There’s a too-common
mentality that gets entrepreneurs in trouble. They believe, given the fact that
they started a company on the strength of their own great idea, and perhaps
with their own capital, that the success of the startup depends entirely on
them. But that’s pure fantasy.
In reality, a startup is only as good as the team assembled. Further, it’s only successful if the team can work well together, in productive competition with one another but always with an eye toward a common goal. Building out your team so that they not only work well for your company, but also work well together, is critical for scaling and longevity.
Sink or Swim Together
According to research done by CB Insights, one of the common reasons startups fail is because they “had the wrong team”. A staggering 23% of failed startups – that’s nearly a quarter of them – failed because of a lack of teamwork. If that doesn’t convince you that a startup sinks or swims together, nothing will.
When a team
works well together, when they’re on the same page and trust in the common
vision, they are able to produce a better product, market more effectively,
compete more determinedly and put your existing capital to better use.
Creating an Attractive
Culture
Teambuilding isn’t just good for your present-day startup – it’s good for your future prospects as well. You don’t need a flow chart to be able to draw a direct line between your teambuilding efforts and your ability to attract key talent in your industry.
When you invest in teambuilding, you create an attractive workplace culture. And when your workplace culture is attractive, you’re in a prime position to beat competitors at talent acquisition. In other words: a great team begets an even greater team.
Teambuilding Activities
for Startups
When you discuss teambuilding, what you really mean is “bringing people closer together”. Those old “trust fall” exercises, intended to foster an atmosphere of mutual reliability, don’t really work because they’re… well, not fun. In order to bring people together you have to try fun team building exercises. Instead of falling back into one another’s arms, why not see what your co-workers are made of with a rousing game of axe throwing?
Instead of trying
to team build in the office with a white board and a PowerPoint presentation, take your teambuilding somewhere
fun, where employees can get to know one another outside of the startup work
context. That’s the best way to forge beneficial relationships.
In summary,
common sense – backed by research – points to the importance of teambuilding in
startups. Silo-ing employees, or trying to do everything yourself, is not the
path toward healthy scalability and longevity. And it’s certainly not the way
to build out a work culture capable of attracting leading talent in the future.
To build your team, bring them together for regular activity outings and encourage
their relationships away from the work context.
You’ve
built a company, now it’s time to start building a team.
