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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Every Wednesday is Personal Development in Business…

I recently learned an important lesson in business that I’d like to share with you. My partner and I run a website & video production company. We produce design driven media to help companies brand their business online. Our business is highly dependent on team work, and therefore putting the right team together is imperative to each project. Everyone involved in a particular project plays a role, and as the saying goes, you are only as strong as your weakest link.

In order to stay versatile in the web business, it is imperative from time to time to work with contracted outsources. Picking these outsources is where I learned an important lesson. Like many other businesses, we have formed relationships with many different outsources that we feel confident in. However, sometimes, because of the rapid changing technology, you need to go outside your trusted sources. This happened to us a few months ago. We needed a developer specializing in a rather new coding language. So, as the process goes, we put out a job ad, and then checked out the work from the responders. It is evaluating these sources where I learned an important lesson.

Picking your team is critical to success in business…

At first, my partner who handles the majority of the creative decisions, would sift through the work and pick out the most talented and qualified people. After this, we send emails to each of them to get an estimate of both the cost and the time for completion. Then, after we have all of this information, we make a decision on who to meet with. It is during this interview that we decide if we have made the right decision.

The lesson I learned is the order of importance for certain characteristics when selecting who to work with. See, at first, my partner and I, like most people, were all about talent. The more talented the work, the more we wanted to make them a part of our team. Talent is an important part of the creative process, and everyone figures the more talent you have, the better off you are. However, this was our mistake.

Headaches Cost Money…

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation, and only 5 minutes to ruin it.” -Warren Buffett

Talent is not the most important characteristic when building a team. In fact, it is last on the list. Time is money, especially in business. Therefore, the less headaches, the less time spent, and consequently, the more money made. Plus, even more important, is building a relationship with clients. The more headaches for the client, the less likely they are to work with you again. Nothing is worse than having to cover for your team when you know they are wrong. Protect your reputation by choosing the right people to represent your company.

A perfect example of this is last year’s Dallas Cowboys football team. They ignored all external factors when putting together their roster, choosing to go with talent over all else. Their squad was loaded with talented players with questionable character. What happened was the locker room collapsed, the distractions became too many, and they are still dealing with the aftermath from this season. They sold their soul and now they are desperate to get it back.

Anytime you work in a team, it is the culmination of that team’s effort that makes a project successful. It is never just one talented individual, no matter how it may seem. Everyone plays their role, whether it’s a success, or a failure. To help you get the most out of your team, I have come up with a priority list to refer to when judging candidates. Whether outsources, employees, or just a 5th member of your local basketball pick up team, this short list will help you make the right decision.

Top 4 Characteristics for Picking Team Players

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1. Professionalism

The key to quality and efficiency is professionalism. This is defined as a person who understands they are part of a business and therefore acts in a professional manner. They understand what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. They help out with client relations by providing honest feedback, quick responses, and by meeting deadlines. In short, their professionalism makes your job easier. Even though they are not representing your business, they act as if they are.

2. Relationship Builders

A good team player thinks long term. They understand that one project can be the beginning of a beneficial relationship for both parties. Good team players will ask about the project, give their professional input, and list their price for services. Individuals will give demands, worry about themselves, and think short term. If the person starts to ask questions about personal goals, benefits, or rewards, then you may have to move on. These types focus only on the single project and how it affects the now. Long term team players worry about building a relationship. I have found businesses, even one person shops, understand the importance of relationship building better than the work-starved freelancers eager desperate to pay their bills.

3. Experience

Nothing makes working with someone easier than experience. Experience means they have learned from their mistakes, and can even add to your experience. Nothing makes life easier than have someone to work with who has experience doing what you need them too. It gives you confidence in their abilities. This confidence makes life easier, because you will spend less time questioning if what they say is accurate. Simply put, you know they’ve been there, done that, and therefore they can do it again.

4. Talent

Talent is important, but it takes a back seat to these characteristics. Don’t get caught up in the wow factor of someone’s work. Take it into consideration, but look past the glitz and glamour. Remember, no team is dependent on one person to carry them. A team is only as good as the sum of its parts. Adding talent to one part of a team is useless if it is going to drain the talent from other parts of the team.

Comment Below

What characteristics do you find essential to building the right team?

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