Building your core team with purpose
No matter how small or large your commercial construction business is, having a core group of people (a team) who “get it” will make your job easier. You want people who see your vision, agree with your vision, and will work to help you accomplish your vision.
Before you begin the process of building a core team, you must have a vision for your contracting business. Because, quite simply, your core team must have hooks on which they can hang their hats (and their understanding.)
Building your core team even when there are skeptics
Some folks are born skeptical, live skeptical, and will probably die the same way. And there isn’t much any of us can do about them. So, for the purpose of this article we’re not going to worry much about them.
Yet, there are those who may be skeptical of a process, an intended outcome, or even your vision before they’re brought into the fold. Telling chronic skeptics apart from occasional skeptics is fairly easy when you take the time to look.
This might help. Some names society has adopted to describe skeptics are:
Party pooper
Wet blanket
Killjoy
Spoilsport
Grinch
Naysayer
Grouch
And, the way you tell the difference is your level of surprise. Yep, if you’re totally taken off guard by Harry’s party poopiness, it is likely he is simply having a bad day. Likewise, if you’re surprised that Sheila agreed to the request without complaint it is likely she is most frequently a naysayer.
If you’re interested in more information about dealing with naysayers, check out this article from Entrepreneur.
Step 1 Building your core team through equipping them
You pass on your vision from the very beginning of the hiring process. Your vision must be included in the handbook each new hire receives. From that point onward, the vision must be spoken of, acted on, and entrenched in the daily processes you adopt. If your employees don’t know what you want or expect of them, they flounder. If your vision is made perfectly clear they have an easier time of knowing which path to follow next.
Step 2 Building your core team through training them
That means investing in them by sharing podcasts, books, and articles that you read. It means taking them or sending them to classes, workshops, and conferences. Give them responsibilities that stretch and motivate them. Most importantly, show them what you value through your own daily actions.
Step 3 Building your core team by mobilizing them
It does no good to network your team into the vision if you’re unprepared to mobilize them. Perhaps Albert Einstein said it best: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Put another way by Warren Buffet: “Hire smart people and get out of their way.”
Determine what skill sets, talents, and know-how each of your core team members has. Equip them and train them, then give them the freedom to make your construction contracting business better.
What core team building looks like
A core team is a gathering of like-minded people who are all about the vision. It takes clarity on what that team should look like. Further, it takes an investment to help them reach expectations.
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