Assembling Great Teams
We’re all born with certain skills, but great teams are built, not born. People can’t be thrown into a company or onto a project at random with expectations that all will work out perfectly. It takes time, patience and effort to build a team. Above all, the two key factors are shared values and respect.
Shared values are essential because everyone on the team must be working toward a common goal. We all want to get paid, of course, so simply showing up to do a job isn’t enough. Instead, there must an underlying value system that bonds the team together. For example, at Performance Marketing, we strive to have a staff that values smart solutions over flash and style. That helps keep everyone grounded in strategic thinking regardless of role or department. People simply work together better when they share a common viewpoint. So for us, our values bring us together, and our culture keeps us together.
Respect is more than the title of a great Aretha Franklin song. It may seem like a no-brainer, yet it’s so obvious that it’s often overlooked. Just because people share common values doesn’t mean they share the same talents or serve the same roles. In fact, they shouldn’t, because team members must push each other in order to develop fresh ideas and keep stretching for a higher level of work. If there isn’t respect among the individuals, however, then it’s easy for minds to close or more vocal members to dominate. Two-way communication is a must, as is providing the culture where speaking up is encouraged. Respect is often as simple as believing that other people can have good ideas, too, and then getting everyone on board to support those ideas. That’s how good teams work.
At Performance Marketing, we’ve been fortunate to assemble a dedicated, well-functioning organization. But it is not by accident. Recruitment of new team members is a year-round process and includes a number of existing team members identifying and then truly getting to know each and every candidate on a more personal level. Just as important is that they get to know us. Together we make sure we’re a mutually good fit for each other because we are offering more than just a job and they certainly are going to be more than just an employee for us.
The results of those efforts have led to minimal turnover, short lead teams for staff additions and/or replacements, and also that Performance Marketing has been awarded several Best Places To Work honors. Even more rewarding is that our clients enjoy working with us. And most rewarding of all is that our team members are happy to see each other every day — that’s how you know that the time and effort spent to choose each individual is paying big dividends.
This guest blog post comes from Kevin Lentz, President of Performance Marketing. Kevin was asked to share what creating a great team means to him for our Presidents Day blog series.
