Blog Building A Team Business

January 16th, 2013

The Ultimate Guide to Hiring An Awesome Virtual Team

virtual team

Several years ago I led the successful, busy, productive, AMAZING team over at LKRsocialmedia.com for almost 3 years. Before that offline teams in animation and visual effects. I've seen it all – growing teams, flailing teams, ones that were doomed from the start. Ones that soared without even trying.

And – as I’ve been spending more and more time with entrepreneurs who want and need their own teams for launches, growing their businesses, I see lots of mistakes.  Lots of stumbling.

Lots of frustration.

Perhaps you know what I’m talking about.  You know you need help on your launch.

You go to Upwork or HireMyMom.com or ask friends and associates for referrals.
But you don’t have the best of luck.

People up and disappear during your busiest time during a launch… or in the middle of putting your product together.

Have you experienced this?

You might not get response after you hire and pay someone.

Maybe you are never quite sure if work you’re assigning is getting done.

It all pretty much sucks the life out of you.

You spend more time doling out tasks than growing your business.

So you give up and decide to do everything again on your own.

Is any of this sounding familiar?

Well – if you are ready to get the help you need, take responsibility for your business, outsource to a virtual team, then you’ve come to the right place.

Instead of writing a series of blog posts over the next 6 months, I’ve gathered some resources that will show you the way, answer your questions and help you build your team (or wait until you need one).

Each chapter contains several links to hand-picked blog posts that show exactly how and when to build an amazing team, manage them with finesse, and know how to improve team performance as your business grows.

This will be a living resource, so bookmark this page.

Are you ready to learn how to find the best people for your online team? If so, keep reading.

virtual team

Introducing: The Ultimate Virtual Team Building Resource

Here is how you get started.  Click one of the chapter links below and you’ll jump to your desired chapter… without refreshing the page. So, pick any chapter that strikes your fancy to get started.

If you like this team building resource, please remember to share it with your friends by Tweeting it.

[Tweet “Check out: The Ultimate Virtual Team Building Resource”]

Let’s get started:

Chapter 1: When to Hire

There’s nothing worse than hiring before you are ready.  Can you say money wasted? Time down the drain?  These posts will get you started and help you make the difficult decision to hire or not to hire.  You may not want to hear that you should wait to hire, but you’ll be happy you waiting, thought about it and figured out if you were indeed ready.

Chapter 2: Identifying The Best Roles To Hire First

Once you know you’re ready to hire…now comes the hard work of identifying what role or roles to fill your first.  Here are a few posts that give some unexpected ways to build your team once you’ve given yourself the green light.

Chapter 3: Should you bootstrap or hire a full-time team?

You see the gurus, hotshots, big players all seem to have these teams.  They’ve got a person handling customer service, web development, maybe 2 of each.  Sometimes it seems like you should have a team too – in order to play pro.  Or do you?  Some of the biggest names I personally know did not have a team until they were well established and making well above 6 figures. So find out what you should do – and think about your own business as a unique entity. Not everyone needs a full-time team!

Chapter 4: How to find the right + best people for the job

Now, let’s find the best people for the job.  You’ll learn what to focus on when hiring, how to use your intuition and gut instinct, and how hiring for your company will change as your company grows.

Chapter 5: Where to find the right people

This is a starting point only. Truth is – you can find amazing people next door, in your mom’s group, on your mailing list, on craigslist. Seriously, craigslist.  So, get started – read these for some first steps, but then dive in and do your own searching!

Chapter 6: How and why you should outsource

Let’s get into the reasons why you should outsource and how to get started with little to no risk.

Chapter 7: How To improve team performance

Improving your team’s performance and productivity is more than knowing how to manage people. You must understand how to interact with human beings – so they feel motivated, engaged, interested, and actually care to do a good job. It’s an art that takes time and lots practice – and even then you don’t always get it right.

Chapter 8: Managing A Virtual Team

Managing a team, the flow of work between team members, knowing when to micromanage a bit, and when to lay off… it’s all part of the fun of managing a team of people in different time zones. Virtual teams have their own little flavor and managing them takes patience, finesse, and often long hours to be present for each person!

Chapter 9: Handling Team Problems (before they happen)

Enough said, right? These posts will get you started understanding some of the common challenges of working with a virtual team and also how to hire from the start to avoid those challenges. Wanted to share a few posts dedicated to this topic – but you can find more in the managing a team chapter!

Chapter 10: The Art of Outsourcing/Delegation

Outsourcing requires you to be a master of delegation. That’s why these two go hand in hand.  If you can delegate, then you know how to manage a group of people…which in turn means you are ready to outsource… Read on to get some insight on why to outsource, how to do it quickly and cheaply, and the long term effect it can have on your business.

Chapter 11: 3 Awesome Teams

There is magic on the teams listed below. They pull off insane launches, world-changing events, and produce massive amounts of value for their customers and audiences on a daily basis.  Remember that each of these groups grew organically over time.

Kris Carr
Marie Forleo
Meet Edgar

BONUS

If you hate Fiverr for whatever reason – don’t read the posts listed below. I think it has merits when used correctly, but I’m more for hiring long term people who spend more than 5 minutes or less on projects.  Fiverr is a great way to get your feet wet in outsourcing and delegating.

Fiverr Outsources Your Small Jobs for $5 | Lifehacker
The Ultimate Guide to Outsourcing With Fiverr | Entreresource

Okay – what's next?

There are countless resources and perspectives on building, managing, a growing a strong virtual team.

Ready to be a better boss and hire better people for your next launch?

Make sure you check out my program Fearless Launching where we talk about hiring your launch team!

I show you how to hire only the strongest supporters you can find – and what you must do yourself to ensure you are never left high and dry during a launch.

And even that doesn’t cover it all.

Got your own favorite virtual team building resources? Link them up for us all in the comments and I'll add them to the post!

Already hired your first team members? Looking for ways to grow and nurture your team?  Check out: The Advanced Guide To Growing A Thriving Team.

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