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\n\t\tOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.\t<\/p>\n
Successfully scaling a business requires a strong foundation. The right processes must be in place because scaling a flawed process will only magnify its deficiencies. You need to have your finances in order to handle the increase in expenses that comes with any scaling effort.<\/p>\n
And perhaps most importantly of all, you need to have strong team connections. If there\u2019s one thing I\u2019ve learned over the years, it\u2019s that as valuable as the other elements of scaling are, they will ultimately fall short if you don\u2019t have a strong, closely connected team.<\/p>\n
It should be no surprise that a team that feels connected and unified will be able to achieve far greater outcomes than teams that are disconnected or even adversarial in nature. Connected teams are built on a foundation of communication and psychological safety that build trust and enable individual team members to work together effectively.<\/p>\n
A recent report<\/a> on the state of workplace culture and connection found that organizations with strong workplace cultures were nearly twice as likely to report significant revenue growth in comparison to culture laggards. Among these culture leaders, team members were nearly sixteen times more likely to regularly receive meaningful recognition from their direct manager, and over nine times as likely to receive such recognition from their peers. Employees at these workplaces were also two times more likely to report feeling strongly connected to their team and direct manager.<\/p>\n Similarly, research<\/a> from Gallup found that when managers focused on employees\u2019 strengths, employees were twice as likely to be engaged at work. Even more impactful, these employees also enjoyed improved well-being, resulting in higher productivity and fewer health issues.<\/p>\n When employees and managers become more closely connected in the workplace through these and other supportive actions, they begin to form stronger relationships, which are critical for creating a truly cohesive team. In these environments, individual team members learn to leverage each person\u2019s unique strengths as they work together to innovate and solve scaling challenges.<\/p>\n With strong social connections, workplace satisfaction<\/a> and organizational commitment increase, while turnover decreases. This creates a stronger foundational team that is better prepared to grow in their current roles and advance to new responsibilities as the organization\u2019s structure changes during scaling. In my own business, that strong foundational team has proven critical for keeping everything aligned as we\u2019ve gone through growth and expansion.<\/p>\n The imperative for team connectivity starts at the top. As leaders, it\u2019s our responsibility to create a culture where employees feel safe and supported \u2014 where they not only have the necessary resources to do their basic job, but where they also feel like their voices are heard when they share ideas and feedback. Encouraging everyone to share their perspectives enables measured risk-taking that can lead to more effective growth.<\/p>\n Strong team connections help build the foundation for initial success in a business, but all too often, culture can begin to take a backseat when scaling efforts begin. As new team members are brought on board to manage the growing workload, it can be surprisingly easy for previous efforts at building culture and connection to slip.<\/p>\n This is especially true as companies try to transform and scale with AI. Automation is exciting and powerful, but if it comes at the expense of meaningful team connections, you\u2019re going to lose out on the human element that makes successful scaling possible.<\/p>\nConnections can\u2019t take the back burner during scaling<\/h2>\n