How To Set Your Team Up For Success In 2024

As a small business owner – and an employer – NOW is the time to get the best out of your most expensive asset. Your people!

Looking back over the last year, you may have learned some super-valuable lessons about what you DO and DON’T want to do going forward. Like Henry Ford once said, “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” 👌

So, in addition to your new resolutions around health and fitness, don’t forget to decide what kind of leader you’re going to be in 2024. And, set aside some time to plan how you’re going to make that happen.

Here are my tips to get you started.👇 Plus a quick quiz to see how your leadership skills shape up!

SET SMART GOALS ⚽

Decide what your game-changing goals are going to be for 2024. Being realistic, you should only have around three to five. 

Try and describe these as ‘outcomes. For example:

• I’ll have acquired three more contracts by October 2024
• I’ll have launched my online shop by July 2024
• I’ll have hired another employee by March 2024
• I’ll have increased profits by 10% by the end of the year
• I’ll be working four days instead of five by January 2024

Then, list the things you’re going to have to do, to make these outcomes become a reality. 

Remember that your people will play a big part in helping you to achieve your goals. You can’t do it alone! So, make sure that their goals are aligned to yours.

You need to explain to your staff the vision you have for 2024, your goals, and what you’re trying to achieve – so that they can support you in delivering them.

💡 If you need some goal-setting inspiration, read my blog dedicated to this topic. It’s called: OKRS OR KPIS? WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO BOOST TEAM PERFORMANCE?

HIRE THE SMART WAY 👌

Every person you hire will either help you to achieve your goals faster or become a barrier to your success, by draining your time and energy. 

So, make sure you hire the smart way in 2024. Assuming you’re planning to recruit that is! 

If you ARE planning to expand your team, I suggest you download my FREE hiring strategy workbook. Why? Well, it really gets you thinking about why you want to hire, who you want to hire, and how you’re going to go about it. 

If you don’t invest in this thinking time and planning upfront, you could make costly hiring mistakes that’ll stop you from reaching your 2024 goals. ⚽

GET THINGS IN THE DIARY NOW! 📅

All great leaders get their team dates in the diary WAAAY in advance. I’m talking one-to-ones, team meetings, and team socials. 

This allows you – and your team – to prepare for those precious moments in advance. And they ARE precious. 🙆

They’re important opportunities to spell out your goals, share ideas, gain momentum, check-in on each other, and have fun together as a team.
Having these dates in the diary will help you to keep your team on track, so that they can deliver what you need them to in 2024. 

GET YOUR PEOPLE PAPERWORK IN ORDER 📑

If you already have employees, I’m hoping you have employment contracts, HR policies, and an employee handbook in place.

However, many businesses still don’t. Which means, they’re leaving themselves wide open to staff problems that could even end up in an employment tribunal.
The “People Paperwork” protects you and your business from horrible workplace misunderstandings. So, if you think you need to get yours in place, then check out my online shop 🛒 

There you’ll find competitively-priced, easy-to-use HR templates that you can personalise to reflect your business. And of course, they’re 100% compliant with UK law. 👌

INVEST IN YOURSELF AS A LEADER 🤗

2024 is the year you should invest in YOU. It’s not a selfish thing to do. It’s an absolute necessity in order to scale your business. 📈

Many small business owners are amazing at what they do. Yet lots of them find the art of hiring and managing people a little challenging to hone.

Things like interviewing, goal-setting, motivating staff, and handling tricky conversations with employees – are tasks we’re not born equipped to do. But, they come with the territory of leadership.

So, if you think you could do with a little help to lead like a boss 💪 then please check out all the FREE resources on my website. There are loads of blogs dedicated to helping you to be the best leader you can be. Set some time aside with a cuppa ☕ and take a look!

Don’t forget I also run a series of leadership training events throughout the year. To sign up to hear more about these, get in touch today!

TO SUM THINGS UP THEN

💪 Now is the time to learn from last year and plan to make 2024 a great success.

🗣 This includes adapting your leadership style too!

⚽ You can do that by setting smart goals that are outcome based e.g. ‘I’ll have launched my online shop by July 2024’.

🙆 To help you to scale your business further, you might need more people. But, only if you hire smart will you be set-up for success.

📅 Plan your year in advance by putting all the key dates in the diary NOW. Things like team meetings and 1-2-1s. These will help to keep you and your team on track.

📑 Don’t forget to make sure your people paperwork is in order. I’m talking HR policies and contracts.

🤗 And finally, invest in your own leadership skills to help you succeed in the coming year. You can do this by poring over my website, where you’ll find loads of free resources to help you to lead like a boss.

HERE'S A HELPFUL LIST OF MY MOST POPULAR RESOURCES...

• Take the Leadership Quiz to uncover your natural leadership style.

• Watch my Free Masterclass to learn how to build a high performing team.

• Grab my Free Guide for Busy Managers to help you save 5+ hours every week.

• Browse and download my Free HR Guides and Templates.

• Book a free consultation with Mandy here, to learn more about us working together.