Most new startup founders work alone to develop their plan or a solution to a problem, but eventually, realise that starting and growing a business requires more. However, many don’t realise that building a team is as critical and complicated as building a solution.

 

To help you build a successful business, you need to start first with your startup team. Remember that the people you choose to work with can make or break your business.

 

This article will explain the six steps that will help you build a winning startup team.

 

Here are six steps that will help you build a winning startup team.

 

Start with you. Be an example.

Self-awareness is the foundation of everything good. A formidable team begins with you.

 

As a startup CEO and entrepreneur asking others to believe in and help you achieve a specific vision, you can’t expect your team members to trust and follow you if you don’t exhibit character excellence you want to see emulated around you.

 

There will be moments when you are frustrated with leadership because you may not have the answers. And that’s the way it should work.

 

But there will also definitely be moments that you will recognise as opportunities for teaching. Use these sparingly, so you don’t give the impression of being a micromanager, but spot them when they arrive and give tasteful constructive feedback when you see things might be going off-track.

 

Always support your team and help them get through. Positive feedback works wonders.

 

Employees will gain better insight into how their boss sees their work when they receive feedback. They are learning what they do well and what they can improve. Positive feedback is particularly significant because it boosts workers’ morale and gives them a sense of purpose at work.

 

Also, you need to identify the core strengths and weaknesses you possess. Assess what you bring to the table and how it will help your startup team.

 

Foster a talent for listening. If you want to retain integrity as a leader and want your goals to remain on track, understanding when you don’t have the answers is crucial. Maintain a literal and figurative open-door policy so that the members of your team know that they can bend your ear whenever they want, share suggestions or check in on a personal level.

 

Define your desired business culture and find people who fit.

An organisation’s culture defines the right way to behave within the organisation. This culture consists of leaders’ shared beliefs and values and then communicated and reinforced through various methods, ultimately shaping employee perceptions, behaviours, and understanding. Organisational culture provides the context for what a company does. Because industries and conditions differ significantly, there is no one-size-fits-all culture template that meets all organisations’ needs.

 

It would be best to assemble people who are willing and able to work unitedly as a team. Getting subject matter experts (SMEs) is necessary but not sufficient.

 

You need team members who align in their thinking and action. Find individuals who share your vision of success and trust you and what you set out to do. Teams who do big things do not spontaneously or casually team up. They can take advantage of failure without losing confidence because every organisation has many unknowns.

 

Everyone must choose to activate, contribute, and connect.

Make sure to get everyone on board. Each member must be prepared to bring their best to their role, bring out the best in others, and choose to collaborate across their areas of expertise to convey a successful new business’s shared objective.

 

You can try a  creative ‘sprint’ or brainstorm. Creativity can’t be coerced, but an old-fashioned sit-down brainstorm has plenty to say. The goal is to create as many new ideas, or solutions, or next steps as possible within a fixed period as a team. Give it a try.

 

Also, make it clear how you will measure each person’s results. Communicating your vision in a positive, enthusiastic way will ensure that your employees connect actively with what you have set out to accomplish with the organisation. Take internal steps to guarantee that everyone talks about your mission, vision and values in one voice.

 

Give Constant Feedback

It is essential to get in the habit of providing routine feedback. Feedback is a constant, ongoing process, not an occasional performance evaluation. Con­tin­u­ous feed­back uses employee’s strengths, areas for improve­ment, con­cerns and pas­sions as tools for discussion. If an employ­ee is strug­gling in a par­tic­u­lar area, con­tin­u­ous feed­back focus­es on how they can improve. If an employ­ee is strong at some­thing, con­tin­u­ous feed­back focus­es on how they can lever­age that strength for the ben­e­fit of the team or the organ­i­sa­tion.

 

Offer your employees appreciation for something that went remarkably well. Use an actual effort as an opportunity to build a best practice in the future. You are going to succeed or fail as a team.

 

Also, remember that for feedback to be useful, always focus on a specific behaviour. You want to describe clearly the behaviour that requires change or improvement, not an individual or their intentions.

 

Team-building training

Team building games, exercises and activities help build teams, develop employee motivation, improve communications and are fun. It warms up meetings, enhances training, and liven up conferences. It can get employees in harmony with others.

 

It will focus on technical aspects while some team building activities for corporates could stress improving interpersonal communication. It helps new employees adapt to your startup environment. It can also enhance business projects, giving specific business outputs and organisational benefits.

 

You can look for various team building activities here.

 

Set objective goals with a clear vision.

Whoever joins your team must be conscious of what they need to do and why they need it. Everyone needs your vision to be shared and find self-motivation from that vision. The story you tell lays the foundation for the motivation of teams.

 

Create a story about the vision of your organisation that your team can relate to. Even during the recruiting process, be clear about the long-term vision, KPIs and personal or team-specific priorities.

 

According to Ambition, the organisations that achieve this most successfully are rigorous in evaluating where they are now, where they want to be, and what they need to do to get there. Those that don’t are less likely to achieve their strategic objectives. Because of the lack of clear direction, they are less likely to develop, expand and improve.

 

Always communicate your vision, purpose and values across as many platforms as possible to reach all stakeholders. The current and prospective employees, governors, students, the local government, local media and local businesses are among your stakeholders.

 

Your marketing campaigns need to use all the outlets available from your internal newsletters, external publications, prospectus, website, induction and recruitment packs, and social media to ensure that they are conveyed and regularly reiterated to them.

 

Make an effort to obtain all the main stakeholders’ views and ideas to help move the vision forward. Show how the vision has a positive effect on the work-life of each individual. We all contribute further when we see our efforts positively impact the company’s vision.

 

Summary

Building a winning startup team requires a significant level of responsibility, honesty, and a great relationship from both ends. Since each team is a group of people, and since each person is unique, then each team is also unique by definition. It also takes consideration and care to assemble our teams in the office, or anywhere else. It is a chance that should not be lost if we have the opportunity of building a team from the ground up.

 

To construct the team in the right way, take the time to take some careful, rational steps. You, and all the others on your new team, are going to be the best for it.