Building Your Right Team

Notice how I wrote building YOUR right team and not building THE right team? The right team implies that a team that works for my company will also work for your company, however this is anything but the case. Using a chocolate chip cookie analogy – there are many chocolate chip cookies available to buy but the one that maybe yummy to you may be yucky to another. Some like a cake-like chocolate chip cookie, while others like a crispy chocolate chip cookie. Personally, I prefer the Italian chocolate chip cookie at Bommarito Bakery – yum!

Back to building the right team…I’m often asked, “How did you build the right team?” I usually reply by sharing through a lot of interviewing of service providers, networking, and making mistakes. Yeah – making mistakes and being okay to acknowledge them and SHARE them so others can learn what I’d do differently and why…

First, building the right team means that each person on the team is an expert in their field. These people know what I need to know, know what I don’t know but need to know, and understand that they are to share their knowledge with me so I understand the “how”, “why”, and the “what”, in their profession. For example, I do not sew the Messy Face® clothing protectors – so some people’s surprise, I’ve never sewn, however, I understand the “how”, “why”, and “what” to construct that bib. As a business owner, I need to know and understand each area of my team’s specialty in order to make sound business decisions. As I once told someone in a business meeting, “Messy Face® is not a game – it’s a business and I’m not looking for sports commentator-like speculative opinions – this does not help me make sound business decisions.”

Answering questions like: “how it (team member’s specialty area) is done”, “why is it done”, “what are the alternatives and/or consequences to do it this way vs. that way” helps me understand what I need to know to strategically operate Messy Face® – across the organization. Again, using the sewing example: How is the bib constructed, why is it constructed this way, what are the other ways it can be constructed, what are the consequences (both favorable and unfavorable) to doing it this way versus that way…these questions are what I asked service providers and how I built my right team.

Secondly, building my right team meant making some mistakes. The mistakes I made were networking mistakes that I wonder why other people are not openly talking about similar experiences. How many times have you attended a networking event and heard from someone you just met, “oh, I’d love to meet with you...we can really help you out.” But the person telling you that you need them hasn’t even taken the time to ask you questions about your business, your needs, your challenges, your goals – they zero in on small business owner and their services…a classic case of them putting THEIR needs ahead of the customer’s needs. Nope, I’ll pass… Or what about going through your network, asking for a referral, and getting a referral but then being totally dumbfounded on the quality of the referred person?

Early on with Messy Face®, I asked for a referral and got the “I went to school with this person; she’s very good in her profession.” Only to find out that this service provider was a generalist in her profession who knew nothing about the juvenile or manufacturing industries. So, thousands of dollars later and not to mention a potential regulatory liability risk – my light bulb clicked on that I was paying for her to become educated in my industry! Hello?!? What?!? Costly mistake, however I learned that when getting a referral the person being referred may be a friend, professional colleague/buddy, and professional collaboration to help increase business between the two parties, or simply someone who has good intentions but is not right for my team.

So, moving forward when I look for a referral within my network (or at networking functions) to build my team, I look for potential (manufacturing experience, familiar with regulatory laws OR the person is trying to build a skill set, offers reduced rate, and is shares their plan of transition) and specialization(expert in their area versus general business).

Remember, even with my shared information, there are many ways to make a chocolate chip cookie and many ways to build a business team - and the right way is YOUR way.