Usually as an entrepreneur there isn’t a lot of teamwork involved. Many projects are controlled by the entrepreneur. Those he or she works with are often hired and follow the descriptions of the job tasks.
There may come a time when you have a large project that needs several different people working together. It’s not enough to have talented, dependable, hardworking employees (temporary like writers and web designers or permanent like office workers and accountants). A skilled leader will know how to motivate employees to work together as a team with minimal supervision.
At Wal-Mart I notice things that are new to me, but probably common in large retail. There is a lot of complaining of from different shifts or different groups. As I listen and watch the associates, I see hard working and caring associates that have different strengths and focuses from the group they are complaining about. There is a lack of focused plan to reach a common goal.
Now that the holidays are over there seems to be a focus on store quality. They are changing procedures and supervising more. Of course some are comfortable in the ways things were done and are compliant yet resist.
I see the changes as good, but it does bring to light the lack of communication and unified plan.
My department head, assistant manager, and night manager will all have tasks for me, yet they don’t seem to have them coordinated. New procedure includes more freight coming out during the day. My retail experience is only what I’ve gained the past 6 months and I struggle to balance what each supervisors wants and still provide customer service for the people who come into the department.
My suggestions that can be used with anyone bringing several people together for a common purpose:
- Clearly Identify the goal with a time frame for completing it
- Break down individual tasks needed to accomplish goal
- Delegate/hire people who can do the tasks
- Communicate how each task fits together
- Brainstorm with team and use the experience of those who will participate
- Revise plan if needed with input
- Coordinate tasks so that tasks that are dependent on another task being completed is done first
- Schedule regular evaluations of progress of project to see if adjustments are needed
- Nip any complaining of coworkers in the bud, redirect to positive suggestions, and encourage communication with the person the complaints are about.
If you have several writers, allow them to communicate and coordinate content when possible. Allow others to communicate with each other and then make final decisions with the added information from their brainstorming.
The advantages of communication and teamwork:
- Projects will use less of your time
- The will be an increase in quality of end project
- Projects will be finished in a timely manner
- The team will work more efficiently together on future projects
You may find eventually that you will have more time to make more money and start new projects when you have a team that you’ve taught the art of teamwork.