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We often underestimate the importance of constructing world-class teams in our efforts to grow. You cannot hire a world-class team. There aren’t any hacks or shortcuts – you’ve got to construct them. But constructing these teams effectively is less complicated said than done.
Teams are a puzzle of various personalities and strengths that it’s essential to put together to achieve success. If you do it right, your successes will multiply, your organization will grow, and your culture will thrive.
To do it right, you’ve got to evaluate and understand the attitudes, mindsets and personalities of people with a purpose to assign the appropriate people to the issue at hand.
Related: 3 Great Ways to Make Your Business Last Forever
Collecting personality information
I’m increasingly convinced that A) it’s harder to alter people’s mindsets and B) mindset plays such a giant role after we take into consideration what it takes to construct great teams.
My co-founder and I actually have put together some really great teams, but we’ve got also missed the mark because we have not matched people’s personalities/attitudes and skills to the appropriate jobs. Having the appropriate people in the appropriate places has catapulted us through every product launch, every company growth phase, and each market transition. As your organization grows, it’s especially vital to know your people.
This information gathering process should begin throughout the hiring phase. Ask open-ended questions on a possible candidate’s profession. Are they typically optimistic? Do they tackle tasks with confidence? What excites them? How do they handle adversity? You’ll quickly discover that not everyone desires to work at an early-stage startup or perhaps a late-stage scale-up.
Conducting personality tests – although a less personal method – may also result in quick results.
Encourage managers and other leaders to take the time after hiring to essentially get to know their employees. Regular check-ins and even short trips outside of labor (who doesn’t love a day coffee?) are great ways to construct those connections. Pay attention to what situations employees thrive in, but just as importantly, what they draw back from and what other personality aspects influence them.
This information is an incredible place to begin for assigning employees to the appropriate roles in your organization. But at my company, Wistia, we realized we would have liked a more formal framework to equip our leadership team, which led us to the American West.
Related: Why specializing in people can allow you to succeed as you expand
Pioneers vs. Settlers vs. City Builders
Not literally, but we took inspiration from the American West – yes, consider the Oregon Trail – to develop a system that helps categorize different personality types based on business stages. The result’s pioneers, settlers and city builders. Each has their very own unique role to play and add value to a growing company.
- Pioneers are risk takers and willing to enterprise into the unknown. They will do whatever it takes to search out something of value, and because of this they are sometimes successful in early-stage startups.
- Settlers are more risk averse. They are motivated to implement an initial structure and construct a community around a guaranteed opportunity or an idea discovered by a pioneer. But they feel less comfortable because the business grows and the “town” turns into a giant “city” with more complex systems.
- City planner shine once they are tasked with creating more laws, rules, and roads as what you are promoting grows. They can assist construct and expand the infrastructure that may grow with what you are promoting over the long run.
And once in a while you discover someone who is flexible enough to succeed at every stage. Hold on to them so long as you’ll be able to.
Every company has its pioneers, settlers and city builders. Regardless of the theme, the concepts remain the identical. This system helps us higher match employees to the role that most closely fits their personality at each stage of the corporate. This helps teams, and ultimately our company, succeed.
Even after nearly twenty years of trying to resolve the people puzzle, we’re still learning something latest day by day. But there is not any denying that whenever you bring the appropriate people together at the appropriate time to work on the appropriate problems, all the pieces works out. With great teams, you’ll be able to move much faster and smarter as an organization.
Entrepreneurs who’re quick to acknowledge people’s work styles have the most effective likelihood of putting the appropriate people in the appropriate places to grow. This doesn’t occur overnight. It takes investment from leaders to get to know their people and create the appropriate environment. But should you’re lucky enough to place together a team that is doing well, don’t let it slip away. After all, an organization is just as strong as its team.
