Do This or Hit the Wall of Complexity
I hear this from my founder friends. ALL.THE. TIME.
Inevitably, they ask...
Why did I wait so long to start my team?
They've hit the wall. Working crazy hours. Have NO life. (And they are the boss!)
As early as possible. Even when it’s uncomfortable. In fact, it should be uncomfortable. It should feel scary to make the first hire. Because you need to hire before you’re really ready.
If you wait to hire your first team member until you’re ready, you’ll end up hiring when you’re desperate and you won’t have any space to make sure you are making the best hiring decision.
In the latest podcast episode, we walk through the 5 steps to hiring For Love of Team. This is the best strategy to hire the right person doing the right work at the right time.
Typically when a business is ready to make a hire, they just look at what the immediate need is. Look for someone who can do the exact task that is currently needed and move forward.
But the best way to hire the right person at the right time is to plan ahead.
Hire before you’re overwhelmed. Identify what characteristics will bring success to the position, to your business, and to your team.
In the podcast, I cover the 5 questions that you want to answer to make the best decision possible. And, don’t forget to hire for the cultural add rather than the cultural fit (head over to podcast episode 079 for more about the importance of hiring a diverse team).
Then evaluate how much time will this hire free up for you and how will you use the time to grow your business. What is the dollar value of that?
Write a one-page overview of the role and how it fits into your company and share that with family and friends looking for the growth potential of the person you hire.
Interview with thought and planning. You aren’t in a rush. You don’t just need a warm body to fill a spot. You are hiring the right person to do the right tasks at this point in your business. Stay curious. What do they bring to the business? How will they fit into your mission and vision?
Lastly, hire for a short-term, time-bound project. See how the process goes. How did you work together? How was the quality of the deliverable? How was the communication?
If it worked out, great! You can hire for a second longer-term project or offer a retainer position. If it didn’t work out, you can use any lessons you learned into the process to try again.
Hiring your first team member isn’t an all-or-nothing commitment. With strategic planning and an initial short-term project, you can grow your team in a way that supports you before you reach burnout.
You can get started on your For Love of Team journey today. Reach out to me via email: WIN@Winsightz.com with the Subject Line: FLOT Tracker. Or you can text me with the words FLOT Tracker @ 1-754-800-9461.