How to lead a winning team

Any business or organisation is only ever as good as the team within it. A great team makes for a great business – it’s as simple as that. For our business to take off and fly, we need to recruit and train a team of like-minded individuals who all work together, with a common set of goals and objectives, and share a passion and commitment to succeed.

Now this is not easy to do, but it is possible. Over the past decade I have had the pleasure of working with some really great people who, quite frankly, helped make my business the success it is. It wasn’t always this way and I have also worked alongside and tolerated people who often acted to undermine the business, and demotivated those around them who actually wanted to be part of the success. Sadly, the negative people will always win and get their way. One bad apple will quite literally destroy the whole cart and the results can be disastrous.

A business where problems are dealt with efficiently and by a team working together and helping each other out, a business that runs using simple processes and procedures, is efficient, consistent, and delivers the right results.

In actual fact, I would argue that if you get the people side of your business right and start leading a winning team, the rest will be far easier to achieve. Without your team fully committed, you will struggle to achieve anything!

Here I share my six pointers for leading a business that runs like a finely tuned engine, where clients receive a great service and come back for more without you knowing.

## Stage 1. Share your vision

Talk to the team about your vision for the future of the business you want to build and ask for their input, views and opinions. Excite them with the possibilities this presents for them and their careers, and motivate them to want to be a part of that business.

A good staff member will want to know the plans for the business that provides their income and living, and will appreciate you sharing your plans. It will also help them to understand why certain decisions are made. Share your vision for the future, your business plan and the annual goal. Talk to them about what success looks like and what needs to happen to get there. Discuss the brand, its values and the type of clients you want to attract. Describe the future organisational structure so everyone can see the number of exciting jobs within the company and the possibility for career progression. Discuss with them where they could be in the future and the exciting role they have to play as the business moves forward towards achieving its vision.

## Stage 2. Allocate responsibilities

It’s time to show that everyone has their part to play and delegate the detail and operational tasks to the team. The team should by now be excited by the possibilities and therefore will be willing to get stuck in and help make it happen.

Look to your team and allocate champions for each function or activity stream and trust them to get on with it and report back regularly. Give people ownership and you will be pleasantly surprised at how well they rise to the challenge. This is helped by the fact that you have shared your plans and dreams for the future and they can see good times ahead.

## Stage 3. Culture

It’s really important to reward success and individual performance.

For me, a successful business is only a success because of the great work, culture and ethos. I call this ‘helium culture’. Work must be a place where people have recognition for the vital role they play and the success they bring to the company. A helium culture is easily achieved if you are sincere, honest and above all consistent with our co-workers. Our plans must be believable and achievable, we must be honest and open about our successes, achievements and progress, and above all else, we must be consistent in our approach to people.

A good culture will be visible to clients, prospects and future employees. It makes a business highly attractive to each of these groups and is far more likely to result in positive results.

## Stage 4. Compensate

We must reward individual, and team performance. People come to work to earn money, to be appreciated, to have fun and to work in the right environment. We must have a strategy for each, and must take time to ensure that each and every team member is indeed, adequately remunerated, appreciated, enjoys work and that the culture is absolutely right.

## Stage 5. Review

Progress reviews and updates are so important to keep the business moving forwards. Everyone must know where we are, what needs doing, what’s gone well and what needs fixing. Everyone can report on their area and the views of all staff are actively sought.

I suggest that you meet with your team every week on Monday at 8.45am for 30 minutes. This meeting looks back at the previous week and reports successes and issues. We then look forward to the week ahead and make sure everyone knows what’s expected.

There’s no paperwork for these meetings, which are designed to start the week on a high. Everyone makes their own notes and gets on with what needs doing that week.

It’s also really important to review individual performance. Six monthly reviews should be held with every staff member. This again can be delegated to the department managers and team leaders where applicable.

## Stage 6. Little extras

We want our team to go the extra mile for us, but how often do we go the extra mile for them? Here are some nice touches that will show we are serious about building a great business:

• Employee of the month award to recognise exceptional results, progress, or achievements

• An extra day’s holiday for everyone on their birthday each year, as long as the annual plan is achieved

• Nights out to say thank you and to help with teamwork and culture

• Adopt a good cause and let the team donate time to assist that cause by working for charity perhaps one day a year

• Invite students for work experience, encouraging yet more people to think seriously about your business.

Leading a winning team is of paramount importance. The team is everything, and if they succeed the business succeeds. So get to it!