Every year, an untold number of businesses are launched worldwide, and the unfortunate reality is that the vast majority of them fail. So why do some companies thrive and grow while the majority fall within a few years? There is a wide range of factors to consider when it comes to success, including access to capital, understanding the market, the ability to innovate, and good old-fashioned luck. However, there is one factor that nearly all business owners can control that may directly determine long-term business success: Hiring the right people to form a successful and influential tech team.
What is the Purpose of a Tech Team?
An excellent tech team is at the heart of any business goals and success. This formula applies equally to start-ups and international behemoths. A tech team exists to enable an endeavour to grow, scale, and thrive in ways that would be physically impossible for a single person to accomplish.
You’ll spend most of your time at work solving, mitigating, or anticipating problems—whether you’re selling a product or providing a service. As a result, for your company to succeed, every tech team member must be on the same page.
Everyone’s job description, from customer service to backend development, should aim to achieve the same overarching goal. How each individual achieves this goal should differ between departments.
A high-performing tech team will align with the needs of the business and use the tools available to them to find efficient solutions to problems.
How to Build a Strong Tech Team?
A high-performing tech team cannot appear out of nowhere. Instead, it necessitates careful cultivation by a team leader committed to its values, goals, and code of ethics to form a great tech team.
Without this top-down leadership, your employees are nothing more than co-workers. It is up to you to form a virtual team for them that works. Here are some steps to take to make that happen:
1. Establish expectations from day one
“Nature abhors a vacuum,” as the saying goes, but it’s true. New employees and team members typically arrive as relatively blank slates, open to various company cultures. Still, they will quickly begin looking for cues on operating as a member of your company. Use this nature of new joiners to your advantage.
Set ground rules and make your expectations clear from the start—not just in terms of sales targets or a five-year plan, but also in terms of the type of team environment you want to create.
2. Respect your tech team members
You want your employees to be a part of a team at work, but you also need to recognise that these are people with their own stories. They made it this far in life without your help, and they must have rich and varied lives when they leave work each day.
Therefore, it is critical not to think of new team members as mere bodies who will carry out tasks. On the contrary, a healthy team environment emerges when individuals are honoured and respected for their unique gifts and ability to contribute to their common goal.
3. Make good connections with the team
While you must value and honour each team member, it is also critical that they respect and care for one another.
Encourage people to see one another as more than just a body sitting next to them at the office. Encourage them to see their co-workers as business partners who will work together to achieve a common goal of business development, individual success, and team goals.
4. Practice emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is an important trait to great leaders. They treat individuals as human beings rather than living drones. Great leaders recognise that not everyone is motivated in the same way.
Some team players thrive when they work together to achieve a common goal. Others seek healthy competition, either with an external competitor or with another sales team in the same office.
An effective leader will treat people’s differences as an asset, not an impediment, by accepting the realities of different work styles and motivational styles.
5. Motivate with positivity
Great leaders also believe that “you get more flies with honey than vinegar.” In practice, this means that positive reinforcement, rather than negative reinforcement, is more effective at shaping behaviour.
Refrain from criticising team members’ mistakes. Instead, foster a positive team environment by highlighting events and behaviours that you particularly appreciated and encouraging your team to bring more of the same.
Positive reinforcement is far more effective than shaming those who make mistakes in motivating team performance.
6. Find a team you trust
Find a self-starter: Someone who can make decisions on your behalf and who will be an excellent ambassador for you and your company.
Give them the authority to make leadership decisions independently to prepare them as collaborators for technical assistance. You’re investing time and resources in this person, so think about their long-term potential in your company or industry.
Ramp Up Your Tech Team
Understanding the ins and outs of people management, team building, and effective workplace communication can mean the difference between a successful and unsuccessful business venture—whether you’re just starting your tech start-up or looking to brush up on the basics.
It is challenging for start-ups to find the right people, and as a result, they frequently have to compromise on certain aspects. Consider your stage and the essential qualities for that stage to help you decide.
CodeQuotient can help you find the best tech talent across the country, saving you time and effort. To learn more about how we can help you find the right tech teams, please contact us!
