As a Multi-VA owner, I’m blessed and very fortunate to have a fantastic team of Associate VA’s.  Team building is essential in any Multi-VA business, yet it’s not the easiest to do…trust me! I know, I’ve been there done that and sometimes I’m surprised I made it through. Not because my team members were difficult or anything of the sort, but in the early stages of my Multi-VA business I underestimated the time, energy and focus needed to build a team.   

When I first became a Multi-VA owner the transition from “I” to “we” was a difficult one, sometimes I was the task master and sometimes I was everyone’s best friend.  What I’ve learned over the years is there has to be that balance to both.   You swing that pendulum to far to the right and you have team members who work their butt off, but feel less than valued and not appreciated.  You swing that pendulum to far to the left and you have a team that’s happy, happy, happy, yet productivity and work quality is affected.   There has to be that balance.

Over the years I’ve learned so much about team building and some key strategies for setting my team up for success.  I hope they serve you as well as they have served me!

• Trust your team and always let them know it! Let your team members know that you trust in their abilities and have faith they will do an outstanding job.
• Have the right team member in the right roles. Align your team members with what they are good at. Know their talents and support them with it.
• Support their passions. Passion fuels a desire to learn, grow and do our best. Allow your team member to work within their passion and you’ll reap the rewards.
• Never devalue your team. If a team member makes a mistake, never, ever make it a team affair by announcing it in a team meeting or sending out a team email. Guide your team member in understanding what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again.
• Don’t give your team all the answers. Allow your team the opportunity to be proactive and find the solutions. If they ask you a question, turn it around and ask them “what’s your opinion of the situation? What do you think we should do about it?

Most importantly…don’t rule with an iron fist.  If you make changes to procedures or responsibilities explain why.  Don’t make it “my way or the highway” allow your team to express their ideas, thoughts, concerns.  Explain why you feel the changes are necessary and allow them to share their perspective.  You may find their ideas work much better than your own!

Happy team building!