When you have a high-functioning team, you create opportunities for yourself as a business owner. You’re able to work on your business because your team doesn’t have to rely on you to get hands-on all the time.

But to build that team, you’re going to need a framework. It’s not enough to just bring a group of people together. You need to understand the key steps to follow when building your team.

That’s what I’m going to cover in this article. If you follow these steps, you’ll create a system for bringing new people in and getting them up to speed quickly. That means you have a more effective team that’s capable of relieving the burden that you’re carrying right now.

Let’s jump right in with…

Your first order of business is to get your existing staff to step up or step out. You need the people that you have right now to rise to the occasion.

I like to look at what happened with Gary Ablett and the Geelong Football Team here. Back in 2006, the team found itself struggling to attain any success. Too many of the players weren’t pulling their weight, with Ablett being one of the main culprits.

He got the simple order – step up or step out. This message came directly from his teammates, not the coaches.

In his case, that motivated him to bring his game to another level; the rest is history. And it’s going to do the same for the best members of your existing team. Of course, you’re also going to have those who resent the order and refuse to step up.

Those people shouldn’t be on the team to begin with!

This is all about making your existing people more accountable for what they do. However, you also need to think about your own management style here. If you’re the micromanaging type, you’re not allowing your people to take initiative.

Give your team space and watch closely to see who steps up.

There’s always a temptation to rush when you’re recruiting. You need somebody new in the team as soon as possible, so you try to move things along as fast as possible.

That usually leads to you hiring the wrong person. And even if you get the right person, going too fast with your onboarding can lead to them struggling in your business.

You’ve got to take your time so that you understand what you want and what a new recruit brings to the table.

A few months ago, I had an English guy helping me with some work I needed to do in my house. He told me that he was in the process of applying for Australian citizenship.

At that point, he’d invested $10,000 into getting that citizenship. And he still had no guarantee from the authorities that he’d get it.  Effectively they are testing for commitment in a big way.

You need to get your potential recruits to undertake a similar process before you hire them.

The people you hire have to really want to work for you. That’s why you’re going to test their commitment before bringing them on board. Inside our ’18 Months To Success’ playbook we take clients through this process and give your potential prospects this commitment test which has changed the way our clients recruit via a prospecting online course.

High-functioning teams contain people who have the drive to achieve more. They want to advance in their careers and they want to help you make your business a success.

That’s why you need to hire for energy and drive. You have to look for the high-energy people who will give their all to any role that you assign to them.

There are all sorts of tools that you can use to assess people in this area. Profile testing is a major one because it tells you what sort of person you’re dealing with. It’s also going to offer you some insight into what a person isn’t telling you.

Anybody can present well in an interview. You may have a candidate who talks a big game about what they’ll bring to the team.

Your profile testing, coupled with the benchmark reports that you compare the tests to, tells you if the prospect actually has what it takes.

Step #5 – Make Team Members Prove Themselves

You need to have a system in place that allows you to test what a new recruit tells you. This step focuses on the first 90 days of the new agent. You’ve got to spend those 90 days ensuring that the new recruit can deliver in your work environment.

Focus on prospecting, that’s the number one activity that you need your new people to do. Create a system that tests their prospecting ability and keep the people that manage to pass through it. They’re the high-end performers who will make great additions to your team.

You can also use this system to test your current team members.

Let’s say you’ve got someone who’s struggled to perform over the last few months. It often pays to put them through this system so they prove to themselves, as much as to you, that they’ve got what it takes.

That’s going to enable them to stand on their own two feet as part of a high-functioning team again.

The ongoing success of your real estate business depends on the quality of the team that you build. Without the right people on board, you’re always going to struggle to scale.

These steps will help you to create a high-functioning team.

Start with the people that you have right now. You need them all to step up to the level you need them before you start searching for new people.

With that level established, make sure that you get the recruiting process right. Never rush when bringing somebody on board. Instead, take the time to test their commitment and conduct proper onboarding.

When you rush, you end up losing time and money later on down the track.