Whether you’re a first-time manager or a seasoned pro, every new team you encounter presents new opportunities and challenges for you to overcome. When building a team, it’s important to get it right: build a team that’s got a solid foundation and you’re poised for success; build a team with a shaky foundation and you may find it hard to get even the most minor tasks done.
While the way you run your team will vary with your industry and goals, there are a few constants that apply across the board. Here’s how to build an amazing team.
1. Hire the right mix of people.
Your people are everything. When you come into a role where you have the opportunity to hire, make sure you know the existing responsibilities being handled by the team (if any), and what the most necessary functions are to fill. As you meet with potential job candidates, look for people whose experiences, skills and personalities are best suited to the job, but also keep in mind the overall culture of your team and organization. If you hire the same sort of person over and over, you may end up with a team that isn’t well-equipped to handle a variety of challenges. Hire a diverse group that brings a variety of experiences and talents to the game.
2. Lay out a vision and make your mission clear.
Comparably asked more than 10,000 people what they’d tackle first if they were in their boss’s shoes. The number one response: improve vision and strategy. As a manager, it’s crucial that you lay out a vision for the team — your enthusiasm and passion for those goals will help drive the team forward and spare you all kinds of confusion along the way. You want a team that knows where it’s going and feels empowered to think creatively about how to get there. Be clear about what you want and verbalize your mission often, not just once a year.
3. Address bad behavior.
One of the biggest things that can kill a team is letting bad behavior repeat itself over and over. For example, if someone on your team is chronically late while everyone else makes it in on time, and you don’t address it, you’ll start to feel a certain resentment from everyone else, and possibly a repetition of that behavior by others. Set expectations through your own behavior — if you walk the walk and talk the talk, your employees are more likely to want to emulate that. And remember — when criticism must be delivered, deliver it in private.
Related: Women Are More Likely Than Men to Have a Mentor at Work
4. Celebrate success.
You don’t have to have a huge bash every time something good happens, but make sure to praise and thank your team as they do the work to achieve goals. Unlike criticism, which should be delivered privately, praise should be delivered publicly: call out achievements and successes. Not only are you showing gratitude, but you’re building a culture of gratitude among your entire team. Remember, your behavior is what your team is learning from, so give them a good lesson in the importance of giving thanks.
5. Encourage fun and socialization.
One of the best things you can do for your team is to create an environment that’s positive and uplifting. Bring in donuts. Celebrate birthdays. Ask people if they have any exciting plans for the holidays. The payoff can be worthwhile: about 1 in 2 people say they have a close friend at work, according to data by Comparably, which is great — research shows that having a close friend improves productivity and retention.
