Building effective teams starts at the top

Small-business owners are aware that effective teams can make or break their company. The trick is figuring out how to create them.

According to Laurie Taylor, co-founder of Boulder-based Origin Institute, a consulting group for small-business growth, the key to establishing productive teams starts with management.

?Effective teams are the outcomes of effective leadership,? she says. This was the biggest lesson she learned while serving for 14 years as president of Leopard Communications Inc., a marketing-communications firm in Broomfield. While she was at Leopard, the company grew from two employees to more than 100, she says. Taylor left Leopard and started Origin Institute with James Fischer in 2001.

As a leader, Taylor explains, it is essential to communicate shared goals and objectives and then establish performance measurements to gauge progress. Open-book management is also an important strategy for leaders, she adds.

?Tell employees how the company makes money and how their job impacts the bottom line,? Taylor says.

Another element of productive teams is a supportive environment, says Kathy Kelley, chief executive at Boulder-based Introspect International LLC, a business-consulting and training firm.
?People need to feel like their ideas are respected, that it is OK to speak up if they disagree, and if they make a mistake, it?s considered a learning opportunity instead of something that kills their career,? Kelley explains.

Communication and validation are other critical components of effective teams, especially when they work in high-paced environments and the company requires them to shift away quickly from projects that no longer fit. When this happens, Taylor explains, leaders need to tell team members exactly what caused the shift, thank them for their efforts, and look for data that can be gleaned from their work for upcoming projects.

At 5.12 Solutions Inc., a corporate-training and professional-development company in Boulder, Sal Silvester, the company?s president and founder, describes the qualities of an effective team with three C?s: communication, collaboration and cooperation. ?Communication needs to be open and honest,? he says. Team members also need to be able to listen objectively to other opinions and focus on judging the idea, not the person, Silvester adds.

?Conflict isn?t a negative thing,? he explains. ?It can help generate a new idea.?

To help teams improve their execution on the three Cs, his company uses exercises such as rock climbing and treasure hunts that require teams to work together to obtain a reward. Because most workshops are held outside of work, Silvester says they place participants in a different state of mind, making them more open to new ideas and more aware of their group dynamics.

Building skills
Locally, companies such as Boundless Corp., a developer of energy-storage systems and components in Boulder, are putting these concepts to work with their staff on a regular basis. At Boundless, one employee from a 12-person staff is asked to make a presentation on a topic related to the business at every monthly meeting. ?(This) helps people get out of their shells and expand their communication skills,? President Phil Lyman explains.

Additionally, Boundless starts every formal meeting with a reading of its vision to keep it at the top of employees? minds.

At Dog City, a provider of dog day care and overnight services in Boulder, owner Deb Holvey also considers a shared vision to be crucial for building effective teams. ?(Employees) must believe in the vision and how we do it,? she says.

To ensure all employees are on the same page with the vision, she has printed it on a single sheet of paper and requires all potential employees to read it before filling out an application.

Communicating the vision and expectations up front helps her sort through those who just want a job and those who have a strong desire to work there, she says.

Holvey also created an employee handbook that sets ground rules for how the staff interacts with one another. As stated in the handbook, she says, when employees have an issue with someone, they are not allowed to talk to people who cannot do anything about it. ?They must speak directly with that person,? Holvey explains.

Dog City has 17 employees, including five managers. Holvey provides credit cards to all managers and empowers them to make purchasing decisions about what they need for their respective departments. Because she uses open-book management, Holvey adds, all employees know how much the business makes and spends.

Additionally, Holvey has a library of books and requires employees to read literature on a variety of topics, ranging from business to customer service to dog training. ?(Education) allows them to understand their work better,? she says, and helps them to better contribute to the team.

At Avery Brewery Co., an effective team atmosphere has been a critical factor in the company?s ability to expand. President Adam Avery attributes a culture of respect for one another and passion for the company?s vision as major contributors to the brewery?s success.
?I don?t have any slackers who think this job is just a paycheck,? Avery says.

To engage members of the nine-person staff, Avery asks employees for their input on decisions such as new beers and recipes. Likewise, Avery also invited their feedback on how to best make use of 2,500 square feet added to the company?s 7,500-square-foot facility this summer.
Similar to other small businesses, Avery supports open-book management, and the company holds quarterly meetings to discuss profits and sales, which for several years have been growing. In 2001, Avery Brewery sold 2,775 barrels of beer. Two years later, the company moved 4,984 barrels. In 2004, the brewery sold 6,408 barrels, and this year it is on track to sell up to 8,000 barrels.

Avery summarizes the company?s approach toward teamwork as one based more on friendship, rather than a hard-core business model.

?We love each other. We party together. We go rock climbing together,? he says. ?We?re pretty much your typical Colorado company.?

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