Building an Effective Team – Choosing the best candidates to get the job done.

As a company leader, your time is as valuable as it is limited. You depend on your teams to take care of day to day business and make effective decisions in line with your organization’s purpose and best interest. The key is an autonomous, powerful team that works effectively without you available every minute.

Each unit of your workforce exists as part of a whole. A harmonious workforce is necessary for optimum output.

1. Establish clear expectations. A lack of communication is often at the root of unproductive conflict. Unmet expectations cost resources and foster resentment and frustration. To avoid these negative consequences, always provide clear expectations to direct reports and team leads. Give your group every opportunity to exceed expectations and make your job easier.
2. Define roles and be consistent. The moving parts of a group can work efficiently if individual team members are secure in their roles. Avoid clash and confusion with definitive and consistent roles. This increases individual accountability and promotes efficiency.
3. Build trust and respect.  If you demand quality out of your team, you should demonstrate the same ideals. Deliver on promises and establish open communication to be viewed as reliable and worthy of trust. Be open to candor to promote a cooperative atmosphere for open communication among your team and organization.
4. Consider the stages of recruitment.
   • • Assess individual traits. Hiring goes beyond finding someone competent. You need an individual who adds to the team and delivers consistently. Establish a candidate’s willingness to face challenges, situational reasoning, outlook on work ethic and collaborative attitude in the beginning. Amassing a team of individuals with these characteristics takes you that much closer to your autonomous team.
   • Involve the team. A new hire has to bond with the group. Who better to determine if a recruit’s personality fits than your team? Competency and qualifications are important, but so is the compatibility of team members to work toward a goal. For the purpose of trust and respect, personality and social skills aid communication and bring a team together.