Resources

Creating great teams

When creating an effective team, I think there are three important things that you must keep in mind; yes, you can make a strong case for many other criteria, but today I want to concentrate on just these three.

The first thing is to work out your own strengths and weaknesses and then seek team members who will be strong where you are weak and vice versa. They should also bring a different point of view to the discussion, as a result of their difference and be willing to strongly represent that viewpoint. You, as team leader, should go out of your way to encourage everyone to state their viewpoint and don’t get scared by a bit of conflict, just make sure you retain control.

Secondly, you should try and find team members who are smarter than you are and then don’t allow yourself to be intimidated by their superior intellect; there are very good reasons why you are the leader and they are part of the team.

Finally, before making the final selection, ensure that you have a clear vision for what you are trying to achieve and that those you select can see that vision and want to be part of it. This means you have to give them a powerful and passionate rendition of your vision.

Out of those three points, I would have to say that the final point is the most important. If you can’t articulate a powerful vision, then it makes it very difficult, if not impossible to achieve an optimum outcome. One of the reasons I so passionately believe that this new course we are building, called Your Business Edge, will be successful, along with our Your Business Edge event on 17th May, will be so successful, is the team that I’ve been able to assemble.

Let me introduce this remarkable team; there is Alex Martin, providing all the grunt to keep us moving, has an honours degree in science, with a major in maths and statistics; Dr. Ivy Lourel, providing us an insight into business consulting to major corporations, has a doctorate in aeronautical science; Peter Hickey, providing us with the software to support what we are doing, has over 20 years’ experience in consulting and software support and finally Baz Gardner, providing us with incredible insight into how to use social media to build successful businesses, has over 20 years as a successful consultant, especially in the area of social media.

And Me? I’m just the “cherry on the top”, bringing 40 years’ experience working in and with small business. So, how could I wish for a better team? How can we not be successful?