In Part I of this series I shared five critical elements of setting up a good working relationship with your support team — getting things off on the right foot. Now I’ll share my secrets for building and strengthening the relationship over time.

6. Pay on time! If the terms say pay within 10 days — why not pay in five? Your support team is the lifeblood of your business — what better way to let them know you appreciate and value their contribution?
7. Put away the fine-tooth comb. If you’ve done a good job of hiring a team member, you don’t need to fuss over how many hours for this or that. If you don’t trust them, you shouldn’t have hired them.
8. Always say please and thank you. One of my earliest lessons in business — treat everyone with respect. They may be contractors but they aren’t your minions! I take time to go over every email before I send it to make sure I’ve said please, and I send a quick thank-you when the task is completed.
9. Let them know you appreciate them. Send a note when they’ve completed a big project for you, or a small gift on a special occasion. Celebrate company milestones by thanking them with a card. Be creative! Sometimes it’s fun just to let them know you appreciate them, with no particular occasion attached.
10. Encourage team input. They know your business and clients perhaps better than you do! Ask them for input when you are considering a strategic change. Encourage them to offer unsolicited suggestions to improve processes, etc. — and implement them when they make sense! This also goes two ways — if you share with the team your vision for the business, your strategic goals, etc., they will be better equipped to execute the plan with you.
11. Bonus: Let my people grow! If you are like most solo entrepreneurs you are a life-long learner — and so probably are the members of your team. Give them opportunities to take on new tasks. Encourage them to make decisions and take action without asking your input (set the boundaries for this so they know when you do want to be consulted.) Ask them what they’d like to learn, and teach them new skills. You may be surprised how much better they will be at certain things than you are!

Building a great support team takes time, effort, and caring — but you will be rewarded many times over!

Last 5 posts by Terri Zwierzynski

• Twittering, Twhirling and Twellowing...Oh My! - August 16th, 2008
• 5 Steps to Get Website Visitors to Subscribe - August 6th, 2008
• Want more subscribers? Start with the right visitors! - July 31st, 2008
• Support that Keeps Us afloat vs. Challenge that Makes Us Grow - July 29th, 2008
• 7 Free SEO Tools -- Courtesy of MarketingSherpa - June 3rd, 2008

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 at 5:07 pm and is filed under Virtual Teams, Delegation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.