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Building an Efficient Team

Building a team can be tricky.  Since human relations can be volatile even in a work setting, it’s important to find people that can work together to achieve the same goal.  Otherwise, you might see your project going in the trash bin.  But how do you find these people?  Is there any proven method to figure out who to hire?  According to a book by the profiling system creator Dan Korem, there is.  You can achieve significantly improved results by hiring the following types of people:

1.  The Innovator

This employee will be your creative genius.  He or she will have brilliant ideas that can be used to bring your project success.  And, if there are ever any roadblocks, they will be able to navigate them with ease.  These types of people may be out-of-the-box and have unconventional solutions to hindrances in the project’s process.

Word of warning:
If you are the type of manager who doesn’t do too well with outlandish ideas, you probably will not enjoy having the Innovator on your team.  This person could be very challenging to manage.  If you do find yourself with an Innovator on your hands, try your best to be open-minded, and if that doesn’t work, you will have to be persuasive and assertive with your demands.

2.  The Accountant

Accountants are mild-mannered and non-assertive.  They follow orders easily and like consistency.  It is good to have these people around to balance things out and get things done.  They will generally be hard-working and deliberate.

Word of warning:
These employees will rarely contribute ideas or speak up when they dislike something.  Feedback is generally roundabout, and it is difficult to obtain direct communication.  It is imperative to be patient and calm with this type of employee.

3.  The Sarge
This is the person you can count on to be in charge.  Sergeants are assertive, direct, and good at keeping a project going.  Ideally, you as the manager would act as this type, but sometimes it’s great strategy for a team member to motivate the others.  As a manager, you will always receive great feedback from this employee.  He or she will always be very precise about the progress that is being made.

Word of warning:
If you aren’t careful, the Sarge can become intimidating to the other team members, and hostility may arise, especially if there is another Sarge on the team.  Don’t allow him or her to get to this level.

Balance your team as well as you can.  Usually, the ideal team would include one Sarge, one Innovator, and more Accountants.  Adjust to your project’s specific needs.

Of course, it’s important to figure out where you fit in the dynamic as well.  If you are more of an authoritative leader, then you may not want to hire someone who is going to challenge your authority, like the Sarge.  If you have a specific project that needs to be done your way, maybe you won’t need a creative soul like the Innovator on your team to dream up ideas for you.

I encourage giving The Art of Profiling a quick read-through to figure out the intricacies of each type, so that you are able to manage your team to the best of your abilities and ensure a smooth process and great results for your project.

Need a way to manage your new awesome team and project?  Try Copper Project Management Software for 30 days – completely free!  🙂

And of course, as always, let us know your thoughts in the comments!  What’s the best way you’ve found to manage and motivate your team?

Sara Border is a guest author for Copper Project.  She loves researching business management and is passionate about cultivating creativity while managing time to be efficient and productive.  She is also a subscriber of Korem’s quick-firing profiling system, used for everything from making friends to building teams for business success.