How to build a team that will not sink your startup?

Presented by Ms. Ruth Kamuntu a senior human resource manager working with Gotham and the malaria consortium. She is so good that to rephrase her presentation would easily dilute her expertise. So with little to no option, its only right to have it in her words.  Let’s dive right into it.

“Great things in business are never done by one person, but by a team”. –Steve jobs. “No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy is and you are playing a solo game you will always lose out to a team” – a cofounder of linkedin once noted. If your business is going to succeed you need a team. What does that mean.

A sourcing strategy. What is your sourcing strategy, the screening itself? recruitment chain, recruitment as HR.  how successful is your recruitment? How do you want to do it? when is your need, who is your need. Enhancing the reputation. Is all about the team.

A successful recruitment on the other hand is best aligned and when you have identified they are very active and they shall contribute positively in youth business. 

What re the drivers to help you know you have a best team on board that will not sink your team?

Self-awareness. Means you are the owner of the business. It is the foundation of everything that is good. If you know who you are, your personality, values beliefs. Then you can hire people that will help you grow and later get you challenged as well. 

What is your vision. Your vision is among the things you must consider. share your vision, with your team, begin thinking of how best you can share your vision with the people you want to being on board, and how best do you think they can understand it. The vision will help you create a culture, the values and practices, let your vision be their vison. when they buy into it then it will be way easier for you to push the business forward. 

A famous quotation, “a satisfied customer is the best business”, made by an American business man – mike. The reason as to why you are starting up is because of your customers. Select that team which in customer service oriented. Think about that person who is going to help you satisfy your customer. There will be no challenges in revenue if your customers as satisfied. 

When starting up organizations. We consider hiring action takers, we literally want people who are ready to get the job done. You want they people that will take you forward. People who can go for it. They are ready to get the job done. When you have such people they will think first. Consider hiring people who are not merely idealists but those you go forward to see the idea through to reality. Don’t hire people for the sake of hiring them.

Ring masters. These are people who coordinate the circus. Becoming an effective leader. Know he traits and the goals of your team. Get to know who is doing what at what time? Create that rapport that they people you are leading can do what they are supposed to do with or without your presence. Make sure they work together to create a Sameless show.

Think long term. Bringing great people on your team is about demonstrating that size doesn’t really matter it’s the people that matter. Let me start with these two whether qualified or not, then I will get the others later. this is the greatest mistake. You are creating at the startup tem. Don’t build a team for a startup.  Build the team with an organizational structure on a big vision. So much so that think about the bigger picture and how things will be run at a time when it’s a bigger business organization. 

Inclusion in diversity. Most of our organizations, we start them up solo or family, when it’s the family many of the family members get involved thus homogeneity. However, it’s good to involve a lot of diversity. Because we need a lot of creativity, and innovativeness. Do not fear to hire them basing on the fact that you don’t know them irrespective of the fact they are skilled and have the competencies. Do not feel in secure, because they are the go getters. They are the people who will help you to grow. 

Startup team personalities.  As you hire your start up team please get to do thorough recruitment, and encourage effective communication. You must expect a lot of friction from the start but when they come together and they have bought on to the vision then they can be a great team. But with effective communication between you, and the team, you and the person you have, then also between the team members. 

Recruitment and selection.

  • Consider investment in the recruitment officer or we can do it at the right pace in order to get the right person. The poster that you put out there does not guarantee you the right person to hire. A recruiter may be expensive and all startups will narrate how they don’t have money and they can’t afford a recruiter. In my opinion I would actually think it is better to invest in a person who has done this for a while and can get you a person that will actually fit in the team you are building. “the secret for successful hiring is this look for the people who want to change the world” mark 
  • Borrowing the sports field in this version. Every team member has a role, from which every member is accountable, there is always a training, they make analysis, and they never lose sight of the driving force which is the vision of the sports team. 
  • Translating it to the startup team, have roles that are clear and distinct from each other in how they are supposed to get the team running smoothly for the attainment of the vision. 
  • Train your team, the training should be continuous irrespective of competencies.  What competencies does he need?
  • The flexibility part. How flexible can he get to be on the job? The landscape of the business keeps on changing how best can the person you are bringing on board, be flexible as the business changes. 
  • Never lose sight of the vision of your business and find out their driving forces and use them to get the best out of them. Always listen to your team.

Please note; that “the hire slow fire fast monstra” works; hire slow because you want to get the right person for the work. Fire fast because you don’t need to keep the person not doing the right thing continuously on your team. They will drag your startup down.

  • Do not settle for someone who isn’t right for your business.  
  • Focus on growth, do not spend a lot of money and time cleaning up messes. The right people on the first day will help you grow.
  • Cost of hire, put up a thorough evaluation process before you hire the right person. If it’s a sales person give them a practical. Why wait to pull the plug on the wrong hire when you clearly know it’s a wrong hire.  Don’t hire because someone told referred her to you.
  • Sometimes it’s about engagement. Train your team to do better, be there to see how she handles her sales and customers. Even if they are the right hires, they could be having a few things that they don’t have to fit in well in your business.
  • Sometimes something to do with motivation happens. Motivation levels will go down when you make the wrong hire to make a right hire. The right hire shall pull them down. Make sure that the team has those people who are the go getters. 

How do you deal with competitors because they bad mouth you? From a human resource perspective, competition is very good because it keeps you on your tip toes. But always focus on the positive things that come along with it. Involve your team to find out where and how best you can improve your game as regards the competition.

In conclusion the right people will take your business across the finish line, the wrong people will make your business go down.

“This is one of the most practical training that I have ever attended and I would like to day that techbuzz hub should take up this training and bring many people in the know of it, because I believe it will help a lot of many young entrepreneurs.” Ricky Rapa Thomas – Founder safe boda