Entrepreneurs are faced with many challenges during their career. A key task for entrepreneurs is to create a cohesive team. In the real world, there are times when teams fall apart. It could be because of inefficiency within an organization or the team not getting along. Although there will be many ups and downs in life, intelligent entrepreneurs will always seek to maximize the potential of his team.
A fascinating blog post at Harvard Business Review by Linda A. Hill. Linda A. Hill is also the Wallace Brett Donham professor Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Kent Lineback has worked for many years in management and as an executive in government and business. They coauthored Being The Boss. The 3 Imperatives For Becoming A Great Leader. In this post they pose a valid question.
Do you consider your employees Arif Bhalwani Wife to be a team?
Managers will agree with them when they say that most teams consist of a few people working together in a small group. However not every group is a true team. Linda and Kent claim that managers and entrepreneurs are not attentive to collective performance.
The second question is asked by the authors:
What is a group and why is it so valuable as a tool of leadership? Answer: A team is an ensemble of people who perform collectively and are committed to a shared purpose and to challenging goals.
After the above, it is time to ask the question: What key ingredients are needed for an entrepreneur to build and maintain good teams?
The creation of a ” Teamwork Cultural” is perhaps the most important element. This can be achieved by setting up collective work plans. These should not be done at the individual level. They should be developed from a bottom-up perspective. This will encourage individuals look at the larger picture and put their contributions in creating this “Picture”.
Another important ingredient is Team Reward. Instead of rewarding individual performers for their efforts, why not adopt a team rewards approach? This approach may be seen as a deterrent to ” St performers”, however, they often forget that the common meaning of teamwork is the utilization individual capacities in order achieve common goals.