Investing In Your Business
Let’s talk about investments!
Ha! If that got your attention, wondering what I have to say about stock markets, gold, or IRAs, let me quickly clarify that we will not be discussing those things!
I do have a question for you regarding investments, though:
Tell me one thing you’ve invested anything in without an expected ROI.
I’m not asking about a guaranteed return but an expected return.
Making an investment without hope of any return isn’t wise. If I can’t see an expected return, I’ll struggle right from the start. I’m far more purpose-driven than most, but we can likely agree that we shouldn’t invest in anything that shows no signs of an expected return.
So where AM I going with all this?
If you guessed something about leadership or teamwork, you’re right! If you’re preparing to bring on your first teammate or looking to uplevel your leadership with your current team, I’ve got some great tips to offer that will ensure success.
You’ve invested in your business in multiple ways already. Maybe it was an initial inventory investment, perhaps it was photography equipment, or it could be the course you took to acquire the necessary growth to elevate your customer experience. I’ve spoken with many people recently who are working with business coaches to help them reach their goals. These kinds of investments are no-brainers, and it’s easy to understand their value.
Leadership and teamwork involve a different set of investments, which are equally, if not more, important! Bringing a team member on board technically invites someone into your space who will speak with your business voice, address your clients or customers, and handle essential details of the business you’ve worked so hard to build. Taking this important step comes with important investment requirements.
The Investment of Time.
I can hear the irritated whispers already: “Wait. Hold on. I’m drowning in to-dos, and my task list has developed a task list of its own. You’re saying I need to invest more of this magical ‘time’ you speak of when I don’t have enough hours in the day already?”
Yes.
Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying. It’s an investment with a beautiful, amazing, expected return. Nothing is more important than the return of time!
A year and a half ago, I brought on a new gal to evaluate candidates going through our interview process. It’s a tedious process and requires a high amount of intuition and detailed examination. Frankly, I’m not the best one for this job, and I was a little unsure how to onboard into a role that isn’t my greatest area of expertise. After giving it thoughtful consideration - I frustratingly came to the conclusion that she needed to shadow me for 30 days.
UGH!! I had never done this before, and I began questioning my every single work habit -good and bad- that would now be highlighted by someone looking over my shoulder every minute of my day for the next month. I work very fast and don’t enjoy explaining every detail of why I do what I’m doing.
Can I tell you that this was my most successful onboarding to date? (I literally just experienced yet another sigh of relief thinking about how beautiful work life was on day 31 -- and every day since then!)
Giving her my time for one month and explaining how we do all the things gave her a bird’s-eye view of Rock Solid and allowed her to understand the heart behind WHY we do those things the way we do.
Please understand that your time is absolutely vital to onboarding a new teammate successfully! Do you have to do it exactly the way I did - allowing them to shadow you for a certain amount of time? Absolutely not! Here are some other things that work well:
Make a plan! Plans are always fluid, and priorities change, we get it! Nothing is written in stone. Flying by the seat of your pants is not going to work, though! Just as you make a loose plan for your week, include time in that plan FOR your teammate. What are the most important tasks at this moment you’d like them to accomplish? When do you plan to communicate with them each day/week? Are there any changes to ongoing projects that you need to convey? Not making a plan is planning to fail!
Be available! This means that you’ve discussed your desired schedule with your team. Maybe you can answer questions as they pop up, and would prefer that she simply Slack or Voxer questions as they arise. That’s not always easy, so perhaps you’d like a daily rundown of questions in an email so that you can schedule 20 minutes a day to respond and keep things moving forward. No matter what method works best for you, be sure to have the conversation and determine how you’d like this handled!
Weekly meetings! Yep, we’re discussing this one again! This is where the proverbial magic happens! Not only are we giving and receiving feedback, assigning new tasks, and checking in on the progress of ongoing projects, but it’s where the relationship is built. It’s where she finds out that you’re really not a morning person even though you’re up at the crack of dawn trying to down enough caffeine to get going! Yes, this IS beneficial -- she’ll intuitively know to let you enjoy that cup of coffee and fire up all cylinders before firing work questions and tasks your way!
Find the best communication channel! This certainly falls under the time investment category. Knowing communication preferences not only makes everything seamless but also saves time. If someone leaves a Trello notification for me about something important, there’s a strong probability that it’ll be missed. However, if one of my teammates Slacks or Voxes me that same information, my response will be very fast, and no time has been wasted! Be sure your team is on the same page regarding communication preferences!
What this doesn’t mean
Mentioning time to a business leader often feels like thin ice, so let me quickly list what a time-investment requirement should never mean when working with a Rock Solid teammate:
You will have to micromanage
You need to hold her hand and walk her through every task
The onboarding pain will last forever
Investing time in your team is simply building a relationship. Let’s make it as simple as possible! If I want my team to handle our people and any work situations the way I would, then I clearly need to take the time to weave them into everything we are! It’s the same with any other relationship - marriage, parenting, friendships. Time is an invaluable asset, and investing in it always offers a fantastic return!
Investing time in your team also brings the following benefit: The process itself helps you share your heart and passion with your team. They begin to see why doing what you do is important to you and the growth of the business. Soon, you’ll see them working intuitively in the same manner.
So often, I talk to clients, and something they hope for in their new teammate is that she shares the same passions and can “buy into” the dream and goals to work toward them together. Investing time into your teammate is where this happens!
It will feel like a large investment initially -- and maybe even a little out of reach-- but we do hard things, right? We appreciate a good challenge and know this investment will pay off with the highest returns! Make the commitment, and let me know how it pays off for you!
