Are you a startup owner, or a team leader at a small company? If so, growing the business is almost certainly one of your top goals. This naturally involves hiring new employees.
Rapid growth is a good thing in most instances. Seeing a company transform from a team of 10 to a workforce consisting of hundreds is a clear indication you’re doing something right. That said, keeping up with this level of growth can be challenging. You need to learn to scale your team (or teams) effectively to maintain a consistent and efficient pace while maintaining quality.
These five tips will help. Regardless of your industry, if you need to effectively scale a team, be sure to keep them in mind as your company adds new employees.
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Be Flexible and Open to Change
The processes that you rely on when your team is relatively small may not remain effective as the business grows. It is important to implement consistent processes if you wish to work as efficiently and productively as possible. However, it’s also important to be flexible, adapting and modifying your processes when they no longer suit your needs.
Identifying how to effectively modify your processes to yield the best results will take time. You may want to coordinate with other team leaders at the company if you’re struggling to determine what changes you should be making.
If the entire organization is growing, they’re experiencing the same challenges you are. That means there’s a good chance they’ll have valuable insights. Internal coordination will also help maintain consistency across departments.
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Embrace Automation Whenever Possible
You have many responsibilities as a team leader. Staying abreast of relevant tech developments is one of them. You should constantly be researching which tools other companies in your industry use to boost their efficiency.
Using tools that allow you to automate key processes will help you and your employees maintain productivity during stages of rapid growth. It’s also worth noting that these tools may result in greater employee engagement. Surveys indicate that employees are more engaged when they have the resources they need to complete their work quickly and effectively.
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Meet with Other Leaders Regularly
During the initial stages of your company’s growth, teams were likely small. Thus, team leaders probably had more opportunities to coordinate with one another. That can change in the wake of expedited hiring. Managing a larger team has the potential to deprive team leaders of time they might have once devoted to internal networking and collaboration.
This is an understandable development. That said, it’s important that you don’t let rapid growth prevent you from regularly interacting with other managers and decision-makers. Doing so will ensure everyone is still on the same page in regards to key goals.
This is another instance in which meeting with other team leaders will also give you the opportunity to solicit advice. The main purpose of your meetings likely involves ensuring adherence to the organization’s mission and taking action to ensure it achieves key goals. However, during these meetings you can also share strategies for effectively managing growing teams.
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Lean in to Your Management Style
Everyone’s management style is different. Some leaders embrace a hands-off approach, allowing their employees to make decisions and direct their own work. Others feel the need to be more involved.
There is no one “right” management style for all leaders. You need to develop one that aligns with your personality and skills as well as those of the workers you are managing. That said, it’s no secret that not being required to actively manage your employees on a daily basis certainly gives you more time to focus on other important tasks.
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Take the Time to Hire Exceptional Employees
This is a crucial point to remember when making hiring decisions. You don’t simply want to hire candidates who have relevant experience and qualifications. Yes, this is important, but it’s also vital that you hire people who are motivated self-starters.
These are the types of employees who won’t need your assistance every minute of every day. They’re also likely to be ambitious. As your teams continue to grow, exceptional employees can be promoted to management positions, freeing up more of your valuable time.
An ambitious candidate may have received frequent promotions in their past jobs. They might have earned supplemental degrees and/or certifications to improve their skills. During job interviews, they tend to be enthusiastic, indicating a genuine interest in the work they’ll be doing if they get hired.
Remember these points if you own a business, lead a team, or both. Even if your team is currently small, you probably want it to grow bigger over time. These tips will help you scale your team when that happens.
Bill Malloy 