow.

Contact your WDF Professional team member if you would like to discuss further how we can help you with your business. Phone 02 6921 5444 or email accountants@wdf.com.au