Too often business owners are solely focused on their company’s immediate and long term goals. They sit in conference rooms detailing strategies to expand the company without considering the people implementing them. In his book ‘Good to great,’ writer Jim Collins studies the performance of 1,435 companies over 40 years just to discover that the differentiating factor between good and great is the employees. If you focus on getting the right people in the right place, they will tell you what is needed and how to get there. Here are some key points for you to ensure that your immediate and long term business goals are met through high performing teams:

Effective leadership

The first and most important step to building a high performing team is to find an effective leader. This person should not only be good at people management but also the right fit for the task you have in mind. Once you have a leader, you can then ask him or her to develop a strategy to go about achieving your intended goal. Providing this leader with a sense of accountability and responsibility makes them feel more empowered. This frees you up to focus on managerial tasks and allows the leader to deal with execution and overseeing strategies.

Clearly defined roles

As we have already discussed the best way to achieve goals is by clearly defining them. To ensure that the team is working towards their clearly defined goal you need to specify to them what their role is in achieving it. Clearly defining roles ensures that each team member is carrying their load and allows them to see the contributions that they are making to the organisation. Your goal should ideally be written down in a common area where each member can see the goal and the progress they have made towards it.

Effective communication

Effective and frequent communication is the lifeblood of any team. You might work in a fully serviced office space, but it is no good if there isn’t any communication between team members. Open communication allows the team to be on the same page and build towards a common goal instead of facing conflicting interests. Along with communication, there should also be a sharing of resources. This includes physical resources such as money, tools, workspace, equipment and people, but also extends to ideas, feedback, insights and innovative approaches to obstacles.

To take a quote straight from Jim Collins,‘The executives who ignited the transformations from good to great did not first figure out where to drive the bus and then get people to take it there. No, they first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figured out where to drive it.’ The reason coworking offices are thriving is because of the people who bring the right energy to these spaces. The right people will adapt to their ideas and reach their goals no matter what obstacle, while still making work enjoyable.