One of the most important pieces of advice that I give to owners is to involve their team with the business’s growth. Life as a business owner can be a solitary undertaking, but getting your team involved with your growth can make the journey much easier. In my experience, though, it’s something that business owners don’t do anywhere near as much as they should!
Business Growth: Plan With Your Team
Business growth is inherently linked to the team. How can you make your team more involved?
This means communicating clearly and honestly with your team. Tell them what direction the business is heading in, about what changes might be coming up, about your expectations of them and of the business.
It makes it far easier to move the business forward when the team are on board with the plan and know the part they play in it. Once your team members are aware of the direction of the business you can involve them with planning. They are part of the business, after all, so it’s likely that they will have valuable input. Various positions and roles might also see things from different perspectives to those you have considered. The diversity of viewpoints this brings will be a positive thing, hopefully encouraging open and honest discussion. As long as everyone has the good of the business at the heart of what they do, it will take you closer to your goal.
Sense of Ownership
Once your team feels informed, valued and aware of the business’ direction they will naturally feel a sense of ownership. The more involved they feel, the more invested they will become. As a result, motivation and commitment will skyrocket, and you’ll have a team pulling in the same direction and feeling like they have a stake in the business’ future success.
What Can You Do?
There are plenty of things that the senior team and business owner should be doing to involve the team. Firstly, you have to know yourself what direction you want the business to go in! It’s surprising to find out how many business owners only have a vague idea of what they want to do with their business.
Once you can clearly articulate your goals, write them down. Why not have a document where your team can see your business aims? This is a golden rule: write things down! If you cannot articulate and communicate the direction you want your business to head in, there’s a strong chance it won’t happen.
You might want to consider a strategy day or team training to plan for your growth with your team.
Involving your team with the business is one of the best things you can do to grow. An invested team is a motivated team, and this will have everyone working for the same goals. So make sure you have communicated these effectively, and have a clear idea so that you can articulate these to your team!
