How to build a startup team and hold it

Dmitro Gutsal, CEO of Autobooking.com, an online car service, told how to find, engage and, most importantly, retain a startup team.

The success of a startup is the involved team. How to find and engage this team? What can you do to make the project a “living project” like yourself? Our startup is no longer small, it is 5 years old in 2020. We started with three people where the project manager was both a marketer and a programmer.

Now we are 20, but still no one calls work “their” or “someone else’s”. Mutual assistance and mutual support are our main levers to overcome difficult situations. The team is motivation, idea generation and support. In my example, I will tell you how to gather a team for a startup and, most importantly, retain and inspire it.

FIRST STAGE – INTERVIEW

Let’s start with Zuckerberg’s rule when hiring: “Would I be happy working for this person myself?” We changed it a little: “Will I be better at working for this person?” We were looking for people who understood that a startup is an opportunity for growth, freedom of action and a mode of instant change.

Startup people come either for your big idea or for you. Whether you are an online motoring service or selling smart home slippers, people will want to be on your team if you are a leader, example and advisor.

All entrepreneurs want a team for themselves, for whom the process of creating a new one will be in the first place. Commitment to the project will face financial gain. And yes, such people exist, they are easy to recognize in an interview.

How exactly? They have found you and your company beforehand, viewed all the interviews, told you emotionally, quoted the statements of your team, greeted with the office manager.

You can also learn a lot about a person if you are suddenly a little late for an interview.

Notice how your candidate is behaving at this time. Friendly with others is your option. Plunged into the phone, silent and not talking to people around, can wait for you without a single question for 40 minutes – a person clearly does not value their time, and after – will not appreciate your own.

Pay attention to busy people. Children, pets, hobbies – such employees will do their job on time and hurry home.

Choose people not by skills but by values. Every day you will communicate with them more than at home with relatives. Hygiene within the team is very important. Avoid toxic employees who set the team up for how bad things are. They are usually easy to identify when interviewed. They tell you about the experience of past work in complete negative, and you can not please their answers in the interview process..

AGE OF EMPLOYEES

Dear Generation Y. They are curious, crave new knowledge, learn new techniques, and engage in creativity. Our marketer is only 21 years old, on the first day she launched a dozen advertising campaigns. In interviews such people ask a lot of questions. The questions continue during the work meetings – so we continue to generate new ideas and opportunities for the project.

If at the interview your future employee did not have any questions – then either you are a divine speaker, or he did not understand the phrase from what you said. Try to translate the interview experience into your potential collaboration: a person who is afraid to ask a question (not to look stupid) will complete the task, but then rework and then rework. And at the beginning of each iteration it will be “all clear!”.

Dear Generation X. They have the experience, they are not easily adventurous, but they will easily be able to ground creative youth and send them on the right path. They have experience that future less experienced employees will want to take on. They will be able to share their experiences and help newcomers during the adaptation period.

Yes, our project manager, aka HR and mastermind, was looking for a team of programmers. He did not embellish reality at interviews, he was honest, talking about both the project’s strengths and weaknesses. There was a clear idea of ​​who to work with would be comfortable and easy.

In the words of our new programmer: “I chose Autobooking.com because you didn’t want praises that you were the best. And they described the task pool, explained what we needed to work on – it’s cool, I was fascinated. ”

EXPERIENCE OF EMPLOYEES

We follow another rule – learning-by-doing – training in practice. You should not pursue a person with centuries of experience and track record. Such employees, as practice shows, are accustomed to work according to their scheme and rules. At the startup every day you will find a new turn and turn. You need fresh blood that will add color and share a new look at old things.

If your candidate lacks experience in your field, or lacks experience in a position, but is positive, sociable, destroys his smile outright; even if just your inner senses tell you that he will still show himself – take it!

Everything can be taught in the process. Yes, half of our team does not have cars, but after six months of work, they know exactly where to look for nozzles in the car, what it is and what they need it for.

CLOSE OR FAR

Relax with the recruitment team to work remotely and outsourcing. So two days a week, each team can work from a convenient place and two people work with us from other cities (even countries!) On a full-time basis. In this case, ZOOM conferences will help you.

Before you think about recruiting a great team, try your job for yourself, perhaps you can handle only your own, or with a team of only 3 people.

NOW ON WORKING DAYS

It doesn’t matter if you are a startup or a successful adult business – your team should feel comfortable. Take care of a comfortable office where employees will be able to inspire, interact, be creative and relax, reboot.

Yes, we’ve only moved twice since Autobooking.com. We feel good in co-working with unlimited coffee, a games room and places where you can catch your inspiration and be alone with your ideas.

Here you have found an ideological team, assembled it in a convenient place for everyone. How do you get people to give their full work? Any. Forcibly you will not be able to generate ideas and fruitful long work.

He should already be an entrepreneur and CEO. You need to be a psychologist for your team, cheer and cheer her on in difficult times.

The fewer people in a team, the easier it is to pay attention to changing everyone’s mood. You should periodically ask (sincerely!) What your colleagues are living and breathing. Yes, soft skills are a must for business owners too!

• Listen and hear. In our team everyone is responsible for a separate project, is its manager. We have chosen a horizontal control system, here all levels, all equally significant.
• Teach and make yourself proud. We celebrate both small and great victories. There are not so many of them in the life of a startup. They inspire us and make us move forward. We also pay for 50% of our external courses / trainings. If your employees want to get better, they want to improve and learn new, you have to contribute to it.
• Understand and accept that people and team atmosphere are more important than tools and mechanics. We conduct in-house trainings on personal growth and professional development.

 

Source: ain.ua