How To Build a Team: What To Do and What Not To Miss

Building a team, be it a new team or expanding an existing team, is about more than just hiring people for specific tasks within your company.

It's about finding a group of people whose skills, backgrounds, experiences and personalities complement each other.

A group that can come together to have a real, lasting impact on your business.

So the question is: how exactly do you do this?

What is the framework for building effective teams? And once you've laid the foundation for an effective team, how can you ensure that team is successful in your company (and for your company!)?

Let's take a look at how to build a team, both from the ground up and with the great employees you already have.

How to build a team from scratch

Wondering how to build a new team from the ground up? Here's how to get started:

Create a plan for your new team…

You can't build a new team from scratch if you don't have a plan for what team you're trying to build — and how you're going to build it.

Before you start interviewing, you need to set clear expectations around:

The goals for the team: What are your team goals? What do you need them to accomplish?
The goals for building the team: How long do you want the hiring process to take? How many people do you want to bring on board?
Roles and responsibilities: What are the job duties and responsibilities for each role? How does each role contribute to the overall team?
Team dynamic: What kind of team culture are you trying to create for your employees?
Ideal candidates: What kind of person would be satisfied, fulfilled, and successful in each role? What kind of people (and combination of people) do you need to hire to create your ideal team dynamic?

…and don't forget to make a plan for yourself

One of the most important elements of building a strong team from scratch is strong leadership.

As a manager, you're the heart of the team you're building. So you want to have a plan for how you're going to build and support that team from the get-go.

Just like you need to set clear expectations for building your team, you also need to get clear on some issues for yourself as you build that team, including:

Resources you have to dedicate to managing the new team. The resources you have available will dictate the type and size of team you build. How much time, energy, and resources can you put towards managing your new team?
How you're going to support the team's growth and well-being. Your team needs support to succeed. How are you going to support your team's growth and well-being — both on a team and an individual level?
What behavior you need to model to build the most successful team. Team attitudes often trickle down from the top. So, if you want to build a strong, effective, and high-performing team, what attitudes and behaviors do you need to model as a leader?

Don’t just hire the best people, build the best team
Of course, you want the best candidates to be selected when searching for, interviewing, and hiring. But just because you have five candidates that you think are great doesn't mean that those five candidates will work well as a team.

Once you have identified the top candidates, you should schedule a group interview and/or trial work situation to see how they interact and work together. Bringing your top candidates together in a group to see how they work together will help you hire the strongest team, not just the best employees.

How to successfully expand an existing team
Do you want to expand an existing team? Here's how to successfully manage the expansion:

Identify skills gaps in your team...

If you want to grow your team, it means something is missing; You want your new team to be able to do things that your existing team can't.

Before you start hiring new employees, figure out what skills your current team is missing. Think about what skills, background or experience you need to fill these gaps.

An example: Let's say you're expanding your engineering team and want your new team to be able to build software in different programming languages. If that is your goal, you need to hire engineers with experience programming in any language.

...and identify personnel gaps in your team

Sometimes it's not the skills or abilities that your team lacks. Sometimes it's more of a personnel problem.

Before expanding your existing team, make sure you understand what human elements your team is missing and what type of employees you need to fill those gaps.

For example: If your current team is struggling with attitude issues, consider hiring optimistic, positive employees. If your team is made up of people who look, think, and work similarly, consider hiring a more diverse workforce.

Ask your employees how they imagine the development and change of the team.

You may have ideas about what your team is missing. But who knows better how your team might grow and change than the people already working on the team?

If you want your employees to buy into the new team, ask them about their ideas about how they would like to see the team grow and change.

For example: Let's say you're expanding your content team and feel you need to hire more senior talent to handle writing projects. However, after speaking with your team, you may discover that what they actually need is a few marketing coordinators to handle administrative tasks so that existing copywriters can have more time for production.

The feedback from your employees gives you information about what works well and what doesn't work so well. This will help you figure out what type of employees you need to hire to create the strongest, most effective team. You can obtain this input in personal conversations or via an anonymous feedback platform.

