6 Most Popular Team Building Tips for Startups

When launching a baseline for your newly established startup, what comes in your mind? What do you think is the essential thing in order to achieve success for your business? A great business idea, funds, marketing, branding, and location? Well, besides these things, there is one thing that needs to be done- selecting and building a robust and reliable startup team!

Believe it or not, teamwork is one of the most important aspects for any organization, and without it, no company would be able to achieve success in the competitive business world. With the help of team members, you don’t only get access to different ideas, but they will also help you to generate new opportunities in the market. In short, teamwork is a collaborative effort in order to get a task completed.

Before starting the article, I want to ask something from you- Have you ever noticed how companies like Google, Dell, Netflix, and Apple are doing well?Which way are they adopting in order to achieve success?

Well, the answer is their unique business idea and productive teamwork than the average company. In fact, a recent survey conducted by Brain & Company revealed that these companies have shown a 40% more productivity than their rivals and other small companies.

While going through this survey, some people think that they are doing good in the market because these organizations attract top-tier employees. They are those workers who are gifted at productivity. That’s not the case, as per Bain & Company partner Michael Mankins.

Let’s get an understanding of this article by taking a case study of Teamwork in Apple Inc.

Teamwork in Apple Inc.

Apple believes that every startup needs a good idea but to make that idea worth, you need to have a brilliant team. And in Apple Inc., teamwork plays an important role in every aspect of the business. As a matter of fact, Apple is all about embracing innovative and creative new technology and ideas.

And the basic motto of Apple is to stay updated with every technology so that they can provide their customers with good quality of experience. So, to achieve this goal that is- to meet the non-stop demands of Apple customers, they need to create a team that will further help to figure out the best way to fill out those requirements. To create a product, they have to consider various aspects of the business.

They have to consider the technology, finances, marketing, and more importantly, the procedure for using the products. As we know that all of these aspects are really important while launching an Apple product, so all the employees of Apple team up and then work together in order to come up with a most successful product. Moreover, former CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, described teamwork as-

Teamwork is dependent on trusting the other folks to come through with their part without watching them all the time”. And due to this belief, Steve Jobs was able to establish a perfect foundation of teamwork in Apple. Now, Apple is working on seven components of teamwork. Here are as follows-

• The one person who is in charge of everything.
• The one who projects teams at Apple must meet once a week.
• Teamwork starts at the top of the organization, then trickles down.
• Trust is key.
• Have excellent arguments to push people to their potential.
• One has to let people make decisions.
• Work towards one goal.

6 Most Popular Team Building Tips for Startups

If you are thinking of building a startup, then you need to know that you need to have a robust team. These people will surround yourself in order to do productive work in their respective field. But the real catch here is that which you need to know so that you can find out the answers-

• How would you identify those people?
• How do you attract them to your company?
• How do you convince them to produce effective work in the shortest span of time?
• What are the most important segments of leading and
• What are some of the key components of leading and coaching a stellar team?

If you are really curious to find out the real answers for these above-mentioned questions, then this article will let you know.

Let’s dive deep into the article-

#1 Everybody should move in the same direction

The first and foremost thing that you always need to make sure that your employees are following the same direction as per yours to build a productive team for your business. As we all know that while growing a business, all the employees are on the same boat, and moving in the same direction, except for the signal-caller, who is looking forward.

That person will play the role of a guide. If necessary, he will set the directions and corrects the course of the work from time to time. In this way, the burden of being updated will not kill your tranquil.

In fact, a recent survey conducted on newly-set up startups revealed that if the employees of the companies follow this tip, like walking on the same path, then there will be fewer chances of failure in the competition.

We have also seen people working very hard but still didn’t able to make a proper plan or a clear idea of where they were going. Because rowing the wrong way can be as much of a problem with leadership as it can be with the team.

#2 Have Wonderful Arguments

At certain times, Steve Jobs was a notoriously fiery and ruthless leader who sometimes become very extremely hard on their employees. And then he explained this attitude in the interview that-

“It’s not my job to be easy on people. It’s my job to make them better.”

In this respect, he revealed the main job of a leader is not make cheesy talks or encouraging their employees without any reason. In fact, he explained that a good leader should be optimistic, honest, and inspire others with significant commitment and passion.

