Business Building 101: How to Create a Productive Team from Scratch

Starting a business these days is fairly easy. There’s really not much involved outside of defining your business strategy, picking a company name and having a website. Of course, you also need to think about your product or the services you want to offer, but that’s where the fun part of starting a business starts. Unfortunately, one of the most tricky parts of running a business is finding the right employees to help you make your company grow. This is also an area that is often overlooked, especially with older businesses.

These days, most large companies are heavily overstaffed because they value quantity over quality. It makes sense for a large company because they don’t really have the resources or people available to get to know everyone in the company. Unless you’re in an influential senior position, you’re probably considered a replaceable asset–all they care about are your skills.

While this can be understandable for a larger company, it’s not the case for a startup or a small company. In these situations, building a productive team from scratch is entirely possible. You can have a small, efficient and hard-working core that can be added to when necessary. But how do you reach this point? Where do you start when you want to build a small productive team from scratch?

How do you want to build your team?

First, we need to talk about how you can build your team. The key to building a confident team is recruiting people from many different areas of the industry. So here are a couple of suggestions on where you should look for people to fill your team.

Hiring professionals in the industry

The first and most obvious option is to hire professionals. This means anyone that already has the experience and multiple skills that would benefit your company. Unfortunately, this can be extremely expensive. Someone that already has years of experience and a refined skill set will demand more pay for their time. However, having one or two professionals in your team (assuming they are worth their salt) is never a bad idea because their skills and experiences can be taught to junior members of your team.

Recruiting new talent and interns

There are many benefits of running an internship program at your business. One of the main reasons is to actually recruit new talent into your business. Interns and recruits tend to be hungry for success. They’ve seen the industry with their own eyes and they’re eager to make an impact. They’re hard-working, they’re resilient and they never take no for an answer. You should think of an eager recruit or intern as a blank slate–they are full of motivation and are ready to learn all of the skills that you throw at them. This can make them an incredibly valuable asset to your company in the future if you train them well and teach them all there is to know about the company.

Bringing business colleagues onboard

Another great option is to bring business colleagues onboard. If this isn’t your first company and you’ve worked with many businesses in the past, then you’ve likely built a long list of contacts that are not only reliable but also friendly and willing to work with you. If you get in touch with these people that you’ve worked within the past, then it’s a great opportunity to form a business partnership together.

Relying on freelancers and outsourcing

Lastly, you can also rely on freelancers and outsourcing services to help you get started. This is one of the better options for people that are limited by their budget. Freelancing is great because it allows you to get a specific service for an affordable price. For instance, instead of hiring a web designer for full-time employment, you can just hire someone to make the website and maintain it. They’re technically not an employee so you don’t need to provide them with lots of benefits and a consistent salary.

How do you establish a productive business environment?

Once you’ve decided where to hire people for your team, it’s time to focus on your office or workplace. You need to establish a functional workplace if you want your team to be productive. No matter how skilled or talented they are, they’re going to need a space where they can get creative and do the work you give them. Thankfully, encouraging a productive office environment is fairly simple if you follow a couple of simple steps when renovating your workplace. Just make sure to do this well before starting your company so that construction work isn’t taking place as you work!

Consider an open-plan office

An open-plan office is a great option for teams that need to communicate on a regular basis. It helps to bring down physical barriers that separate your team members, meaning they’re more likely to interact with each other and collaborate on specific tasks. It also allows for more natural light into the office and creates a friendly and laid-back work environment.

Clear out the clutter and get organized

Clutter in the office can be a huge distraction. It can be difficult to stay organized if you have a lot of junk lying around. Make sure you clean up your office, sort all of your documents properly and keep things organized. This not only makes your office nicer to look at but can also improve your productivity since you don’t spend as much time fumbling around to look for documents.

Ensure you have ergonomic workspaces

Your employees need to be comfortable in the office if you want them to be productive. This is why it’s important to create an ergonomic workspace that helps people get their work done without straining their neck, hurting their back or generally feeling uncomfortable. You might want to include standing desks, high-quality chairs and comfortable break areas to help your employees feel more comfortable while working.

Create inviting break areas for your staff

And speaking of break areas, make sure you designate spaces for your staff to take a breather or enjoy their break. It should be comfortable, it should have some basic amenities such as a kitchen or fridge, and it’s also important to make it quiet and detached from the rest of the workplace. This gives your staff a moment to reset themselves and prepare for the remainder of the workday.

How can you better communicate with your staff?

The key to building a confident team is putting everyone on the same page. Doing this can be tricky if you’re unsure how to approach your team and communicate with them, so here are a few tips to help you out.

Stop micromanaging what your team does. Constantly looking over their shoulder is a bad idea since it shows that you don’t really trust them. Cut your staff some slack and let them make their own decisions instead of trying to micromanage everything they do. This saves you time and makes your staff more comfortable.
Let people make mistakes. Failure is important for people to grow. Make sure you let your staff fail now and then so that they can learn from their mistakes and don’t be too harsh on them. If a member of staff repeatedly makes mistakes, then it may be a good time to take them aside and speak to them to figure out what they’re having difficulties with.
Providing employees with opportunities to grow. It’s a good idea to give your employees opportunities to grow. Whether it’s to climb up the career ladder with future prospects or teaching staff new skills to further their ability, you should always be looking for ways to help your staff improve their lives through your workplace.
Give everyone a role to play. It’s not a team if everyone is independent of each other. Make sure every staff member has a role to play in the team and give them something to do that contributes to the success of the company.
Supporting your staff in every way. When it comes to supporting your employees, you need to take a holistic approach that involves understanding what their issues are, why they need help and the best way that you can assist them. Some employees will need direct assistance while others just need a bit of time on their own to figure out a problem or deal with commitments at home.
Focusing on strengths, not weaknesses. Lastly, make sure you focus on strengths and highlight them over pointing out weaknesses. It’s far more productive for you to understand the strengths of your staff and put them in positions or give them responsibilities that make use of those skills.

Considering these three areas of creating a solid business will start you in the right direction.

By following this advice, you’ll have a much easier time building a productive team from scratch and overcoming some of the startup and small business difficulties that many people experience. It’s all about having a productive team that can get the job done, and it’s up to you to build that efficient team.