Building the Right Team

Assume that you are building a house.  First, you would have the plans for the building to study and prepare for construction.  You would then implement the plan and begin building the house, taking care to follow the plan and do each task systematically and in order.  Sometimes you will deviate from the plan do to new information and then prepare a change order modifying the plan.  You take care to make sure the plumbing and electrical are all in place before you hang the drywall.  You have to have all the right parts in the right places in order to have the right house.

It is not any different in building the right team!

It is written in Luke 6:48 (ESV), “he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.”  Upon what foundation are you building your team?

To begin, have you recruited, selected, hired and nurtured the right people, those who are a fit and match for your goals?  If not, it is going to be very difficult to build the right team.  If you have the right people, then involve them in writing the plan, mission, vision and purpose.  Together, identify and agree to your core values.  Once this is done, you have a firm foundation.

In building a house, you have carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and drywall installers to name a few.  Each has a skill and knows how to use it for the benefit of all.  The same is true for your team.  Identify the skills of each person and set clear roles, expectations and goals for each one, while making clear that all individual goals are consistent with the goals of the team.

In building a house, the project manager will establish the communication plan, the decision-making process, meeting frequency, conflict resolution procedures and clear standards of performance.  The same is true for you in building the right team. 

The right team is very much like an accomplished symphony orchestra.  Everyone knows their part and keeps time with the conductor.  At times one instrument is dominant and at other times another instrument is dominant.  So it is with your team.  Let the music play!