Recently a client needed to start organizing his team.
Like many service small businesses he needed to have a reliable approach that they can use simply organizing the team every day. They needed to have a guideline that was easy for them to follow. As a small business owner, you want to have a plan that will outline and help you start organize your team and their roles. How?
Welcome, to Standardizing.
So, for small businesses that need a more a structured way of doing things, the answer is standardizing. Standardizing helps a small business take the guesswork out of a task. Anytime you have someone on your team spend time on guessing “what to do,” you may be wasting company time and theirs.
Yes, it is at times necessary for them to “figure things out” but you want them to spend that time figuring out how to make it better, more efficient or better yet innovating a new way of doing things.
They should have some clear basic instructions that they can use and will be more equipped to handle the complex tasks when they encounter those grey areas. This will make it easier to have a level of quality and performance you expect and reduce human error, keeping the team organized.
Standardizing does not stop creativity.
It can be a concern that standardizing will stop your team from being creative and it is a way of micromanaging them.
In reality, standardizing does NOT stop creativity when organizing your team. Instead, it provides them with the assurance that they are meeting your requirements. The decision you will have to make at this point is choosing the level of freedom you feel comfortable with giving them within those tasks.
First, set your priorities on what is important.
Be crystal clear on what you want to have planned and what is ok to be up to your team.
Next, start with documenting.
Start by providing them with a basic guideline plan that should be followed. It’s a great way to provide a guide they can use without you overseeing the systematic process.
•Create a mission statement. Although not a requirement, mission statements are a great way to let your team know your why as a company. Learn why it is important and useful to have.
•Keep it simple to use and easily accessible and visible. You want to leave room for that grey area that they can:
• Include some visual tools. Items like pictures or a video help those that are visual learners.
• Make it easy to update. Businesses and processes evolve –so should your process.
• Ask for feedback. You want to know if there are any gaps or issues with the process.
• Ask for collaboration in any changes they suggest. This is a great opportunity to put their creativity and strengths to work.
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Choose diverse team members that have different interests and skill sets.
Hire team members that each offer their own unique experiences and capabilities. Start by identifying the strengths of each of your team members. Set up responsibilities and tasks that complement their talents and strengths. This will make it easier for you to start organizing your team and be clear about each of their responsibilities and expectations.
Provide and ask for feedback to improve performance. Ask for feedback and collaboration from your team. Although you may not agree with their suggestions, let them know that you appreciate hearing their ideas.
Standardization can be a great tool.
It helps your business avoid the common problem of bottleneck issues and losing touch with how your team operates. By knowing this you have eliminated any concerns they have and can focus their energy on the areas that foster their creativity.
With a collaboration of working together and creating a guideline that everyone can follow, organizing your team is possible.