Diverse teams are strong teams. When you build a small business team that includes people with different skills, different experiences, different educations, and different personalities, you’ll deliver better results. However, those results will only come if communication is open and team members are given the opportunity to excel. In other words, you need to invest time and effort into developing high performance teams.
Think of it this way. If your team is filled with “yes men” and “yes women,” how can you be sure that the decisions being made are the best ones? How can your business be innovative and maintain any form of competitive advantage if no one questions the status quo?
Creating opportunities for others to learn, grow, and excel in your small business can’t happen if your employees aren’t comfortable enough to express their opinions, doubts, concerns, and ideas. A great leader knows that her ideas are not always the best. She recognizes the talents of each team member and gives them the opportunities to shine.
It all goes back to open communication. If you want to create opportunities for others in your small business, you need to create an environment where employees feel comfortable making suggestions and speaking up in general. Don’t be an autocratic leader. Instead, strive to be a situational leader who can adapt and lead the business with agility. Give employees room to thrive, and you’ll be amazed by what they can do.
At the same time, give up some control and push decision-making to the lowest possible level. Empowering employees makes them feel like they have greater ownership of their results and their success, which translates into improved business results and success.
As a small business owner, it can be scary to give up some control, let employees make decisions, and admit that your ideas aren’t always the best ideas. However, research has shown time and again that diverse teams deliver better results than homogenous teams. As the leader, it’s up to you to ensure that not only your team is diverse but also the ideas coming from the team are diverse. Your business will benefit from your efforts in the long-term.
This post is sponsored by Spark BusinessSM from Capital One® and is the fifth post in a series of eight.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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I absolutely agree. With communication, businesses can create a wide and strategic ideals in order for the business to prosper. With the help of everybody who are part of it, the business will grow and succeed.