Running a successful organization or business does not happen by chance. It is a balance of intentional design and skilled team members. It requires proactive thought, committed leaders and the ability to adapt over time. It is the result of planning and strategy, both for the needs of the business today and anticipating what the future needs will be.

The most successful businesses often share specific foundational characteristics. A study of the top practices revealed seven key components: vision, culture, leadership visibility, collaboration, team skill set, clearly defined roles, and appropriate goal setting.

Introduce Vision

Invigorate the team with a vision for the new year and their part in realizing that vision

A vision, or mission statement, is integral to providing the direction of the business. The vision may change from year to year, often shifting with the business model or needs of the clients. The vision also incorporates the objectives of the business for the year ahead and lays out the strategy. Setting the vision should be incorporated into the annual business planning process.

Focus on Culture

Ensure that a strong culture is prominent and demonstrated daily in all interactions

Culture may be the most critical aspect of a business. With a strong culture, businesses thrive. Without it, the team will be fragmented, inefficient and may have poor morale. It will impact the productivity of the business and retention of its people. Leaders set the culture but each member on the team plays a big part in its adoption and impact. Culture should be demonstrated in every internal interaction among the team members and externally with clients.

Demonstrate Visibility

Leadership presence promotes employee engagement and motivation

A visible and present leader sets the tone for the business and instills trust and confidence with the team. As leaders, visibility illustrates commitment but also emphasizes the ability to be approachable and accessible. Beyond just face to face time, visibility can be conveyed through recognition of stellar employees, decisive decision-making, and fostering an environment of development and growth.

Emphasize Collaboration

Establish team meetings, identify opportunities for team collaboration and leverage communication channels

Collaboration across the team is essential for a positive culture and work experience. While roles and responsibilities may be different, collaboration can be fostered through projects, philanthropic events, team meetings, client events, team offsites and training opportunities. When a team works together toward the completion of a goal, engagement and retention increase. Ultimately, this is good for morale and productivity.

Leverage Individual Skills

Identify each employee's skill set and career path, and integrate into role

While roles on a team may be clearly defined, leveraging the strengths of the team can elevate the business to another level. There may be individuals who enjoy technology or marketing or analytics — and utilizing those skills for tasks beyond roles can benefit the clients and enhance the business model. Team members feel good about using their skills to add impact and can lead to evolving their role on the team.

Establish Division of Roles

Clearly define and communication each role, ensuring all business needs are addressed and avoid overlap

Clear division of roles on a team is perhaps one of the most common issues that managers face. Even among people with the same role on a team, each may have different responsibilities or segment of clients. It is important to reassess the roles on the team each year to adjust for capacity, growth, client needs and any other changes in the business. As a business evolve, so must the team. This includes developing in a current role or evolving into a new role.

Most importantly, all roles should be assessed when adding on new team members. How does that new role impact the work of the rest of the time? How does that new role help with the capacity constraints or coverage of the rest of the team? Is there any overlap or redundancies that need to be resolved? Once that is understood, this must be clearly communicated to the new member as well as the rest of the team.

Communicate Unique Goals

Determine specific goals for each team member to work towards in the coming year, and evaluate progress regularly

Annual goals allow individuals to focus on areas they want to learn or improve. For maximum impact, goals can be divided in three categories:

‣ Individual Goals — Goals set by the employee for personal growth, professional development, completion of a certification or learning a new skill that will complement or advance career path

‣ Team Goals — Goals set by the employee that has impact or value to the team such as process efficiency, product development, or creating capacity

‣ Manager-Driven Goals — Goals set by the manager that will support or evolve the business or drive career growth

Success in achieving goals is reliant on a number of factors. Goals must be realistic, specific and measurable (leverage the SMART methodology). They should include a timeline or deadline for completion. If possible, an accountability partner should be assigned to keep the goal on track and moving forward. As a best practice, goals should be set at the start of the year (if possible) and incorporated into the initial performance assessment discussion.

The seven above characteristics are an ongoing and proactive focus of successful organizations. They will change and evolve over time, especially as the business experiences growth but all are critical to a healthy team dynamic and effective business model.