Creating an environment
where teamwork is a priority leads to the one
thing that will make any company successful — customer
satisfaction, says Deron
Millman.
When Millman founded
Millman Surveying Inc. in
1995, the CEO made sure that
fostering teamwork was a part
of the company’s vision.
“I think, overall, we will do a
better job for the customer,
and the company will be more
successful,” Millman says
about the importance of everyone working together.
That sense of teamwork has
boosted Millman Surveying’s
revenue to $9.1 million in 2007,
up from $2.4 million in 2004.
Smart Business spoke with
Millman about how to create a
team atmosphere to help your
company succeed.
Q. What are the keys to
developing a successful team?
The first thing you need to
do is you need to make clear
to the employee what is
expected of them. You can
communicate it to them
either verbally or through a
job description, but I think
they have to know what is
expected of them. They each
have to know what’s expected out of them — their
duties and responsibilities.
You need to be encouraging. You need to show interest in their work. A lot of
times, I’ll ask for their opinions or suggestions and listen to the suggestions, and
then talk those ideas or suggestions through with them.
By talking it through with
them, you take the suggestion and you say, ‘OK, well,
let’s see how that plays out.’
And then discuss it with
them. Look at what the positives and possible negatives
are to that suggestion. It
gives them a sense of input.
The other thing would be
to recognize their hard work
and efforts. One way I like to
do that, and I think is the
best way, is to share positive
customer feedback with
them. They really seem to
respond to that.
When they do a good job,
you need to tell them
that they did a good
job. People need to
hear that. Obviously,
you can sit down and
tell somebody they’re
doing a good job, you
can give them a bonus.
But when they do a
good job, you tell them
they did a good job,
and then you give them
more responsibility.
That’s how they really
know.
