Startup Advice: Productivity As Religion

In a world full of startups, how will yours stand out? How can you make yours successful? The key to success is productivity. Here are some tips to making your startup more productive:

Create a Creative Company Culture

Having a company culture that your employees enjoy being a part of is essential. Not only does it attract new talent but also helps to retain these great employees. Create a culture that is both casual yet business oriented. It should be a fun environment. Your employees will be both happy to be there, and happy to work if they enjoy where and with whom they work. Team get togethers, whether they be brainstorming meetings or office outings, help to foster a team environment, necessary for a productive and growing startup.

Build A Great Team

Having the right team is essential. Use your networks to find people who can come with a recommendation. Working at a startup is unique and thus not everyone is cut out to work for one. Think about hiring those with startup experience, and that includes your executives. Running a startup requires a whole separate set of skills. Your best pool for candidates may be those coming right out of college. This generation is fluent in the newest tech innovations and social media, essential tools in the startup world. College breeds forward thinkers who are knowledgeable in the past and passionate about the future. They are also hungry for jobs and eager to get their foot in the door. Passion and eagerness are the blood that runs through startup veins.

Need for Structure

The beauty of startup culture is its non-bureaucratic, team-like atmosphere. This should not be lost in a quest for productivity. That being said, structure and hierarchy are necessary for getting the most out of your team. If your startup is growing, there needs to be mentoring in place, and a clear knowledge of who reports to who. Having a point person to express ideas, problems, and solutions is necessary for actual progress.

Have A Clear Vision

Startups begin with an idea. As this idea becomes a reality, lots of things change and many factors fall into place. It is important to not get lost in the logistics, though they are necessary. Your vision should always be at center. It is also important that just as the creator formulated the vision, all members of the team should be embedded with the vision and enthusiasm of making it a reality. Whether you reiterate this goal at your meetings, have it on posters all over the office, or drill it into their brains via orientation, making sure your employees know your direction and ultimate goal is the most important part of being productive.

Communication

Whether it be a weekly meeting, a daily burst email with updates, or constant GChat, communication is key. As stated previously, a close-knit team environment is needed for successful productivity. Strong, constant communication leaves very little room for error. It can help to foster ideas, and solve problems. Make sure everyone knows what’s going on. If your company culture has succeeded in a creative environment, your team members could be bursting with new ideas or solutions. Make it easy for them to communicate these ideas. There is always changes in a startup, make sure everyone is onboard.

These tips may seem general but are the recipe for having a productive startup. A creative culture with a structured and qualified team who understand the vision and are constantly communicating is the key to success. To highly successful developers, productivity is a kind of religious experience.