How to Build A Winning Team

by Tom Bordon⁽³⁾
The Brain Trust

An essential quality and skill a good CEO must possess is the ability to develop, enhance and sustain a strong team. As the captain of the ship, you would need to be a teacher, coach and mentor to the team members working with you.

This is easier said than done. There are certain steps you and your team must take if you want to grow together as a high-performing team. The process starts right from the selection stage.

Select a good team worker

When recruiting a new team member, make sure you test the qualitative characteristics of the candidate as well and not only his/her quantifiable skill sets. For instance, a strong team member needs to display an ability, willingness and flexibility to work as part of a team. If he comes across as an aloof, egotistical person at the interview stage, you can be certain that he will not be able to gel in with your team, even if he possesses the best skills.

Check loyalty and team spirit

Secondly, check the candidate’s resume to carefully to see if she has changed jobs too frequently. A person who works well in a team and enjoys her position within the team is less likely to change jobs at regular intervals and will have stronger loyalty toward the team and the organization she works for. The candidate’s loyalty toward the past company is a good indicator of the sets of values and work ethics she possesses.

If you are selecting a team leader, remember to test the person’s communication skills, positive attitude, amiable demeanor and focus and commitment toward meeting targets and deadlines. Check if the candidate has been awarded or recognized for his team management abilities in the past company.

Instill essential team characteristics

Once you have selected the right people and set up your team, work toward instilling the following characteristics in your team:

Clarity – the team must be clear in its objectives and communication
Commitment – the team members must be committed towards meeting their deadlines and targets with collective efforts
Communication – the communication between team members must be smooth and regular.
Absence of cynicism – negative views, negative energies and defeatist attitudes are a strict no-no.
Diversity – the team members can be brought in from divergent task disciplines and you can thus create a cross-functional, multi-tasking team. Such a team where members are efficient in their respective disciplines and are willing to learn about other disciplines, proves to be a winning team.
Productive conflict – allow disagreements and debates within the team only to the scale where the output is productive. All team members need not necessarily agree on everything but it is important that they agree on a collective decision.
Project-orientation – the team members, even if from cross-functional disciplines, must be well aware of the project they are working on, its requirements, objectives, challenges and deadlines.
Scorecards – keep a scorecard of the best performers, the average performers and the laggards of the team. You will need to spend extra effort to motivate and train the laggard members to help them upgrade themselves and keep pace with their fellow members.

Apart from upgrading the team members, you need to keep upgrading your leadership skills and coaching skills as well. Remember, the team will look up to you for guidance, support, encouragement, motivation and rewards. Hence, as the CEO, it is your responsibility to keep yourself abreast with the team’s functioning, attitude, responsibilities and commitment towards meeting targets.

Join a reliable CEO Group in Atlanta or CEO Coaching association where CEOs, general managers and executive coaching experts get together and discuss and share practical and proven insights into managing business, building teams and achieving targets. A CEO Group is a great way of associating with people who are in similar situations and get some honest, matter-of-fact suggestions on how to make your team more productive and cohesive.

Article submitted Monday, September 19, 2011 & read 2 times.

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