Entrepreneurship – Build the Best Business Team
Published May 16, 2012 | 
No successful entrepreneur or business exists for themselves alone. But, tends to some great need, or performs some great service, all the while not for self interest, but simply for others… or failing in that purpose, ceases to be profitable and completely ceases to exist.
Attributes of Successful Entrepreneurs – Building the Best Team
Build a superior business team, since let’s face it no one person can build a successful business alone. To be successful is a task requiring a team that is committed as you to the business, and its success.
Set common goals for your team that they can share, because let’s face the fact your employees won’t just form a great team spontaneously. You need to provide them “team goals” to work toward that require the equal effort of each team member. State the goal clearly and concisely, and make sure it is well-defined, measurable, and has a definite time limit, encouraging your team to pull together.
Resolve conflicts quickly with established rules for handling any conflicts. Don’t fail to establish clear ground rules, or what looks on the surface like petty differences can quickly escalate into a team-destroying struggle for power. Then when a conflict surfaces, remind whoever’s involved of the ground rules, then let each one have their right to be heard. Be sure you ask the employees to resolve the conflict first, but if they fail to do that, coach them through it.
Encourage inclusion because you tell the group it’s a team, doesn’t make it so. Understand that in order for a team to bond with a genuine sense of solidarity and shared effort, each team member must essentially feel included. Assign individual tasks to team members, and ensure any assigned tasks aren’t busywork, but are real and offer value to the team. Observe closely for any team member that seems to be holding back and avoiding any level of contribution. Be certain and give this type of person something critically important to do.
Develop Interaction at all meetings, and make it a point not to be the one who answers all of the questions. Be sure and deflect as many questions as possible to other team members so they will get accustomed to consulting with each other, not just you. 
Areas of expertise within the team will emerge over time, and team members will start to call on each other with increased frequency, to answer questions that require specific and special knowledge.
Evolve and Grow by raising the stakes once the team is formed and reached an initial goal. Then determine a larger goal and start encouraging more and more complex methods, because the original uniqueness of being on a team begins to wear off with too many repetitive team performances.
Celebrate victories to help the team stay strong and motivated. Let the team decide how to celebrate whenever goals are reached. The simple sense of commonality with achievements and shared congratulations helps significant bonding to occur.
Remain the Boss and make it clear that you are the final arbiter when it comes to problems, and that final goal approval is yours. In the end, it is your business whether success or failure is the result, and while a team represents a great contribution to your business, ultimate responsibility and accountability falls on you for any progress, as well as any setbacks. Whatever you do, don’t give up control just because you may share the workload with your team.
Finally, don’t limit your business team to immediate employees only, but understand the team may include family members, friends, suppliers, business alliances, employees, sub-contractors, industry and business associations, local government and don’t forget, the community.
Of course, believe it or not, the most important team members will be your customers or clients that directly effect and impact the future success of your business.
Stable Systems in Business and Production Part 2
Published July 21, 2009 | 
Business Ideas in a Box
These ideas come from a great man by the name of Dr. Demming 1900-1993. I highly recommend reading a few books about Dr. Demming or search his works.
We have seen in this previous article, Stable Systems in Business and Production Part 1 , is that the funnel is a stable system. The funnel gives us a foundation to work from when looking at the business world around us. The funnel experiment gives us four rules to work from as we make adjustments in the work place.
Rule 1: is that a stable system held constant has some form of variation. The variation can be small or large with desired outcome. There is always variation present.
Rule 2: is that if we slightly adjust the system, like the funnel, we increase our variation when trying to decrease the variation. Our actions are counter to our desired outcome.
Rule 3: is that if we correct in the opposite direction by equal distance of the error the variation will spread and diminish the stability of the system — failing system.
Rule 4: is that if we move the funnel in the same direction by the distance of error from center we again have tampered so much that the system fails.
The question: What causes the variation in a work place?
Lets look at this in a business setting. The Example, management can not help but look over the shoulder’s of the workers, letting them know of any perceived mistakes, and not allowing the mind space to ” Create and Work”. Lets imagine a work setting where the workers are smarter than the over looker and more qualified to do the work than the manager. The worker is a stable system that can create a desired output with some form of variation. When the manager makes correction over the shoulder of the worker, well, why would that worker want to do careful job? I have never enjoyed someone correcting my work on a constant level. It removes my desire to make a product when it will only change within moments.
The worker soon doesn’t want to do so well. Why would you want to do well when you are constantly be made to change — by a person that is less qualified and unable to do the same work. Yes the manager is needed to help communicate to staff, deal with business choices, but a constant adjustment to the production of workers can be harmful to the business and cost thousands of dollars.
Removing creativity by using negativity spoils the liberal thoughts we all have that allow us flexibility in our choices. Instead we increase our conservative thoughts when distracted, poorer choices are made, and past mistakes may happen time and time again. This can lead to Group Think, diverted attention, and reduced quality of work.
idea
Each individual is a marble and the company is our total trials. Not all marbles will come to rest in the middle, actually, very few marbles come to rest in the center. The perfect marble doesn’t always mean perfection. What we need to do is find our stable system, determine if we have reached stability, thus resulting in controlled deviation.
How can we reach the exactness of the center and perfection?
How do we know we have reached a stable system?