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It’s Wednesday, February 7th, and today we’re talking about 7 ways leaders create great teams.
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On Remarkable Teams
I’ve been working remotely since 2011 and I’ve seen it done well, poorly, and all of the average spaces in between.
We have more digital tools than ever, many claiming to solve for remote work, but tools cannot fix a cracked foundation. You will always be limited by poor culture and bad fit.
As I reflect on not only my own experience, but dozens of companies I’ve collaborated with, the ones that do it well have nailed seven key pieces. Master these, and you’ll be in the same arena as the greats.
Let’s get into it.
1. Onboarding done Right
I’m going to skip the recruiting and interviewing and start with the hiring. The number of companies that get this wrong sort of blows my mind. If higher retention and productivity matter, day one is critical.
When people get a new job, they are excited and nervous. New challenges, experiences, and opportunities await them. They’re going to wake up on that first day with a flutter of anticipation, and how do most companies welcome them in?
With a series of bad training videos.
Or by telling them to “go have virtual coffee with people”.
Perhaps a long week of endless virtual training, much of which won’t be relevant to their work.
Even worse: without a plan at all. Their email isn’t ready. They don’t have access to the right tools and there’s no real plan in place for their first day.
How anticlimactic.
Onboarding isn’t about paperwork; it's about creating a seamless transition onto the team. It’s the first signal that they made a good choice.
How about we:
Provide new hires with a warm welcome package?
Get them some easy, casual, virtual meet-and-greets with pre-planned conversation topics (not initiated by them for Pete’s sake)?
Make sure they already have access to the right resources and tools?
Give them an actionable checklist and a 90-day plan?
Most importantly, make sure they get some quick wins that first day. Give them something to do.
Neat little chart of ideas, via Frankli
2. Reward Results, Not Hours Spent
Hot take: hourly pay is counter-productive. Except in rare cases, it creates misaligned incentives.
Your most productive employees will learn to milk the clock or scrape together things to do to get to their promised hours.
Your less productive employees are living in a perpetual state of Parkinson’s Law.
If I may be so bold: the arguments against results-based work are punitive and a bit sad. Are we after great outcomes, or are we after owning our team member’s time?
By identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) for each team member and aligning rewards accordingly, you encourage efficiency and shift the focus to metrics that matter while allowing employees a sense of agency.
Basecamp's four-day workweeks during the summer months exemplify this approach, empowering employees to focus on delivering results while promoting work-life balance and employee well-being.
3. Develop the Person, Not The Org Chart
One of the most bizarre business traditions is that of promoting outstanding technicians to management positions.
If they want to manage people, great, promote away. But please train them, I beg you. As someone who has had several direct managers who had zero leadership skills, I humbly remind you that very few people leave jobs. They leave leadership.
More importantly, find ways to develop and amplify your team member’s skills and seniority outside of asking them to manage others. Many people have no interest in doing so and, in fact, those who enjoy their craft are directly punished when they have to trade in the doing for the managing.
I’m also a huge fan of educational allowances. Zapier's $10,000 annual stipend for professional development, for example, is a way to give team members autonomy over their growth and directly benefits the team overall.
4. Remember: Most Failures are Leadership Failures:
As tough as it is to hear, 90% of team failures come down to:
Lack of expectations in writing.
Miscommunication (or absent communication) from management.
A culture of weak leadership, most often through sanctioned incompetence or a fear of giving direct feedback.
Siloed organizational structures, such as one team member having one single source of management with no others regularly checking in.
When coaching is done right, an employee always knows where they stand, performance-wise. If they’re missing the mark, go back to basics.
5. Silliness is a Great Tactic
Humor is the great disarmer. There is nothing more compelling than a team you enjoy and want to be around.
My daughter works for an outstanding company. They’ve nailed down the silliness factor in a way that drives productivity. She gets disappointed when meetings get canceled. (Can’t relate).
Some of the stuff I’ve observed about her workplace:
They regularly have “Lunch and Learns” where they grab a meal together and someone presents (any) five things about themselves.
One time everyone dressed as their favorite Mario Kart character. Isabelle chose Wendy:
“Powerpoints” is a team meeting where everyone does a quick presentation on anything. And I do mean anything. For example, Isabelle chose to do a presentation titled “Rating the places I’ve cried”.
My kid is really funny
Some do it more simply: Automattic's "Whimsical Chat" Slack channel provides a platform for employees to share memes, jokes, and lighthearted content, fostering a fun and inclusive remote work culture.
These may seem like frivolous little things, but imagine how sticky a culture can be when employees consider time on Zoom a great time.
6. Have a No Gossip Policy
Pretty self-explanatory.
Have a zero-tolerance, no-gossip policy.
Because gossip is a virus that multiplies.
In our company, we define gossip as:
Complaining about someone to someone who doesn’t have the power to fix it.
This leaves two options: go to the person directly or go to leadership.
I also dig Atlassian's "Speak Up" channel, which encourages open and honest communication, allowing employees to address concerns and issues directly.
7. Fire Fast, but With Parameters
If all else has gone well: onboarding, developing, coaching, then firing should never be a surprise. When you’ve led well, the expectations are clear, as is when they’ve not been met.
It’s hard to fire people. I don’t know that anyone gets comfortable with it, but early in my career, I heard one key piece of advice that stuck with me:
When an employee is failing and all attempts to help haven’t worked, firing is the most loving thing you can do.
It frees them to pursue something more aligned with their skills, and in the case where it’s the result of poor choices, it allows them to learn from consequences.
I have three rules when it comes to firing
Do it quickly
Do it in private
Leave them with their dignity
Firing is critical if you want to retain great people. All of us have been in situations where that one slacker continues to get away with their shenanigans because a leader won’t make a hard decision. It’s demoralizing and zaps motivation.
I would add one bonus tip to this list: be vulnerable. Humans connect through shared vulnerability; it’s how we’re wired. I am not telling you to hop into a meeting and tell everyone about your biggest fears and insecurities. Vulnerable, yet professional people understand how to say “I don’t have all the answers” and “I messed up on this”. They learn to see when a team member is struggling or hurting and prioritize time with them.
Winning companies have winning teams. A lot of other things can go wrong, but a bad culture will eventually break the whole system. That won’t be you.
PS: This is a topic I love to jam on. If you have any clarifying questions or ideas you’d add, hit reply.
Onward,
April
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