A well developed team has the potential to contribute in a huge way to the success of your business. When a team knows its strengths and weaknesses, is aware of it's expectations and has the resources and knowledge to achieve these, then this team can be your greatest asset. Like houses though, good teams need the foundations and maintenance to maintain your investment.
How to acheive this?
Give your team clear expectations
A team, just like an individual, needs to know what it is expected to deliver. Communicate expected outcomes with your team, be clear and informative. By relating this information to your team you are delivering their most powerful resource - knowledge.
We are all used to doing things on our own. Our education, job interviews and setting personal goals rely on our ability to succeed as individuals. Creating trust in others is a challenge which takes time but is a necessary element of an effective team.
Create dependencies
People in a team need to understand that if they fail to deliver on their part of the process or project, the whole outcome is compromised. This is especially important in real estate where many contracts are made or fail based on individual efforts. Dependencies are vital to build an attitude of pulling together to get results.
Reward the team, not the individuals
So often, organizations set up teams as the way of delivering better results and then fail to set reward systems up in a way that rewards team results. If you set up reward systems to reward individuals, you will create competition rather than a willingness to work as a team. 'Team Activity' rewards such as go-carting, time at the driving range or a fishing trip will reward your team while bringing them closer together.
Make decision making processes clear
In any team situation, people need to feel like they have had the opportunity to contribute to the decision process. Making the process as clear and transparent as possible avoids ambiguity and promotes a healthy team environment.
Resource the team to deliver the outcome
Sometimes teams will be too quick to claim that they don't have sufficient resources. While this may in a few instances be an excuse, failing to give the team the resources it needs to deliver an outcome required is merely setting it up for failure.
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