By Lina Martinez
The success of a startup can depend on many things. One of the most vital elements for success will be the people you work with to make it happen. Finding and shaping the right team for your business can help you to deliver results, while also making sure you’ve got good people around you. Ready to assemble? Here’s how to build the dream team for your startup.
Decide which job roles you need to fill
Before you think about doing any hiring, it’s important that you spend some time working out exactly what sort of roles your startup needs. Will you be directly responsible for your team or would you appoint some executives to manage others? Develop an organizational structure that works for your startup, and then you can set out to fill those roles.
Hire a team, not individuals
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In recent years, there have been several developments in the way that business’ recruit. One of them is through hiring teams rather than individuals. This might sound difficult, but there are different ways you can do this. You could look to take over existing startups and bringing their pre-formed teams on board, or you could adopt different interview approaches that places people in a group setting and assess their skills from that. Hiring a team can benefit your business in several ways, allowing employees to gel together and bring their creativity to the fold - without feeling pressured to conform to existing team behaviors.
Be clear about your vision
As a business leader, it’s important that you set out your objectives on how you’d like your organization to look like and what you expect from your team. Make it clear that you have a vision for an open and creative work environment and that they are integral to making that happen. Setting out your goals to your team will give them something to work towards, and help them to develop a better understanding of where they fit within your startup.
Create a more open work environment
One way to encourage your team to bond better and develop good working practices is to break away from the traditional office layout. The marketing and tech industries are embracing open-plan offices, which can help to foster creativity and break down barriers that can happen when people have an office behind four walls or people within the same team sit in different parts of the building.
There are several benefits of open plan offices, and it could be the best way to get your business off to a good start. Consider building an office that uses glass and open spaces to help create a more collaborative culture among your employees. Make sure that you include some places to think and get ideas, as well as larger working spaces for your team to come together and brainstorm.
Embrace collaborative working tools
More and more businesses are seeing the benefits of flexible working. Technology now makes it possible for workers to work from home, work in other countries and work the hours and times of day that best suit their needs. With this development, more and more collaborative working tools are being developed to help make this a natural and easy progression for businesses. Finding an effective content curation platform can help your business to manage flexible working and provide a cohesive space that enables people to share updates and ideas. These sorts of applications are becoming the norm for many businesses, helping to fulfill project management needs while also enabling creativity.
As well as content creation platforms, you can consider using other tools to help keep your team on the same page such as cloud office applications and instant messaging tools. Giving your team the tools it needs to work better together will help to eliminate any problems that can come from more modern ways of working.
Create a social atmosphere
Workplace happiness is important. If people are happy in their jobs, they are less likely to pursue other opportunities and are more loyal to their employers. While part of that comes from a fair salary and good benefits, the working environment itself can play a vital role.
Offices that encourage teamwork and offer a more social environment are proven to contribute to workplace happiness - something which you can help to fulfill. Arrange social events, encourage off-site meetings and develop a more social culture that allows colleagues to get to know each other. Regular team lunches or after-work drinks can help people feel more comfortable with their colleagues and create a better overall work atmosphere.
Set team objectives
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Setting team objectives as opposed to just individual ones will help teams to work better together to fulfill organizational goals. Giving a team a goal will not only drive them to work more collaboratively, but it also helps each individual to establish how they can contribute to these objectives. Develop objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Timed) and revisit them on a regular basis to make sure that they’re still relevant to your business.
Regular performances reviews should be encouraged, and these can be done on a more informal basis to create a more relaxed working culture. Evaluating projects, highlighting successes and focusing on the lessons learned can ensure that your team always strives to work better.
Don’t be afraid to outsource
When it comes to running your startup, you might not always be able to fill a role internally. This could be due to budget constraints or due to the nature of the work. Hiring contractors or freelancers can bring in skills and requirements that may not be required full-time, or bring expertise that your team lacks. While they might not always be present in the building, there are still ways that you can make freelancers feel like part of the team, and you should try to do so for more effective working.
Learn to deal with conflict
Conflict in the workplace can be inevitable - not everyone will see eye to eye all the time. When issues arise within a team, it’s important that they are dealt with quickly. Animosity and tension can tear your team apart and create an unhappy working environment, leading some of your best assets to consider opportunities elsewhere. Deal with conflict as it arises and ensure issues are resolved in a calm and constructive way that leaves both sides in agreement. Encourage an open and transparent communication policy where employees feel like they can have their say and not feel afraid to come to you with problems.
Reward your team
While passion and enthusiasm are key motivators for employees, there’s no harm in offering a generous rewards package too. Aside from salaries, an attractive benefits and rewards package can also help to motivate staff and keep your startup a desirable place to work.
Basic benefits such as healthcare should be included as standard, but there are more creative benefits you can offer that will prove useful to employees. Discounts, days out and other rewards set your company apart from the rest, giving something for your team to work towards while also helping you to retain the best talent. Try thinking of some creative employee benefits that you can offer to help maintain job satisfaction and company loyalty.
Focus on development
Giving your employees development opportunities is a benefit for both your business and for themselves. Offering training opportunities allows your employees to develop new skills and enhance existing ones to help make sure they stay on top of their game. In addition to skills-boosting development, why not consider some other development opportunities that could give your employees the chance to pursue their other interests? Some training courses may not be relevant to the job they’re in at the moment, like a language or photography course, but could prove useful in the future.
Learn from others
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Another new practice being observed by startups and other businesses involves collaborating with other businesses. This may seem daunting to a new startup, but there are many benefits that could prove useful in helping you achieve success.
Working with other businesses allows the opportunity to share knowledge and experience and provide perspectives from different industries. Marketing, communications and digital companies will often take opportunities to learn best practice from other businesses to help gain an insight into how others approach challenges, while also getting inspiration for future projects.
On a more basic level, working with other businesses can increase your exposure while also providing network opportunities. Try not to see all other businesses as competition, there are some out there who could provide you with some great benefits and present some exciting opportunities in the future.
Building a dream team takes a lot of work, but it’s work worth doing to give your startup the right start. Focus on helping to build a team that works well together and shares your commitment to helping your startup succeed. Demonstrating good leadership on your part will help inspire drive and commitment, making your startup an exciting and passionate place to work.