5 SIMPLE WAYS TO BUILD A GREAT TEAM JAVIER MENDOZA 1. COMMUNICATE THE PLAN CLEARLY Everyone responds best when they know what’s going on. Without a plan, each team member is left to come up with their own version of what the end result looks like. This will result in chaos. You have to clearly communicate what your plan is and what success looks like so the entire team can carry it out. If you don’t clarify what constitutes a “win” for your team, don’t expect your team to win very much
2. ENCOURAGE INDIVIDUAL INPUT All of us want to be heard. It is our nature to want to be noticed, and be seen as useful. By encouraging input, you will create a way for team members to validate each others importance to the plan. It is a wonderful thing to have your team members recognize your input as important and useful to the team. This only happens if the team leaders allow and encourage input from each member.
3. REINFORCE THE TEAM OBJECTIVES To have a successful team you must rally around the team’s objectives. Clarifying the Win will frame what the end of the plan looks like, but reinforcing the objectives along the way will illuminate the specific steps needed to make that end a reality. If your team has a good outline of the benchmarks needed to accomplish the goal, the likelihood of the team venturing off course is lessened.
4. PUBLICLY CELEBRATE TEAM SUCCESSES There will be no success a team can achieve that is not worthy of public celebration. Big or Small — Expected or Unexpected, everyone wants to celebrate victory. Sometimes we get so involved in work that we breeze right through and forget to celebrate. Nothing can bring a team together quite like success, so be sure to let the team know when you’ve crossed the goal line.
5. PRIVATELY DISCUSS PROBLEMATIC SITUATIONS The way in which you handle challenges will greatly impact the survival rate of your team. When individual team members face or create obstacles to reaching your team’s goal, you must act quickly, directly, and discreetly. Give honest feedback, but make sure it is never within earshot of other team members.
