The Business Leadership Wikipedia: Your Virtual Power Team (Part 2)

How would you design your ideal business team?

One thing I liked most about working in corporations is that I didn't have to do everything myself. At the same time, I could quickly create big things that positively impacted tens of thousands of people because I had so many resources at my disposal. In addition, I had the partnership of a team working toward shared goals, communicating, sharpening one another's skills. Now I'm an entrepreneur. Yes, there's more flexibility--but at the cost of all those amazing corporate resources, and team partnerships? Not necessarily.

My ideal virtual power team re-creates the most positive benefits of a corporate team. I've got the best of both worlds. I've got the power of a corporation along with the flexibility, creativity and passion that comes with having your own business. Wouldn't you like that for your business? It's not hard to create.

This article, the second in the Virtual Power Team series, gives you the blueprint to ensure that your ideal virtual power team becomes an effective working reality, supporting your client service goals, enhancing your professional value and credibility, and promoting the accelerated growth of your business. You'll learn how to design:

1. A strong team identity
2. A unifying team mission
3. A seamless team client process
4. Clear team expectations
5. A format for announcing the value of your team
6. A unified plan for putting all of this together

Even if you're still in a corporation, the transferable team-building model you will find in this and the four other upcoming Ideal Virtual Power Team articles will help make your team more effective. You'll be going back to the basics of identifying and strengthening the most beneficial elements of a strong business team. But this time you've got an entrepreneur's perspective as a new twist, probably not very common in corporate teambuilding training.

So, how would you design your ideal business team?

Description: Learn the six essentials for designing your ideal virtual power team.

Why this is important: A good blueprint is crucial to the success of your ideal virtual power team. It's a track to run on!

What you need to do:

1) Design a strong team identity. Name your ideal virtual power team.

Your team name is like a headline. It's the first thing your clients will see. You want the team name to excite your clients by identifying the team as a valuable added service you offer them.

Here's the name of my ideal virtual power team. Note that it has three important parts. It has my business name, and it identifies the function of the team, and says who the team serves--all in just 8 words:

The 1st Insight Communications Business Entrepreneur Support Team

What name would you like to give your team?

2) Design a unifying team mission. State the purpose of your team.

Your statement of team purpose ( mission) is important, because it lets your team members know why you have chosen them. Why are they on the team? Before people can operate as a team supporting each other in a unified way, they need to have a clear shared purpose.

If you've created a good name, the purpose (mission statement) should come easily. The purpose is just an extended description of the team name. State the team purpose in terms of the result the team delivers to your business clients. It's a mission, or functional, dynamic purpose. Make it brief: 50 words max.

Here is my team mission statement (32 words):

The 1st Insight Communications Business Entrepreneur Support Team supports the accelerated success of entrepreneurs by providing the highest quality essential components of a healthy business through a seamless and unified client-centered process.

What is your team's mission?

3) Design a seamless team client process. Create a client process diagram.

There's nothing like a picture to help people quickly understand how something works. Diagram the process clients move through to receive the benefit of your team's mission.

My team's mission is to support the success of entrepreneurs. Team members can look at the diagram and quickly identify their part in my client service process. For example, the web designer might primarily identify with #3 in the team service cycle. The CPA might identify with #1 and 4.

What is your team's client process, and how might you picture it?

4) Design clear team expectations. Create your team agreement.

What do you expect of team members? A clear, brief (150-word max) agreement will avoid lots of confusion later on down the line and help your team operate in a unified way to serve your clients.

Here is my team agreement (107 words):

"Members of the 1st Insight Communications Business Entrepreneur Team agree to support the team's mission and operate as a team. This includes communicating, cooperating and passing on relevant client information (as authorized by the client) to other team members engaged in the client service process. In addition, team members agree to create reciprocal advertising. Such advertising at a minimum will include placement of team member information on a team web page navigated by a highly visible link from the home page of the team member's main website. The team member's information will follow a template and include contact information and a link to the team member's website."

The one negotiable part of this agreement involves reciprocal advertising. What about team members who don't have websites? Be flexible, but hold to the spirit of the idea that there is some meaningful visible reciprocal advertising in place--an equal exchange in energy. That's what a team is about.

What will your team agreement say?

5) Design a format for announcing the value of your team members. Create the template for a thumbnail description of your team members.

By creating a uniform consistent format, your clients will more quickly understand the value of each team member, and your value for gathering such a team.

How will your format your team member descriptions?

6) Put all of the pieces together.

Visit my team page to see how I've put the team blueprint into action on my website.

The above 6 steps should help you create the blueprint for your ideal virtual power team. A great blueprint will ensure that your ideal virtual power team becomes an effective working reality, supporting your client service goals, enhancing your professional value and credibility, and promoting the accelerated growth of your business!

Next week in part 3 of the Your Ideal Virtual Power Team series you'll learn how to identify the specific team member skills you need on your team in order to dramatically increase the value you deliver your clients. Any missing elements will weaken your business.

To your success and significance in business,

David Smith

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David Smith is the CEO of 1st Insight Communications: Business Leadership Coaching for Accelerated Results. He is also the visionary creator of The Business Leadership Wikipedia.

• Gain exposure for yourself and your business by joining our growing list of Business Leadership Wikipedia ContributingAuthors.
• Contact David Smith for a complimentary Business Growth Acceleration Session, valued at $500 Email or (503) 816-9665.

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Get help creating your ideal virtual power team.

The Virtual Team article series gives you the plan for creating your ideal virtual power team. But even the most detailed plan doesn't guarantee success. We're going to give you the support that will guarantee your success.

Upcoming Teleclass

Accelerate Your Business Growth by Creating Your Virtual Power Team

Next Offering: June 2009 (4-week teleclass: Learn, experience transformation in the comfort of your office or home)

1:00-2:00pm ET, Wednesdays

We'll give you all the guidance, support and accountability you need to create your ideal virtual power team. By the end of the class, you will have your virtual power team in place and immediately begin to experience the benefit for your business. Your ideal virtual power team will be worth tens of thousands of dollars in attracting and serving your business clients during the year 2009.