Everyone wants to run a successful team, right? The very concept of being a leader implies that you want to lead a group of people towards victory, success and growth. While there are innate characteristics and qualities you must have to truly be a great superior, there are also tools and techniques to pick up along the way that will only accentuate your ability to be effective- and build the type of company culture you’re aiming for.
Regular Communication It isn’t enough to hold quarterly meetings with your managers or team members to continue a positive trajectory of growth. Regular communication means having an intimate pulse of your team about the issues at hand- and even the news around the water cooler. Dan Calista, Founder and CEO of Vynamic in Philadelphia, holds a virtual 30-minute meeting every 2 weeks with his team members called TACT Time Tuesday, which stands for: Transparency, Awareness, Clarity and Trust. This quick, bi-monthly session keeps employees and upper management on the same page in between of normally scheduled meetings.
Consistent Training Training an employee at the beginning of their employment once does the same good as boiling one pot of water to continue making cups of tea days, weeks and months down the road- it just won’t cut it. Instead, employees and managers need consistent training that continuously reinforces the values, processes and culture your company is trying to execute.
Understandably, it is difficult to organize trainings for large groups, especially on a perpetual basis. Again, Calista’s team is using innovative ways to overcome obstacles by moving to a completely virtual training platform. Now all training is done by way of podcasts allowing employees to tune in more conveniently, while being able to download, save and re-listen to as needed.
Team Building Creating a culture-rich work environment doesn’t come overnight. It takes time, deeply rooted values and follow through from everyone from the CEO down. A great way to engage employees and begin to build that culture is through activities meant to bring people together, build trust and interact with one another in positive ways. While often snubbed for being a cliché corporate attempt at solidarity, it turns out team building does in fact improve the ability for employees to work together, communicate and enhance the overall environment of the workplace.
Roundtables
While admittedly there is a fine line to walk between empowering your team members and opening up a session of endless bickering, when done correctly roundtables can help to bring a wealth of information, insight and solutions to the forefront.
Open Door Policy Finally, it’s incredibly important to implement an open door policy if you truly wish to make an impact as a leader. This strategy allows employees to feel secure knowing that their voices will be heard, their opinions will be respected and their efforts will be appreciated. To this point Calista says that it was important for his company to have a culture that embraced stepping forward and offering ideas, “we’re not afraid to ‘fail forward.’ We’ve created a forgiving environment for taking chances and sometimes it works, sometimes it fails- but what’s the alternative of NOT trying?”