Why are businesses starting to focus more and more on how to create a team? Can’t single players bring the company the results it needs?

 

The fact is that an effective team is a guarantee that the business will achieve its goals on time.

 

Imagine you are the head of a small IT company. In the first case, your employees work on an “every man for himself” basis. They are responsible, attentive, and creative. But each person won’t be able to look at the task from all sides and take into account all the details.

Such a team isn’t a real team. Employees develop more slowly because they use only their own experience and views.

 

People who work alone find it difficult to find and correct their mistakes because no one will point them out.

 

Now consider a close-knit team in which employees brainstorm, ask peers for advice, discuss tasks, and debate solutions. Team members complete tasks on time because they can always ask for help and advice. Team members share experiences, argue, and get creative, so ideas become deeper and more interesting, letting them create fantastic services, like this fair sportsbook in NZ or Netflix.

 

Interested in seeing your business grow and your colleagues take the initiative? Or do you work alone, but feel that the team will help you implement new ideas? To understand team processes, you need to know what the stages of team building are.

4 Stages of Team Building

Stage 1: Forming

At first, people don’t know each other, they try to impress each other, they may be shy and hide their usual expressions.

 

They are vague about the work to be done.

 

There is no sense of community in the group.

 

Common interests don’t play a role, the main task is to use their skills and knowledge to achieve the goal.

Stage 2: Storming

Once the team members have gotten to know each other and formed an opinion about each other, the period of “adjustment” begins. Disagreements, arguments, and conflicts emerge during this phase.

 

Most often, the competence of the leader, distribution of roles in a group, ways of achieving the goal are questioned. One lacks freedom of action, the other lacks strict control and frameworks.

 

Each team member is still focused on himself, but trust is gradually forming.

 

Trust is a key factor for the team to be ready to take risks and find new solutions.

Step 3: Norming

Rules and norms are formed within the team, which each participant has to follow.

 

A clear work plan emerges, and the style of the work is established.

 

Roles are distributed.

 

A system of feedback from each other and the leadership is established.

Team members begin to interact: they ask questions, help each other, support, guide, and motivate.

 

Employees have trust and willingness to take risks, so people don’t blame each other for mistakes, but gain experience and try new solutions.

Stage 4: Performing

The team now works efficiently, cohesively, and in an organized manner. If a team member has a problem, it is solved collectively. Employees have found a common language and know how to motivate each other.

 

The leader acts as a guarantor. He monitors the effectiveness and motivation of employees.

 

The leader’s key tasks are to evaluate and adjust work processes and motivate employees.

 

Provide extensive feedback and discuss problems and successes with employees. Discuss mistakes in private, and praise achievements in front of the whole team. Then your employees will not be afraid of disapproval and will bring you interesting ideas that you can implement in the business and get high results.

How to Hire Employees

Do you want to create an effective team? Then be careful when selecting employees. Experts agree that there are no “one-size-fits-all soldiers” who are equally good at all tasks. This means that you need to clearly articulate key characteristics and competencies for each individual position and role on the team.

Use Different Channels for Recruitment

• Networking is a great way to find like-minded people. You communicate openly with people and make new acquaintances. These contacts can be an unexpected discovery. Maybe your perfect employee is flying next to you on an airplane or has come to a mutual friend’s birthday party.
• Job sites are the most popular channel for finding employees.
• Recruitment agencies. There are usually candidates in the agencies’ databases who don’t enter the open market. Managers have already checked their professional and personal qualities, and you are left to assess whether the person is suitable for cooperation.

Create a profile of the ideal candidate

Imagine that the ideal employee is sitting in front of you. Examine him carefully: assess professional competencies, personal qualities, motivation.

 

The more detailed the “portrait”, the more accurately you will select your staff.

 

Write down every detail, identifying the main points and characteristics that are unacceptable to you.

Make a Recruiting Track List

Write down in advance all the key questions you need to ask the candidate. Remember that the questionnaire should be adjusted depending on the position and tasks of the potential employee.

Check for Alignment With Company Values

If the values of the employee, the team and the business are the same, it will be easier for you to establish communication in the team. Choose people who look in the same direction as you.

 

Imagine you need to build a team for a new sports apparel brand. It’s geared toward people who exercise frequently, who lead healthy lifestyles. You share these values and want your employees to think the same way. Ask potential colleagues what kind of sports they do, how they spend their free time. That way you can assess whether the person has an active attitude.

Find out the Motivation

Money doesn’t always play a leading role in a job. For example, employees may want freedom, a cohesive team, training, and the opportunity to think creatively.

 

Determine in advance what you’re willing to give people. And ask the candidate directly what motivates him or her to work effectively.

Ask Questions Aimed at Behavioral Indicators

Behavioral indicators are professional knowledge and skills, standards of human behavior. These include stress tolerance, mental flexibility, attentiveness, organization, planning, and problem-solving skills. To assess the indicators you can use questions-situations, give examples from the candidate’s past experience, solve cases.

Conduct Testing

Psychological tests and questionnaires help assess a candidate from the perspective of personal characteristics. For example, for managers – a test of leadership potential, for employees – a test of emotional intelligence.

Ask Open-ended Questions

Give people a chance to voice their opinions. Closed questions are quick, but you won’t be able to see the full picture to understand a person’s motives and character.

Use Case Situations

Offer case studies to assess the candidate’s professional background. You can use challenging non-standard situations in the tasks. The answers will make it easy for you to determine how competent, creative and responsible the person is.