“When it comes to anything that’s social, whether it’s your family, your school, your community, your business or your country, winning is a team sport.” Bill Clinton – 42nd American President

Over the course of this week we have explored the basic fundamental steps which need to be taken to get your dream team into place. It is definitely not the easiest of tasks. However with enough time spent in searching for these, the long term pay off is worth all the effort. The following will be five steps any individual should take when setting up his/her ideal team.

1. Identification of the self: Before we set out to find our teammates we have to first take a good look at ourselves. Who we are and what our core values are . This will help us to identify core strengths as well as vulnerabilities. We will then know to a great extent what sort of people we need to be on the look out for. A key factor of this step is acknowledging, that the law of attraction states that what you get is not determined by what you want. It is determined by who you are. To read more please click here.

2. 8 core characteristics checklist: After you have made an effort to understand who you are, you have to find individuals who share your core values and those of the business. These are individuals who understand the bigger picture and have the ability to execute on a micro level as well. They have a passion for what they do and strive to be the best at it. Once they commit to a goal they work arduously to reach it with honesty, integrity and within ethical and moral boundaries. Use this checklist whenever you are evaluating either joining a team or recruiting members for it. To read more please about the 8 core characteristics please click here.

3. The first critical discussion:This is a step which is usually overlooked or not given enough importance by startup teams. The core question surrounding this meeting is “Who does what?” and “Who gets what?”. These are fundamental questions which need to be answered and talked about extensively before starting operations. If the key points such as commitment levels and amount of capital injection isn’t talked about clearly it results in the team not performing at its potential and usually leads to the beginning of an ugly down cycle for the the team as a whole. To read more about what needs to be discussed in this meeting click here.

4. Performance Management Processes: When teams are new, productivity is usually high. As time goes by there will be a series of highs and lows. These in turn affect productivity and efficiency within the group. If you don’t monitor productivity closely you will end up with polarized teams. These result in factions between the highly productive and the mediocre performers, which in turn causes the entire team’s productivity to decrease and may even result in the team breaking up. In order to keep close tabs on this a team must run regular performance appraisals to monitor the teams progress towards targeted goals and commitments. To read more on performance management processes please click here.

5. Rewards and Recognition Strategy: Team members make a substantial investment when they join startup ventures. They are hoping for a greater payoff for the substantial risk that they are taking. If the team doesn’t manage its rewards and recognition strategy correctly, there will be a loss of morale which directly impacts productivity of the team. We have to ensure that the team collectively decides on attractive rewards and recognition for team members who perform above the average. This will create an environment which is conducive to growth as it pushes everyone in the team that much harder. Correctly managed rewards and recognition strategies are a critical factor which need to be put into place when creating winning teams. To read more about rewards and recognition strategies please click here.

To wrap it all up, first get to know who you are – then look for individuals who excel on the 8 core characteristics checklist – ensure that before starting the project you have clearly recorded who is going to be doing what and what he/she will be getting – track performance extremely closely – reward team members when they excel. Following these simple steps will enable you to get a startup off the ground faster, with greater efficiency and well prepared for the long run.Paying attention to yesterday posts title will translate into. Together Everyone Achieves More = TEAM.I hope everyone has benefited from this week’s topic. If you have any specific queries, questions or suggestions please get in touch.[digg=http://digg.com/business_finance/5_Steps_to_Creating_Winning_Teams]