Workplace Organization

Why do 50% of startups fail after 5 years? What is happening within these companies, that after ten years, only 30% are still active?

The reasons for failure can be many, but a key building block for success is finding the right team.

‍Startups are small - very small. The foundations and fuel of the company are almost entirely derived from the skills of the team behind it. Because generous budgets are a luxury startups do not often enjoy, the available resources are limited to what your small group of ambitious visionaries is bringing to the table.

Everyone in your ranks should be a bit of a workhorse. In a startup, being driven, self-motivated, and passionate are essential. Each one of you would never say no to a task considered too small because you all know that every job is equally critical to the company’s success.

Because these qualities are a given, let’s look at the three people you absolutely need to find for your company.

The Visionary

This is usually the founder or CEO of the company, but the qualities would be equally as beneficial coming from any employee!

A visionary sees the big picture and empowers everyone around them to help build their dreams. Charisma comes naturally to a visionary, who is so impassioned by their ideas that they could get you excited about any new project.

Within the company, the visionary encourages all team members to share their ideas as well.  While cultivating a work place culture of open communication and collaboration, they also reach out beyond the company to make connections and establish relationships with investors and partners.

A visionary brings an optimism that will keep you all encouraged through the bumps and hurtles which will inevitably come your way. Just make sure they aren’t too impulsive—a little self-restraint and level-headedness are definitely assets.

The Structure Giver

The Yin to the visionary’s Yang, a structure giver is the person who gives shape to ideas. This person sees the vision and identifies the steps needed to get there.

Defining roles, outlining goals, and monitoring performance fall under this team member’s to-do list.

When looking for the right person to fill this role, you want someone who is reliable, organized, inventive, and being a penny pincher also doesn’t hurt. However, for all of their type A personality traits, they are still adaptable. The structure giver within a startup must always maintain a certain malleability—listening to others, staying approachable, and communicating effectively will ensure the company functions as a democracy, not a dictatorship.

The People Person

You are all working very hard, but please, for your own sake don’t forget you are human beings! Putting your heads down and grinding the days out may be productive for a while, but it will inevitably tire everyone out.

Having someone on your team that is naturally a social butterfly and morale booster will keep the positivity alive. You can usually identify the talkative trait in a face to face interview very quickly, but it's not just about being chatty.

This person should be highly perceptive and able to shift their perspective at key moments. They know when a night out for drinks is needed or if the appropriate solution is to offer a helping hand to a stressed out co-worker. They are the consummate listener and mediator: when someone opens up about a problem, they know how to respond and find a solution.

Think of your people person as your HR department, but because you’re a startup, less of a department and more an invaluable force of positive, compassionate energy.

As you sift through resumes hunting for that perfect combination of dreamer and doer, take a moment to reflect on why these applicants are attracted to working for you. Yes, startups are exciting and offer a chance for rapid personal growth and innovation, but they are also agile, fast-paced, and demanding. Many hopefuls are not aware of how vastly different the attitude and skills needed in this environment are from those in a much larger and more stable organization.

But you do know.

So now, your job is to read between the lines of their carefully crafted cover letters and to find indications of courageousness: a startup is no place for the risk-adverse.

You cannot rely on their self-describing adjectives: so they say they are innovative, but what concrete examples of creative “outside-the-box” thinking can they provide?

Lastly, when you think you really have found the right person, have your entire team interview them. A startup is no place for big egos. Put in a room with the rest of your A+ quality team, an arrogant applicant will likely let their need to be the biggest star in the room slip out.

Don’t rush into hiring someone- hold out for the person who can work with every member of your team. Your company’s life depends on it.

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You know what else your startup can't live without? A full circle recognition and rewards program!

Meetings are a necessary part of company management but have a bad reputation for often being ineffective and time-consuming. Employees and management alike are all too aware of those meetings that run far too long and don’t accomplish their goals. Even with an agenda, group meetings can easily be thrown off track and one on ones can become one-sided lectures. As attention spans dwindle, employees disengage, and the clock ticks away valuable company time, you may think to yourself, there has got to be a better way!

Well, there is!

‍Group meetings and one on one sessions can be utilized strategically to achieve different results. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the two models will save your company time without sacrificing any of the benefits.

The Group Gathering

There will never be enough time in the day for everything on your team’s to-do list, so setting aside time specifically for a meeting guarantees you a chance to address the entire office. Now that you have this distraction-free period, how should it be used?

A group meeting can benefit your organization in several ways a one-on-one cannot. This is a chance to get everyone on the same page and foster communication, collaboration, and workplace culture.

‍Departments that wouldn’t regularly interact with one another and employees who work remotely and rarely make it into the office can all be called into the same room. With a group meeting, you have the ability to create an interactive environment where new perspectives, ideas, and knowledge can be shared. Something someone says or proposes may inspire a new collaboration or project, fostering an ongoing relationship beyond the boardroom.

With group meetings, watch out for the age-old problem of “too many cooks in the kitchen.” When there are multiple voices vying to share thoughts and comments, the meeting’s schedule can fall off track and that allotted thirty minutes may turn into an hour. Make sure there is a clear leader in the conversation to ensure you stay on track and cover everything on the agenda for the day. Don’t be afraid to cut a conversation short - make a note to schedule a follow-up time for those involved and move onto your next topic.

The One-On-One

The best part of a one-on-one meeting is just that: it’s one-on-one. Making time for an employee shows you care and is the optimal time to check in with that member of your staff on how they are doing in their role, their strengths, weaknesses, and what you can do to help them succeed.

This is your chance to have a personal, honest conversation. Whether it be with a new employee or someone who has been with the company for years, an individual meeting gives you both an opportunity to build a stronger relationship and trust. You can use this time to ask about anything! You may want to know about your employee’s experience with new policies the company implemented, their overall job satisfaction, or even provide feedback yourself on their job performance.

The key here is to be careful that you don’t monopolize the conversation, or you will miss out on learning more about the person in front of you.

Understanding the members of your team on a personal and professional level will help you utilize their personality and skills to their maximum potential. You are effectively assessing the parts of the whole; knowing the members of the team will give you invaluable insights on how to help the group function as a whole.‍

One-on-one meetings are extremely useful when time is tight. If hitting all your pertinent topics is crucial, a personal meeting will be the better option since you can manage the conversation and won’t have other voices to contend with. Also, shy employees who wouldn’t necessarily feel comfortable speaking up in front of the office will be more engaged and involved in a one-on-one.

If meetings are something you are just beginning to implement, it is important to let staff know that this is a new company-wide practice. Be clear that the intention is to help management connect the team and establish a new workplace culture; employees may feel singled out or concerned that meetings are a punishment if they are not aware of the actual reason.

Whatever meeting model you choose to use, always have clear objectives and an organized timeline going into it. There is nothing more frustrating than setting aside that invaluable time, and at the end of it realizing you haven’t accomplished what you needed to.

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