And with this above statement, he was not holding him up as an example of a great leader, nor a bad leader. Steve Jobs was encouraging conflicts and challenges in the service of figuring out the optimal solutions for the businesses. Moreover, Patrick Lencioni has mentioned this kind of behavior in his famous book, “The 5 Dysfunction of a Team.”

He has also written that it is not the presence of conflict that damages teams, but fear of conflict. Nowadays, people have trust issues, and due to this, team members don’t challenge other thoughts, and that’s why here the level of productivity among team members decreases.

So, while describing this tip, Steve Jobs once said that they had “wonderful arguments” at Apple but ultimately, “The best ideas always win. ”

#3 Communication among Team Members

The third tip for building a robust team for your business is to encourage communication among team members. The teams who have a collaborative approach always do well in the competition. As a matter of fact, the coach or leader is only responsible for setting up the direction, but it is the main role of team members to execute those rules or suggestions.

That’s why always foster teammates to communicate with each other, whether it is about their work, or generating new ideas, or getting new services in the office premises. Once they develop a comfort zone with each other, then they can easily understand their roles, their ability to collaborate and get things done is greatly enhanced.

#4 Understand Your Competencies and Work From There

Even the visionary leaders understand that there are still so many skills that need to come into the market in order to create awareness among people. They also agree with the fact that some business owners have a unique opportunity and gifted talent while building their startup team in order to complement their own skills and mitigate their limitations through the qualities of their collaborators.

Let’s take an example of Michael Gerber who has done a great job in constructing his business, and also detailed the three personalities of the entrepreneur in his seminal work, The E-Myth: Why Most Businesses Don’t Work And What To Do About It.

In his seminal work, he sketched the tendencies of entrepreneurs to approach the paradigm of the manager, or the technician.

You can examine how a team made up of people who go against the technician or manager, they get bogged down in the daily details without anyone to lead with the vision.

Therefore, always understand what you can do best and in which sector you are lacking, and then look for team members who will strengthen the organization accordingly.

#5 Look for Collaborators Who Are a Good Fit With Your Company Culture

The next tip that will help you to build your startup is to seek collaborators who can settle in the rich culture of your business. If you have just set up your business in the market, then you must be thinking, my company is barely off the ground yet; it doesn’t even have a work culture.’’

Believe it or not, this time, you would be wrong. When you launch your business, your culture will automatically evolve with time as the people influence it in and around the organization. Because the culture of the company can be present in any form from the moment you decide to start a company.

So, before hiring employees for your business, check the profile and etiquettes of those applicants, whether they are matching with your business culture. Culture fit is one of the most important principles for every position, and your founding team is no exception.

Being a leader of the company, you need to decide what values your company, and how you have to convince your employees to follow them in order to create a healthy and productive environment.

#6 Prioritize Communication

And last but not least, always make sure that you are communicating with your team members and try to make them feel comfortable to each other and even with the HR or managers so that they can at least say the things which they find wrong. If there is a room in your startup who keep things to themselves, then trust me, this kind of behavior is creating a toxic environment which always leads to suspicion and even erosion of trust in the partnership.

In this world, you will find so many people who believe that if they avoid confrontation, then the problem will eventually wither away. This is never gonna happen. No matter, how many other positive qualities they will bring on the table, but if they are keeping them silent, especially in bad times, then things will not going to get settled down.

That’s why communication is considered as the paramount element for the success of the organization. If we are saying communication is the most significant factor in developing the standard of the organization, that doesn’t mean that you have too open with your partners about serious matters of your organization. So, open up with those matters or things with your partners or employees, which will not result in any further problems.

Take Away!

While growing up the business, no other thing will make a significant impact on your startup than the members of your team. Their behaviors, personalities, values, and actions will influence the direction of the company in ways both active and passive. So, always make sure that you are selecting the best employees to your team in order to jumpstart your chances of success.

Keep up the good spirit, and do well for your dream project. If you find difficulties, then just follow these tips mentioned above. You can also hop over Startupr if you are looking for some information about incorporating and registering your business. And always remember the quotes of Steve Jobs-

‘’A boss always has the title. But a leader always has the people.’’