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Team Management for your New Business

Guest post by: Carrie Langstroth

Article Overview: Although forming an organized and responsive team for a small business may look like a daunting task, a few essentials and guidelines can make team management quite simple.

Team Management for your New Business

Forming an organized and responsive manpower base for your new business may seem like an uphill task, but once you've got a few essentials and 'guidelines' in place, this need not be such an impossible thing after all. The key is to know what you want.

What you need to know: Here's presenting a concise list of what you should ideally be looking to do when it comes to team building:

• § Build a team, not a posse: When it comes to realizing your professional goals, make sure you zero in on efficient, hard working people who have the same business aspirations and objectives that you do. Being a team player means you have to accept the shortcomings and quirks of individuals just as you would readily accept their strengths.

Making friends a part of your small business is a great thing, just as long as you are confident of their ability to devote as much time and effort to your 'baby' as you would. Work before play comes to mind here.

• § It's all about the "C's": Creativity. Competence. Clarity. Commitment and Communication. There are a bunch of other great adjectives beginning with this letter, and any marketing or business guide will tell you so, but this really is a no brainer. New business, especially when comprising of a small but core team at its center, must be geared by individuals who possess these traits.

No one is asking you to look out for Superman, but if you can gather a bunch of people who seem to possess one or more traits in question here, you are all set.

• § Outline your business goals and philosophy: To ensure that everyone is working toward the same (realistic and measurable) target or objective, it is essential that every member of your team is well informed and knowledgeable about your corporate goals because they reflect heavily on the team's purpose. Ensure that each member has a pivotal role to play in the functioning of your enterprise; don't dump all the important work on 4 people in a team of 5, and leave the 5^th one chewing his or her pencil while lazily browsing Paris Hilton's blog.

The working relationship within your team must be symbiotic, that is to say, one person's work must complement or support that of another.

• § Show some appreciation: Reward, reward, reward. If you don't want people snitching behind your back while you harp on the merits of team work, make sure the people who work hard to help your small business grow are given the merit and recognition they deserve.

This is not to say that you should resort to bribing them though! If you find that a person is not giving a 100%, encourage them and be a friend, clear whatever doubts they may have and help them if they seem to be unclear about a task they have been given. Nevertheless, if this happens all too often, you may have placed your bets on the wrong person.

• § Focus on team building exercises: When you are starting out on your project, it would be a good thing to spend some time and effort finalizing some fun activities to 'de-stress' and lighten up the work atmosphere. Take a few hours off your work week to lift the pressure off your team and yourself.

Discuss the possibility of some outdoor games, a barbeque night every weekend, or just plain lounging around and having beer with your 'squad'; they will appreciate this and take to their work more readily than if you were to be more of an ogre than a motivator.

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Article Tags: new business, responsive team, small business, team management
Referred by: http://jaykubassek.com



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