Lessons learned in building a lean and effective and agile team!!!

I think for most startups and companies starting out I have learned having a very lean and effective team as well as being apart of a startup two things resonate :
1. Focusing on career development – invest in your employees, provide them with a platform in your start up to actualize their passions. But remember that these things must be in alignment with your business and what it embodies. This tends to allow employees to see themselves as long term parts of the business and not replaceable which will come to life then in the work they do and their feeling of ownership of their work and towards the business.

My company focuses alot on providing a platform for young zambians with specific passions to actualize them. Its not just those who are educated in a field that are experts but i have discovered that there are youth who have been practicing in a field  due to their passion for the field and are just as experienced and all they want is a chance to prove themselves and build a career from that. If you provide such experts with a platform to, such team members tend to stay part of your company longer because you having provided that platform for them to actualize their passion creates a sense of loyalty.

I had a young man approach me once and offer services for free if only i gave him a chance. All he wanted in return was recognition for his work. I took him in and i have never looked back.providing him with an opportunity to grow and develop has rewarded not just my company but myself in so many ways and i challenge anyone to do like wise. People are loyal, money isn't, therefore we must chase the creation of value in our business not just for our services and products but our employees as well. I now firmly believe that in as much as it was a risk just as some one else poured into me, pour into your employees. building a stronger and lean team is critical for success. A certain level of cohesion is developed and achieved from such an approach.
 
2. Celebrating important achievements – I have to agree that" It’s important for the business owner to celebrate business successes with the team." Every team member (not employee) wants to feel like they are apart of the bigger picture (i.e the family, the business) especially if you hired the right person (thought thats kind of hard to tell). I learned some thing valueable from the book 0-1, "A company is its own ecosystem", "its a tribe of like minded people fiercely devoted to the company's mission" and in any tribe no ones activity, sacrifice, duty, passion goes unrecognized. i once read that  "an individual's power is raised exponentially with the help of a team or network " - the startup of you. Getting the best out of your employees and tea members can e very difficult because every one functions at optimum differently, ut they will always give their best if you recognize their efforts.

Having given one of my team members the podium to introduce a piece of the business which they had so diligently been working on, i realised that i was celebrating the efforts of my team. There are many ways in which one can celebrate their employees. This not only develops loyalty but also encourages growth and development if your team can see the fruit of their labor and own it.