How to build a high performing creative team
- September 11, 2018
How to build a high performing creative team
When it comes to building a high performing creative team, it’s not just about finding people with the right skill set. In order to get the most out of your team, you need to find people who work well together and have a shared responsibility, common goals and a mutual trust in each other. It’s all very well and good having expert designers or web development wizards, but if they don’t work well together, your team just ain’t gonna cut it.
So how do you build a high performing team? Well that’s down to you. To ensure your team is performing to its optimum level, you need to fully understand the structure of your team and each member within it as part of your creative recruitment strategy. And by getting to know the unique talents and working styles of each individual team member, you can develop a plan to make sure they work well together. As creative recruitment experts, we’ve picked up some tips over the years that can help you get the most out of your team. Read on to discover our top five…
1. Assess the personality types of each team member
In order to understand what makes each member of your creative team tick, you need to assess their personality types. There are several indicators available that allow you to look at how people perceive the world around them and make decisions so you can plan how to best manage your employees as individuals and as a team. One of the most well known assessments is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, a self-report questionnaire that allows you to understand individual differences between team members and provides a dynamic model of the structure of your team. Other popular assessment options also includes the DISC Test which allows people to identify and maximise their talents and the Big Five assessment that enables you to look at personality traits and how team members might work together.
2. Recognise the strengths of individual team members
Recognising and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each of your team members is an essential part of building a high performing team. By understanding the capabilities of each person, you can allocate tasks accordingly and make informed decisions that will play to the strengths of each individual. Not only does this make for happy and motivated staff who feel appreciated and want to do their best for you, but by assigning certain tasks to particular people you can also improve the efficiency of your team too. That means they will work strongly together, meet deadlines on time and ensure every aspect of every project is completed to the highest possible standard. After all, a happy team means happy clients!
3. Encourage feedback and perform self-audits
Encouraging your team members to perform self audits such as a SWOT analysis (which looks at their strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities and threats) can be a really useful exercise. By asking your employees to look at their own abilities, you can encourage them to maximise their strengths and improve efficiency across the whole team. However, the real benefit of self audits is to identify your team members’ weak areas so you can help them find ways to improve, either by internal training or additional mentoring. It’s all about giving them the tools they need to work to the very best of their ability so they can make any necessary changes and benefit the entire team as a whole.
4. Develop realistic shared targets
If you want your team to work to the best of their ability, you need to develop shared targets that are both realistic and agreed upon by everyone. A good way to do this is by conducting a group brainstorming exercise to identify targets and goals that each team member feels is realistic and effective in meeting your overall business goals. By involving your team in this process, they feel as if their input is important - and not only that, but when they feel that their targets are realistic and achievable, it improves morale and can drastically reduce work-related stress. And a happy team with high morale and a positive outlook means that each member will perform better and work to the best of their ability to meet your agreed targets - making it a win win situation for everyone!
5. Make sure your team feels valued and respected
Lastly and most importantly, you need to make sure that each member of your team feels appreciated for what they do. If you have a large team of people working together, it’s only natural that some might feel underappreciated or that their opinions aren’t being heard. However, small changes such as adopting an open-door policy and organising regular catch-ups with individual team members as well as wider team meetings are a great way to encourage everyone to share their thoughts, feelings and ideas as well as any issues they might have. After all, when your team feels valued and respected, they are more likely to want to do their best for you and feel confident in suggesting new and innovative ways to do their job - improving the overall processes and boosting productivity to boot.
Overall, it’s really important to remember that for your creative team to work well, you need to understand the unique skill sets of each individual member and get to know what makes them tick. If you want to get the most out of your team and ensure that their performance is consistently high, contact one of our creative recruitment specialists today for more help and advice.