You’ve likely heard the saying, Nothing worth having comes easy. When it comes to developing your workforce, understand that you won’t just happen upon the perfect team. As the leader of your business and staff, you need to know how to build a high-performing team.
There is no formula that can guarantee an A-list workforce. When it comes to building high-performing teams, you must get creative.
With dedication, patience, and a little guidance, you’ll be off to developing high-performing teams in no time.
How to build a high-performing team
High-performing teams streamline productivity, foster company growth, and boost small business revenue. Does building a top-of-the-line workforce sound good to you?
Use the following six tips for creating high-performance teams in your small business.
1. Nip conflict in the bud
Conflict is always going to come up. Even if you have the most easy-going employees in the world, expect and prepare for differences of opinions.
Why? Gathering a team of strangers and asking them to work together for eight hours per day opens the door to tension.
Whether it’s the tiniest issue or a relatively large argument, you need to know how to handle conflict at work. Failing to address disputes between two or more employees can quickly turn a minor disagreement into an unproductive team.
Address conflict when you notice it. Set up a conflict-resolution meeting between employees to clear the air. Mediate the meeting to ensure a civil discussion.
Of course, you can’t prevent conflict. And in many cases, differences of opinion can positively pave the way to sharing viewpoints. But if you want to know how to build a high-performing team, you must address conflict before it gets out of hand.
2. Encourage employee development
Another step in building high-performing teams is to encourage employee growth. Rather than micromanaging, raise up new leaders in your small business.
To build a high-performing team, you need to invest in your team.
If possible, provide education assistance. Employees who take advantage of this benefit can further their education and learn new skills.
Provide ongoing training so employees don’t stay stagnant. Training can help employees take on new roles, further their knowledge, and hone their skills.
Think of ways that you can give your employees leadership roles. You don’t have to promote employees to manager to make them leaders. Consider forming committees or assigning leadership roles for projects.
By encouraging employee development, you equip your employees with the skills and knowledge to become high performers.
3. Prioritize communication
Your workforce will get nowhere if there is a lack of communication in your business.
Keep employees up-to-date with the happenings in your business. If there are new procedures, alert your staff as soon as possible.
Encourage communication among your employees. Communication is critical to making sure your employees complete their responsibilities and collaborate effectively.
When employees work together on projects, encourage them to use spreadsheets or project management software.
To guarantee communication amongst your team, set up periodic meetings. And, consider setting employees up with online communication tools, like Slack or Google Hangouts. Online chats can help employees communicate quickly, stay on top of their responsibilities, and form relationships.
4. Set feasible goals
Part of developing high-performing teams is setting goals that employees can constructively work towards. To build a high-performing team, you and your workforce need to create feasible goals.
Some examples of workplace goals include:
- Increasing your business’s new consumer rate by X%
- Boosting sales by X%
- Decreasing customer churn by X%
You might decide to call a goals meeting to determine your top priorities. That way, you aren’t the only one calling the shots. You and your team can work together to develop goals and come up with methods to reach them.
Create SMART goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, reasonable, and timely. You and your employees should be able to answer things like why you’re working toward the goal and how you’ll measure progress.
5. Recognize your employees
Recognition fuels many people. Your employees may work harder when you regularly recognize top-performing employees.
You may decide to recognize your employees with non-monetary awards. Make announcements about an employee’s job well done, send out a congratulatory email, or throw a party. Or, you can recognize top employees with bonuses, promotions, or raises.
Recognition goes beyond giving bonus pay or promoting an employee. Recognition also requires you to get to know your workers.
Build relationships with your employees to encourage loyalty, dedication, and engagement. Find out your workers’ interests outside of work. Learn about frustrations hindering them from accomplishing their work. Greet each employee when they come to work and tell them goodbye when they leave.
Come up with ways to show your employees you’re grateful for their work. For example, Patriot Software’s CEO and managers say “thank you” to their employees at the end of the workday.
Once you take the time to get to know employees and recognize their efforts, you may notice increased productivity.
6. Be a true leader
Managing high-performance teams is just as important (if not more) as creating them.
You may have assembled the best team of employees around. But with inefficient leadership, your A-list employees might end up performing at C level.
Are you a natural-born leader? If not, that’s OK. But, you need to set your sights on growing as a leader in business. You can start by channeling your passion for your business.
You must be optimistic and enthusiastic about your small business. If you aren’t excited about the work your venture does, how will your employees be?
Other characteristics of a true leader include trustworthiness, humility, patience, and the ability to listen to your workers. And, remember to lead by example.