In a startup, it’s all about the team. Even if you have a ground-breaking idea, it’s useless without the right team to develop and execute the vision. If you’ve been in business or entrepreneurship, these revelations shouldn’t surprise you.
Hiring the right people can be the most difficult part of building a company, but talent is hard to find, and bad apples can be even harder to let go. That’s why it’s essential to have a clear idea of how to look, where to look, and what tools you should be using to uncover the gems.
Here are ten must-know tips for finding and building a world-class small business team.
1. Have Very Clear Objectives
You have a clear idea of what you want to do with your business, so why shouldn’t you have a clear idea of what you want in your team? Before embarking on the difficult task of building your small business team, ask yourself a few questions:
- What talent do I need to get the job done?
- What type of personalities am I looking for?
- What type of people will compensate for my weaknesses?
- What can I afford?
- How many people do I want?
Be flexible when you are looking for new members of your team, but remember, hiring someone you don’t actually need is a waste of resources.
2. Master the Art of LinkedIn
LinkedIn (
) is a very effective tool for finding and evaluating potential prospects, but that’s not the only thing it can help you accomplish in your quest to assemble the perfect team. You can also:
- Follow companies where you can find talent. It’s a new feature that will let you know who joins and who leaves companies that produce talent.
- Research your connections’ connections. Don’t just ask a friend or contact to provide suggestions of who you should hire. Instead, pick and choose people from their connections who fit, and ask your contacts about those people specifically. You’ll end up with a better ROI.
3. Go Where the Talent Is
You can look at every job site on the planet, but if you really want to find talent, you have to go where they are: Universities, job fairs, hackathons, and social communities.
You also need to look online. If you’re looking for entrepreneurial developers, then you’d better get to know the
Hacker News () community, for example, or if you’re looking for writers,
Mediabistro is a good starting place. And finally, you’d be surprised what you can turn up in a few searches on LinkedIn,
Twitter (
),
Facebook (), and the blogosphere.
4. Make Your Company (and Yourself) Accessible
There are a lot of people looking for startups to work at, but it isn’t easy to find one that fits. Lower the barrier for people looking for a new team to join by utilizing social accounts and having an easy-to-find website that explains exactly what your company wants to do.
You, as the business owner or hiring manager, also need to be visible as a leader. People want to know what the team is like before they even apply. Giving people the ability to connect with you is one step towards potentially landing your dream hire.
One of the best examples of a company that practices this philosophy is
Zappos. The company has a
tweeting CEO, an active
blog network, and has even
live streamed its meetings. The result has been a world-class customer service team and a
nearly $1 billion exit.
While Zappos is likely much bigger than your current business, the lessons are still valid: Accessibility helps you find team members.
5. You Have to Sell Your Business to Your Team
No, I don’t mean sell your company shares — I mean that you have to always pitch the virtues of working with the team you’re building and selling potential hires on the vision that you have. Great teams are driven by passion, not by money (although you shouldn’t insult great talent with unfair offers).
To that end, you need to sell your company in person and in the virtual world, and not just to those you’re trying to hire, but to those who are already part of the team. The key is constant, honest communication. Don’t promise a potential hire something you can’t deliver (e.g. promises of 300% growth, a guaranteed raise, a hot tub, etc.). Do be open to new suggestions, but be clear about what you can and cannot do based on your budget.
For a good example of using social media to sell your startup to potential hires, look no further than Twitter. The company recently created a Twitter account,
JoinTheFlock, which provides simple and accessible recruitment information and broadcasts it to thousands of people. Twitter also launched a tool at SXSW earlier this year to show the locations of their employees at the conference so that interested individuals could chat with them about life at the company. It’s been an impressive recruitment push that has garnered a lot of attention.
6. Learn About Their Side Projects and Passions
Work experience is useful, but side projects are revealing. Does the person you potentially want to hire like to contribute to open-source projects? Does he or she like to cook or do extreme sports in his or her spare time?
Side projects are good things — they demonstrate that a person has ambition and drive. However, the types of things potential hires are developing, the types of blog posts they write, and what they tweet about are all telling signs of what type of team players they will become. Look for their personal blogs and less-obvious profiles for a fuller picture.
7. Project Management Tools Are Your Friend (Mostly)
Building a team isn’t just about finding the building blocks — it’s about keeping them there. Tools such as
Basecamp (),
Google Apps and
Yammer () help solve different aspects of the project and team management problem. Basecamp tracks ongoing projects, Google Apps helps your team better communicate internally and externally (check out our
small biz guide to Google Apps for some tips), and Yammer provides a feed of what your co-workers are working on.
These tools are vital — organization and communication are key to keeping the team on the same page, regardless of whether you’re big or small. But it’s also about effectively using these tools. That means using only the tools you absolutely need and doing research on the tools you’re thinking of using.
8. There’s More to Your Team Than Your Employees
If you want to create a cohesive, functional team that works well together, then you need to think of the team as being more like a web than a pyramid.
Who are your investors? Which people are providing you and your business team with advice? Do you have customers that provide constructive feedback, or do they just complain? What about the supporting characters, such as friends, family, and significant others?
In the end, your team is much larger than who’s on the payroll. If you want to build the ultimate team, it has to be on the same page top to bottom. Openly communicate with every player and choose people that add value instead of conflict to your company.
9. Use Social Media to Build a Voice
Creating a company blog and a Twitter account can be far more than just a marketing tool. Having employees blog allows them to express their creativity and connect with the cause. Being open about what you’re offering can and will attract potential new team members to contact you, rather than you having to contact them.
Social media is an outlet for your the voice of your business, but the exercise can also help you develop it. Having a voice will help make the message and the mission clear, both internally and to the type of people you want to add to your team.
The
Tom Bihn story is an excellent example of using social media to build a voice. The 22-person company has successfully used Twitter,
YouTube (), Facebook,
Flickr (), and its company’s blog to really spread the message.
10. Trust Your Gut
Two weeks ago, I had a dinner discussion with a group of entrepreneurs about best practices for hiring a stellar team. While many of the answers varied (some of which made this list), the one that stood out to me was simple: Trust your instincts.
Someone can have a stellar resume, amazing accolades and glowing recommendations, but if there isn’t that immediate chemistry, chances are that it won’t work out. It boils down to this: If you are not on the same page as your team, then you’re not a team at all.
When you’re hiring, trust your gut. If you think something’s off about a potential hire, then move on to the next candidate.
