We recently celebrated Mi-PA’s 11th birthday (happy birthday to us), and we had a festival-themed party at my house. The whole team came over, we had fantastic props, and it was an amazing night.

It was such a great night that it got me thinking about teams and what it takes to build a strong team. When you mention ‘staff’ and the hiring process to a group of business owners, more than a few eyes will roll. There’s a common stereotype floating about the entrepreneurial sphere that things would be 10x easier if you didn’t need a team.

I couldn’t disagree more. Yes, managing a group of human beings with different interests, values and goals can be difficult. However, building a high-performing team is about more than gathering a group of people whose CV’s tick all our boxes.

Here’s just a few useful tips and ideas to help you build your dream team:

1. Be authentic with your team

Nobody likes working for a shell of a person. As the leader, you’ve got to be authentic and demonstrate the work ethos of the business. You need to be aware of how you’re leading your team.

You can’t, for instance, claim that excellent customer service is at the heart of the business and yet, your customer service skills are rubbish. Or, the way you interact with your team is not conducive to a positive and productive atmosphere.

As the leader, you’ve got to demonstrate what it takes to run a business and how you’d like your team to act and interact with others. If necessary, you may need to modify your approach to certain aspects of your business.

2. Keep a Level Head in Stressful Situations

One of the things a leader should never do is lose it. If you lose control of your temper or emotions, things can head south really fast. Even if a team member makes a mistake, you must deal with the issue in a way that isn’t going to leave them feeling reluctant to ever come to you to talk about an issue or problem they may have.

When something goes wrong, you’ve got to be responsible enough to use it as an opportunity for growth. There’s always a lesson to be learned. If you focus more on why something went wrong, rather than pointing the finger and blaming someone, your team will thank you for it.

Losing it in front of your team can be detrimental. You can’t recover what you’ve lost. Your team will always remember how you acted, what you said and there’s a good chance they’ve already started scrolling through job ads on LinkedIn.

Keep a level head in stressful situations and figure out a way to put a process or system in place to make sure that mistakes aren’t repeated.

3. Give your team clear objectives

You can’t expect your team to perform their best and do everything right when they’ve no idea what ‘right’ looks like. Giving your team clear objectives of what you want them to deliver is so important.

There’s nothing worse than not knowing what you’re meant to be doing and then receiving criticism because you didn’t know what the finished service, product or task was supposed to look like.

So, you’ve got to give your team clear objectives. The key to most people’s happiness is progress. If a team member feels like they’re making progress and understand what 100% looks like in their role, it helps manifest a more productive workforce that knows precisely what they need to do and how they can achieve it.

4. Look after your team

If you look after your team, they’ll look after you.

Remember that your team are people. They all have their own hopes and dreams. They’ve got families and friends they care about. And, like everyone else, they appreciate being treated with respect.

At Mi-PA, I always strive to make sure that my team enjoy where they work. I want them to go home knowing that they’ve done a good day’s work and contributed to the business. I want my team to care about Mi-PA. And, I believe that by showing that I care about them and letting them grow as individuals openly is a great way to achieve that.

You should ultimately aim to build a team that can run the business just as well when you’re out of the office as it does when your present. You need to be able to attend a networking event or go on a holiday with peace of mind knowing that your business is running as smoothly as possible.

Want to free up your time so you can put more focus on creating consistent content for your business? We can help. Call me on 0161 820 6080 or email me at emma@mi-pa.co.uk.

Or visit our services page to discover in more detail the diverse range of services we offer like-minded entrepreneurs and businesses right here. <https://mi-pa.co.uk/services/>