8 Tips To Building A Great Team

Over the past few months, there have been some changes in my life that needed to be made. Changes that will better me as an individual and professional, and changes that require a shift in how I organize my time.

Myself being one of them!

As you probably know by now, I've spent the last two years writing about health and wellness -- food, fitness, beauty, self-care tips and tricks, and more. My readers have allowed me to continue to grow and develop my career over this period of time, and it's truly touched me beyond words.

I'll always remember our early days when you would email or comment with your tips and tricks for healthier eating, or your reviews of a new workout program. You inspired me to keep developing my health online media platform, and I can't thank you enough for that!

But now is the time to transition away from running my own website focused solely on helping you achieve your health goals, and towards something newer. A thing that is much bigger than just me. Something that has nothing to do with diets or workouts, but instead focuses on personal development.

It’s time to build my team.

Beth Kanourek is my first hire. Not only does she get paid well (she already does!), but she brings a wealth of expertise to the table that cannot be matched.

Make sure your team understands the process

As mentioned earlier, one of the biggest causes of conflict in any workplace is people with different levels or experiences of a skill. If you have a person who doesn’t quite understand how to do something, they may try to teach themselves instead of asking for help from someone else.

This can be tricky if you're not used to having that kind of relationship at work. You might feel like you've done everything you could as a leader, but your staff are constantly proving you wrong.

As a leader, it's your job to create an open environment where employees can ask questions and get guidance, even if you don't agree with their approach. This will only boost productivity and efficiency in the long run.

Make sure your team understands each other

As mentioned before, being able to talk about things is an important part of teamwork. But having conversations that really move the group forward requires more than just talking about things.

You have to ask good questions, listen to answers, give honest feedback, and come up with solutions. All these steps require trust.

Trusting someone means believing they will always put the team first, no matter what. It also means trusting them to tell you how they feel without putting pressure on them to keep quiet or hide what is going on.

It takes time to build this level of trust, but it is definitely worth it.

As a leader, make sure you create a culture where people can feel comfortable telling you when you are doing something wrong, giving you bad advice, or leaving the company.

Make sure your team understands you

As mentioned before, leadership is about inspiring and motivating others to work with you on a regular basis towards a common goal. This can be tricky at times, though!

As a leader, you will sometimes feel like everyone around you seems to be working against you – or even in opposition to you.

This is normal; it’s how things are when you lead. Your colleagues and superiors may not always agree with what you do, they might try and undermine you, and there may be times when they don’t respect you.

But this doesn’t mean that you should give up. It means that you must remain focused on your vision and mission for your organization, and keep leading as you were before.

It takes time to develop trust, and leadership is no exception. But if you consistently show who you are and what you stand for, people will eventually come round.

At the very least, they’ll stop doing things behind your back.

Develop good leadership skills

As mentioned earlier, being a leader is not an easy position to fill. People will constantly challenge you and your decisions, so it is important that you have strong leadership qualities such as self-confidence, empathy, motivation, communication, and trust among others.

If you are able to identify what strengths you possess in these areas then you can work on developing them, but if you are not sure which ones you do not know how to take command or you are too shy to ask for help, start by looking at your weaknesses as a leader.

Be a good manager

As a leader, you will spend more time working alone than with people. That's why being a good manager is so important. You are always teaching someone else how to do their job, helping them learn, and putting in the effort to ensure that they know what to do when you're not there.

As your team grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain quality control. This is why you should strive to be organized and consistent. It'll make doing your job much easier.

Your success as a leader depends on the respect and loyalty of those under you. Consistently showing leadership qualities such as kindness, empathy, and understanding can win over even the most reluctant workers.

Running an efficient department or division comes down to each individual employee performing his or her jobs efficiently and well. If everyone is looking out for one another and taking responsibility, nothing gets done.

It takes a lot of work and energy to lead, which is part of the reason top leaders are usually only in place for a few years before moving up the ladder.

Make sure you are a good team member

As mentioned before, being a leader is not about having a title that implies you're in charge. It's not about making pronouncements or assuming responsibility for other people. Being a leader is about bringing out the best in others by giving them permission to be their authentic selves while at the same time holding them accountable for their actions.

As a leader, your job will often times include managing someone who does not share your leadership qualities. You can't expect everyone to work under you but you also can't allow them to slack off either.

You must develop relationships with individuals around you and ensure they are supportive of each other as well as you. This way, when things do get tough, there are no isolated pieces.

It'll make it much more likely that people stay committed because they feel like they belong.

Communicate well

As mentioned earlier, being able to communicate effectively is one of the most important things for team leaders to have. You will probably be leading several people at times, which can sometimes make it hard to figure out who is under you and what their job responsibilities are.

Make sure you keep yourself organized by using an app that makes keeping notes easy. There are many apps that do this, but not all of them are as popular so you should feel free to experiment with ones that work best for you!

We’ve gathered some tips here for you to consider.

Be consistent

As noted before, being an effective leader is not a quick fix. It takes time to develop leadership skills. This includes having successful meetings, listening to good messages, asking appropriate questions, and keeping up-to-date with changes happening around you.

If you are just coming into this area then don’t worry about it. But as you climb the ladder of leadership, you will inevitably run into people who have done what you want to do and been promoted to higher positions.

Why? Because they had things like experience under their belts or they were more knowledgeable than you in certain areas. They won’t hesitate to let you know it!

As your boss, they will no doubt expect the same level of respect from you that they get – and give you opportunities that they would otherwise be denied.

So if you really want to take charge of your career, start investing in yourself now by learning new skills and developing yours. Read books, listen to training courses and podcasts, visit seminars and conferences… anything that seems worth your time and money.

But make sure it's for you, not because someone else wants you to learn it. You need to feel that it adds value to your life, not distracts you.

And when you've invested enough to get some sense of how things work, apply those concepts in the workplace.