Act like a startup and boost your team's productivity

If you are starting a new venture or just looking to reinvigorate your current work environment, the culture of a startup is what you should be aiming for. Why? Because the startup employees are highly motivated, innovative, united, collaborative, and most importantly incredibly productive. You will find yourself excited to go to work each day.

Vision

Startups are directed by a leader who fervently believes in their vision and knows how to inspire people - but it’s also driven by the team that supports and innovates on a daily basis. Fast, intense, and incredibly purpose-driven: that’s what a startup looks like. Act like the leader of a startup and a productive work culture will follow.

Start by clearly, openly, and often communicating the vision and mission of your company. Be utterly convinced in what you are offering the world, it is a true solution to a real problem. People need your offering.

Be passionate, determined, and driven in bringing your offering to the rest of the world. This intense and driven mentality naturally lends itself to creating a culture where employees are passionate about the collective vision. Passion is a top-down experience, lead with passion, and your team will follow. With effective organisational skills and adequate resources, you can inspire the startup culture in your workplace.

Teamwork

The core of the startup culture is the team you assemble to drive your vision. It is vital to look for distinct qualities in your people to cultivate a motivated, innovative, united, collaborative, and productive space.

Look for people that are excited to take on any challenge. In a small team with tight resources, everyone must be a jack of all trades. Your employees need to be ready and willing to jump in wherever needed—even if that means taking on a new task. A company where everyone actively participates and works together boosts productivity and morale.

Being a team player is a necessity. Even if you are the head of the company, you are part of the team. Motivated teams require constant ideation and collaborative work where everyone’s opinion counts. Allow and insist upon distributed responsibility. No one can do it all themself and nor should they. By hiring the best people, instilling passion, and trusting them with your vision - your team will become a powerhouse.

Focus

Now that you have an incredibly motivated team united by a strong vision and sense of responsibility, it’s time to do business.

Be a reactive company. Take advantage of smaller teams and flat management hierarchies to reduce response and problem-solving time. Allow your team to quickly resolve issues and adapt to new situations efficiently. A flexible workplace fosters a sense of trust amongst the team, resulting in more productive employees. Without large teams to assess and execute plans, everyone must be hands-on with their projects and problems to make things work.

Don’t try to solve multiple problems. Be hyper-focused on solving a single significant problem that you believe your team can solve, in a brilliant and differentiating way. This level of intense focus will set you apart from regular businesses. Do not scatter your focus, it is your greatest resource.

Understand that mistakes happen. When issues arise, quickly embrace the mistakes and allow your team to move quickly to address the problems, provide solutions, and implement changes. Staying agile and coming out with solutions to address the situation is necessary. With a startup culture, innovation is key to success.

In conclusion, create a startup culture in your workplace and motivate your team to follow. By doing this, your productivity will soar. Be excited to go to work and there is no problem you and your team cannot solve.