Building a Creative Team
A team is a group of persons working together to achieve common set targets, goals and objectives. It is often said that no man is an island; you can’t do it all by yourself because you don’t have all the answers; at some point, whether in business or in the home, you would need some measure of help from others. Teamwork fosters creativity and promotes accountability. The most successful businesses today are those that have recognized the benefits of building a creative team.
The greatest leaders are those that empower and continuously encourage their team members to reach their full potentials. They entice and motivate team members to pursue a shared vision. They receive feedbacks from team members and strategize ways to bring out the best from the team. To enjoy the benefits of having a creative team, it is important to learn how to build a creative team.
Here are some tips to help you build a creative team:
Identify individual talents-: Study each team member and discover areas where each person is guaranteed to give incredible performance and allow them to use these distinctive talents to contribute to teamwork. Ensure that there is a mix of personalities on your team, the realists as well as the optimists. Allow them sell their ideas to you and listen carefully to recommendations and constructive criticisms.
Motivation-: A good leader should be like a cheerleader, continuously cheering teammates on as they strive to attain the set goals. Give your team members full credit for achievements and success. Understand that success and failure go hand-in-hand, so when there is a failure, or mistake, don’t dwell on these mistakes but direct them to the path of recovery and give them another opportunity to prove that they can do better. It’s also a very good idea to set up a reward system for outstanding team members. This would encourage them and keep them on their feet all the time even when you are not there to physically supervise them.
Ask Questions-: What better way is there to know what’s on your teammates’ minds than to ask questions? Ask questions that would help them think strategically and creatively. You can hold a brainstorming session and allow them the freedom to contribute creatively. Innovative and creative ideas are shared this way. Make a resolve to accept ideas that may be different from what you initially envisioned but guaranteed to work.
Training-: Providing training for your team from time to time helps to increase creativity. Constantly training your team would help them get better. Training can be in form of group discussions, contests or on-the-job trainings.
Define goals-: Ensure that goals and objectives are clearly defined and every teammate fully understands what is required of him/her. You could develop a team mission statement together with your teammates that each member would use as a guide.
Discipline-: Ensure that team members are disciplined. A situation where everyone is allowed to do as they please would only create tension and confusion. Reward good conduct and make sure team members recognize consequences of negative or anti-team activities. Punishments should be meted out to erring teammates. But adequate investigation should be carried out before handing out punishments and the punishment should fit the crime. For instance, you don’t punish a teammate for mistakes made out of circumstances beyond their control.
Honesty-: Ensure that you encourage honesty within the team. The truth must always be told at all times. This brings a sense of ease and confidence into the team. If you continue to do all these consistently, your team is guaranteed to become more efficient and creative.