Invite your top candidates to a “work sample”

You may have a candidate with the perfect resume, skills, and background for the position you want to fill. But until you've seen him at work and interacting with your existing employees, you can't be sure he's the right person for your team.

Have your top candidates do a “work trial” where they work with your team for a few hours.

Let’s take the content team as an example. If you're hiring marketing coordinators to join your team, have each candidate come in for a half-day to support the team. As they work, observe how they complete tasks and interact with existing employees.

Seeing how candidates actually work with your employees will give you important insight into how they will fit into your existing team - and whether they are the right person for the job.

How to ensure your team is successful

Building the team is an important step. But once the team is in place, you need to ensure that the foundation remains strong - and that everything you've built doesn't collapse.

And how do you keep your teams strong? It all depends on how you lead them.

Below are some strategies you can use to lead your team to success, whether it's a brand new team or an expanding team:

1.Get to know each person on your team
Different people need different things to be successful. So if you want your new team to be successful, you need to know what each team member needs and what they're like.

Make connecting with new team members a priority. If you don't know your existing employees well yet, you should get to know them better.

Schedule time to meet with each team member and learn about their goals, career aspirations, preferences, work style, and personality.

The more you know about your employees, the better you can support them - and the more successful your team will be.

2.Schedule regular check-ups
You need to keep your finger on the pulse of what's happening on your team, and that means checking in regularly.

As a manager, you must regularly communicate with the team and individual team members.

This way, you can see how employees are doing, hear what's working (and what's not), make sure your team is meeting its goals, and see if they need additional support to be successful.

If you want your new team to be successful, you should schedule regular meetings.

3.Celebrate successes...
According to a 2018 report from SHRM and Globoforce, executives overwhelmingly agree that employee recognition programs produce positive results within a company.

86% of executives surveyed said recognition is a key factor in improving employee relationships.

SHRM and Globoforce
Look for ways to celebrate your team's successes and give them the opportunity to celebrate each other.

For example, you could schedule a weekly 30-minute meeting in which you list the things your team did well in the past week. Give your team the opportunity to recognize the successes of their colleagues.

Taking the time to celebrate your team's successes (and letting them celebrate each other) creates stronger relationships - and therefore a stronger team.

4...and deal with problems
If there is a problem within the team, it can derail things pretty quickly. As a manager, it is your job to identify such problems and solve them quickly.

Monitor your team and address any issues you notice immediately.

For example: If you notice that a new employee is not fitting in with the rest of the team, plan a team-building activity to bring everyone together and better integrate your new team member into the team structure.

As a manager, you can't always keep an eye on your team, and there may be problems that you don't notice.

Set up an anonymous feedback system where employees can share issues you might not otherwise see. IceHrm's engagement tool and anonymous feedback platform allows employees to reach out to you directly and securely.

Make all feedback a two-way conversation and let your employees decide whether they want to remain anonymous or not.

5.Host activities to bring your new team together
Team building activities can help new employees integrate better into the team. They also make the team as a whole more effective, productive and cooperative.

Team building activities include: B. a weekly social evening, a game night that promotes collaboration, or opening team meetings with "icebreaker" games that help employees loosen up and get to know each other better.

6.Make changes if necessary
In an ideal world, you would build a great team from day one. But if you want your team to be successful, you need to make adjustments over time.

For example: If there is a person whose negativity is causing team morale to drop, you need to have an honest, difficult conversation with them about their attitude.

Or maybe you notice that your new team seems stressed and overwhelmed. It could be that you underestimated the amount of work the team has to handle. Maybe you need to hire more people to lighten the workload or make the goals more realistic.

As your team grows, you may need to adjust your team structure to support that growth. So don’t be afraid to make the necessary changes and adjustments.

Go out and build your team!

Now that you have a plan for building a team, you have everything you need to build and manage the strongest team for your company. Invest in employee recognition with IceHrm's innovative tools for a happier, more productive workplace. Start fostering a culture of appreciation today!