How to Build a Team that Allows You to Scale
Building a team is an incredibly powerful tool that will take you to the next level… that is, if you get it right. When it comes to hiring, the more you know, the more equipped you’ll be to face whatever comes your way. Over the years we’ve hired a slew of part-time contractors, contractors that felt like extensions of our team, part-time and full-time employees. We’ve literally hired ‘em all! Through all of that we’ve learned a lesson or 37 that we’d love to share with you.
You Can’t Build a Successful Team without Structure
Before you start hiring, it’s important that you first focus on optimizing your systems to create a solid structure and foundation. (If you skipped this part and already have a few team members under your belt, that’s okay! It’s never too late to improve upon your current systems.) We want to help you align the goals and values of your business with the systems you put in place. Our approach is all about how to create structure while taking into account the messiness of life, clients, and running a service-based business.
OPTIMIZING SYSTEMS FOR CLIENTS & INPUT
Many service-based businesses deliver a service that requires the client’s contribution, which usually means that they need approval from clients before they can move on to the next step in their process. Unfortunately, they often aren’t able to systematize a process because they’re spending most of their time and energy chasing clients down.
If you don’t have systems or structures in place, everything will be stalled and slowed down, and your processes won’t be replicable for every client. As a result, the elements that enable you to deliver a productized service will get stuck at this point if you aren’t able to figure out your structure, plus it won’t be as easy to create SOPs for your team members to follow. So what’s a service provider to do?
REMOVE BARRIERS & INCLUDE YOUR CLIENTS
One of the things we want you to consider when you’re structuring your package is how you’re going to get feedback and input from your client, and how you can remove the barriers that are causing them to delay getting back to you. For example, what if you need them to fill out an extensive form so you can write copy for something, but they never seem to complete it on time? Think about what you can do to remove barriers so that they don’t procrastinate on giving you input, and you can get the information you need when you need it.
One solution would be scheduling a recorded call or interview where you cover all the relevant topics. This way, they can spend 20 to 30 minutes with you on the phone instead of spending over an hour filling out forms, and you can get your information on time. Not only does it make it easier for them to be involved, but it also feels like a more high-touch experience for them.
HOW TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR CLIENTS
That may sound counterintuitive, but just hear us out on this one. Many service providers assume that creating too many systems (or anything automated when it comes to their client experience) will weaken the experience, when it’s actually the total opposite. Not only does it enhance the client experience, but it also creates more predictable deliverables and higher customer satisfaction because everything is over-communicated and punctual, and they're getting what is expected.
These innovations don’t mean you’re spending less time with your clients. Instead, good structure allows you to spend more time with your clients. That’s the solution we want you to consider– there is so much potential for you to create a business that’s in alignment with what you want. You can spend more time building amazing relationships with your clients and less time distracted because you can have full faith in the structure you have in place. This opens up so many doors of opportunity once it’s time to start building your team.
Hiring for Attitude
Now that you’ve implemented sexy systems, you can look into hiring your first team member! If your company's values and priorities are set, it guides your decision in the hiring process and informs how you delegate and train. Many small businesses make the mistake of hiring primarily for skill. While there will always be positions that require skill above all else, there are so many other positions in your company where skills can be learned on the job. If a candidate has the right attitude, they are going to thrive.
However, hiring for attitude is by no means a window of opportunity for discrimination. We are likely to be drawn to people who are most like us, but keep in mind that this will not add value to your business. Ultimately, the trick when hiring is to hire according to your company’s values, paired with skill. What we look for in candidates is their attitude around flexibility and adapting to change. Companies tend to grow and evolve over time, and we need employees that can keep up at all stages of our business.
How to Design an Employee System
When hiring for service excellence (i.e. understanding your ideal client by knowing what your business does and does not do well), ask yourself two critical questions:
What makes employees reasonably able to achieve the excellence you've defined?
What makes them reasonably motivated to achieve that excellence?
Identifying these two factors will enable you to design a well-integrated employee system and define your company values, policies, and programs. In fact, if this isn’t incorporated into your employee system, you’ll struggle to deliver service excellence.
Another important piece is to reflect on any unnecessary urgency you’re placing on your team. By creating a structure that eliminates, or at least diminishes, the number of “emergency clients,” you’re actively preventing burnout on your team because no one is required to be the hero. Remember that it is possible to be both service-minded and lighthearted.
Hiring According to Your Priorities
Once you’ve identified your priorities, hire for them! We want you to be empowered by what your team can ultimately bring to the table. Having a team allows you to be more intentional about your company’s specific goals and, although it’s normal for company values to reflect personal values, you can get really clear on your business’ priorities and personality with a team.
Get Clear on Who’s Doing What
If you have a team you need to ask yourself if there is a loss in capacity due to confusion over who is doing what. It sounds like a no-brainer but when you’re new to managing a team, it’s so easy to have multiple people in overlapping roles. Don’t get us wrong, we’re all for hybridization, but it’s essential to be clear on each employee’s tasks and ensure there aren't any unnecessary overlaps.
Why It’s Important to Productize Your Offer
If you’re the only one who can fulfill and deliver every aspect of your service, it’s time to productize your offer. As much as everyone likes to feel indispensable, it’s not sustainable, so you need to make sure someone can back you up in every area.
Productizing your offer will allow you to delegate and deliver amazing results every single time through structure and systemization, even in your absence. If, eventually, you want to move into a different part of the business, retire, or even sell, you can plan for that. It won’t happen overnight, but if you find you can take a vacation for a month and your business is still thriving, you’ve successfully productized your offer.
Needing More Team Building Help?
Building a team and structure is not only one of our favorite topics, but it’s also a huge part of what we teach inside The Incubator. We’ll help you build your dream week, create the systems through your CRM and project management system to set you up for success, package your offer properly, build leadership and management skills, make sure your numbers are sustainable for a team, and so much more.
Go ahead and apply here to watch our free private training that’s all about creating systems that will allow you to increase your client capacity without sacrificing your client experience. Then, let us know you applied in our DMs on Instagram @bossproject!
