Building Your Dream Team – Part 1
Over the next few blogs, we are going to cover when to restructure your team and how.
Today we’re going to dive into the first reason to restructure: when what you are doing doesn’t work anymore.
When what you’re doing doesn’t work anymore means that the team you have is strained. Perhaps team members have left or been moved to a new department leaving a gap and too much work and not enough hands. Simply stated, the team needs to grow.
Problem: Too much work and not enough people
Solution: Hire from outside the organization
When there’s too much work and not enough people you need to hire from outside the organization to solve the problem instead of overloading your staff. You decide what the position is and what skills are needed and then advertise to fill the role. Ask your team what is missing, what skill should we hire, or what Champion is needed. The key is knowing what is needed before posting.
The second reason for restructuring your team is when your team is not sure who is responsible for what anymore. This can happen when people have come and gone from the team or their roles.
Problem: Blurry lines across positions
Solution: Redefine job descriptions
When they are blurry lines and people on your team are not sure who’s in charge of what, you need to redefine their job descriptions. Your team deserves to know exactly what their job entails and what success looks like in their position. That starts with understanding exactly what is expected of them.
Redefining job descriptions can be a huge undertaking. It requires everyone to take time to write down everything they do and are responsible for. All hands on deck to create this. While you are in the process of defining the roles, it may become apparent that some efficiencies can be executed by moving some roles and responsibilities around. Every time I work with clients through this exercise we always have amazing outcomes. This is always well worth the time spent.
Next week we will be tackling 2 more reasons to restructure your team. Heading into the new year with this information will be hugely helpful in helping your company reach and exceed your goals in 2022.
As always, I am here to help you achieve your goals and you can book your Free 15 minute consult with me: https://calendly.com/tarapickford/15min
Video Link: https://youtu.be/BjJmV0EyZu8
Building Your Dream Team – Part 2
Last week we started a series of BLogs on restructuring your team. Today’s blog will uncover 2 more reasons why restructuring your team is important.
Reason 3 for restructuring your team is when you have great people but they are not using their talents in the best way possible to help the mission of the company.
Problem: Right seat, wrong bus
Solution: Redistribute the workload
Jim Collins brought us the idea of seats on the bus. He wrote a whole book about it. The title is: Good to Great. If someone’s on the right bus that means they have the right character traits for your company. “In the wrong seat” means they are in a position that is not the best fit means you can redistribute the work to the right people and find tasks better suited to the skill set of this employee.
To do this you’re going to evaluate your team skills and interests and raise up current people who are already inside your culture. The bonus of this is that you already have great people who want to grow with you – so use them!
The fourth reason to restructure your team is around having the right people. Perhaps you made some rushed hiring decisions, perhaps someone has had life circumstances change that is affecting their ability to complete their workload effectively. No matter the reason this is a very important restructure you need to get it right and quickly.
Problem: Wrong bus, wrong seat
Solution: It’s time to part ways
If someone is on the wrong bus altogether, meaning they are simply not a good fit for your company, then you need to release them to the competition. When should you fire someone? The first time you think of it. If you wait, the cost to your business can be catastrophic.
In fact: according to the survey conducted by Career Builder companies lose at minimum $15,000 on every bad hire. That number climbs the higher the salary of the employee. Some studies show that companies can lose anywhere between 6-15X the annual salary of an employee if they are a bad hire. I cannot stress the importance of ensuring you have the right people on the bus and more importantly in the right seat.
Next week we are going to look at more reasons to restructure your team and get your company set up to hit your goals for 2022. The time is now to start laying the seeds for success.
As always, I am here to help you achieve your goals and you can book your Free 15 minute consult with me: https://calendly.com/tarapickford/15min
Video Link: https://youtu.be/lLrIDDZ4S5Q
Building Your Dream Team – Part 3
The last two blogs I have shared have been about reasons to restructure your team. Here is a quick recap of the content we have covered so far:
Problem: Too much work and not enough people
Solution: Hire from outside the organization
Problem: Blurry lines across positions
Solution: Redefine job descriptions
Problem: Right seat, wrong bus
Solution: Redistribute the workload
Problem: Wrong bus, wrong seat
Solution: It’s time to part ways
Now that we have covered the reasons to restructure, we will cover building your team in anticipation of company growth. the best time to hire is before you need it. Easier said than done, I know. Healthy things grow and that includes your team. To plan for growth here are a few items to keep in mind:
- Outline your growth goals: clear, concise, measurable, time-stamped. A growth goal might consist of specific and Roman Milestones, Revenue percentages, or an increase in units.
- Assess what structure is needed inside your organization to support that growth. The structure includes your organizational chart and how many hours a week each person works on which task.
You might ask yourself questions like:
- Are there people who have room for more work inside their available hours?
- Who does each person report to?
- Are there cross-training opportunities?
The answers to these questions will help you get more clear on what the needs are you have to anticipate growth in the company and the staffing required to support that growth. This is where you need to dream big and really think about how to support growth. Maybe your plan includes tiered goals: X in sales allows for the next part-time hire, X more in sales allows that person to go full time etc.
It is important to get these ideas on paper and work them through to ensure you are hiring for growth and success, not in reaction and in haste. Join me next week for our last segment on Building Your Dream team.
As always, I am here to help you achieve your goals and you can book your Free 15 minute consult with me: https://calendly.com/tarapickford/15min
Video link: https://youtu.be/g0mnqwpUR98
Building Your Dream Team – Part 4
We are in the last segment for a 4 part series on building your dream team.
Previously we have covered 4 reasons for restructuring your team:
Problem: Too much work and not enough people
Solution: Hire from outside the organization
Problem: Blurry lines across positions
Solution: Redefine job descriptions
Problem: Right seat, wrong bus
Solution: Redistribute the workload
Problem: Wrong bus, wrong seat
Solution: It’s time to part ways
Last week we also covered 2 considerations for hiring in anticipation of growth. Today we will cover the last 2 considerations.
- Organization Goals
- Organization Structure
- Take measure of your hiring protocol to ensure you’re bringing the best candidate. Review the protocol to ensure you don’t waste time with inappropriate applications or candidates who aren’t a good culture fit. Build an interview procedure that weeds those people out before too much time is spent.
- Evaluate your training procedures to ensure your training budget is spent wisely. Are procedures written clearly for your new hire so they know what successful training looks like? Have a plan to bring them into your company culture and consider developing 30-day, 60 day, and 90 day goals for training Milestones.
If you want to sustain longevity and healthy growth inside your organization, you need to plan for the growth and row each position before it’s in crisis. Building a Dream Team takes planning, consideration, and most of all a growth mindset.
Dream teams don’t just happen, they grow. Plan for the growth, and then work the plan.
As always, I am here to help you achieve your goals and you can book your Free 15 minute consult with me: https://calendly.com/tarapickford/15min
Video link: https://youtu.be/e0d1-QB95s0
