Having a strong core team is essential for all businesses. But for startups and early-stage ventures with dreams of continuous growth and scalability, it’s a critical component. A team that can’t work together will struggle to innovate, and that’s not conducive to long-term success.
That’s why purposefully constructing and nurturing team culture matters. When leaders prioritize the health of their teams, they set up their organizations to harness the advantages that come from tight team dynamics, like higher levels of collaboration. As research shows, nearly three-quarters of workers thrive when they’re in collaborative working environments. They’re also more productive and engaged, which fuels economic viability.
At the Missouri Innovation Center (MIC), we routinely guide and mentor businesses to ensure that their team cultures are strategically built to give them a competitive industry advantage. Through our unique combination of access to resources, expert coaching, and talent, we’ve been able to foster high-performing, high-technology company teams in mid-Missouri.
But make no mistake: You can’t just hope to create an innovative team accidentally or expect your team to somehow achieve greatness on its own. On the contrary, you need to deliberately spend time understanding what team culture is and how to harness its advantages for the performance and profitability of your venture. Essentially, you must be the coach who brings all the players together.
What are some of the foundational elements of an innovative team?
Most people have been on teams before, whether in their professional, recreational, educational, or personal lives. However, not everyone has experienced the rewards of being part of a team culture that supports and encourages creative problem-solving, innovative thinking, and unfettered collaboration.
What’s unique about high-performing teams is that while they are all distinctive, they tend to share several key characteristics. These are not negotiable attributes; without them, a team simply can’t go as far.
The first trait is trust. This doesn’t just mean trust between the people who make up the team. It means an inherent trust of the organization and its “north star” mission and vision as well.
Employees who are trying to build a biotech or life sciences business from the ground up must trust that they’re working toward an achievable and vital goal. Without full buy-in, they may have difficulty pushing through roadblocks or maintaining positivity during challenging times.
Recent studies have shown that high-trust teams are resilient teams. Unfortunately, just one-quarter of employees trust the companies they work for. As a leader, you must prove yourself to be trustworthy as part of your commitment to constructing a team where people can rely on each other.
Communication is another driver of a stronger team culture. Members of a team must be able to talk with one another. Ideally, talk should be honest and frequent. It shouldn’t be difficult to hold conversations or engage in debate. The best teams are made up of members who can disagree but respect each other. This creates a sense of psychological safety.
Surveys have shown that 89% of workers believe that psychological safety on the job is important, and it’s easy to understand why. Feeling safe to speak your mind when you’re part of a team allows you to let your guard down and propose ideas, even if they might sound radical. Innovation and transformation just can’t flourish if team members feel unsafe to contribute.
Having diversity is also needed on high-performance teams. Diverse teams just do better. For example, companies with diverse workforces (e.g., teams) have outperformed other companies by 35%. What startup wouldn’t want that kind of return on investment? Consequently, making sure that your team brings differing viewpoints based on their backgrounds and expertise is a winning solution.
Two final characteristics that define strong team culture are commitment and focus. That is, members must be committed to the aims of the startup, and they must be able to “row in the same direction” toward milestones.
For example, when Equinosis came to the MIC as an emerging business, its founders had the goal of developing technologically innovative solutions that would allow for the collection and analysis of data that could be practical when diagnosing equine disease. Without a team of people who were moving together toward that vision, Equinosis couldn’t have been as successful.
Why does a strong team accelerate innovation?
Having a team that’s trusting, communicative, diverse, committed, and focused allows you (or any startup founder) to innovate.
First, you’ll be able to break down siloed behavior. Powerful teams enjoy collaboration and are willing to share cross-functional responsibilities. They see themselves as part of a bigger whole and don’t withhold information. Through sharing, they help the business become more efficient, productive, and creative.
Secondly, you’ll find that your team takes more risks. Taking a risk can be hard for many people because they become fearful. Will their boss think they’re being foolish? Will their colleagues strike down their ideas? Will they lose their jobs if they propose a solution that fails? Again, this is where trust comes into the picture as a needed cornerstone for innovation.
Finally, when you’re part of a strong team that communicates, you should begin to notice that your team becomes curious. People are more apt to want to learn when they feel safe to make mistakes. After all, mistakes can lead to “Aha!” moments.
Is there a way to measure a team’s innovation?
In business, it’s often said that what gets measured gets managed. In terms of teams, this means that if you can find a way to measure the team’s effectiveness, you can guide its development.
There are a few key performance indicators (KPIs) that you can use to track your team’s culture and performance. For instance, you may want to gauge how many new ideas, theories, or products are being created by the team within specific timeframes. Or you could keep tabs on your time to market.
Ultimately, your KPIs will reflect your business. Our experts at the MIC frequently assist startups in pinpointing which KPIs are best-suited for identifying the strength of their team culture. They can share the KPIs that have provided the most insight for other life sciences and biotech startups as well.
What are some strategies to grow a resilient and innovative team?
As a leader, you’re in a unique position to nurture innovative thinking through the development of your startup’s core team. Initially, you’ll want to pay attention to the people you’re bringing into your business. It’s important to hire the talent your startup requires based on more factors than just their histories or connections. You want to ensure that they’re culturally aligned with the direction that you want your team and company to go.
After amassing a team, you must then give them the resources and space to support creativity. This can be challenging, particularly if you’re a life sciences startup founder. Joining an incubator like the MIC can give your team immediate access to to equipment, tools, and other resources that can be challenging to find or purchase as an early-stage organization.
Be sure that you’re fully invested in being an approachable team member. Even if you’re the visionary behind your company, you need to allow others to share their contributions in a respectful environment. As your team members begin to realize that you’re open to receiving their feedback, they’ll have more reason to be innovative.
How can you future-proof your team for continued innovation?
This isn’t to suggest that building a team is a one-and-done experience. It’s not. All teams need to be nurtured to maintain their effectiveness and innate strengths. They also must be checked for anti-patterns that might damage their innovation-centered fabric.
An example of an anti-pattern could be a new or existing team member’s resistance to change. When that happens, the whole team can be disrupted as the resistance spreads. Another anti-pattern is a flood of toxicity and negativity, especially after a line of innovation failures, can be detrimental to team culture as well.
This is where tracking your team KPIs is valuable. You’ll be able to spot gaps in your team performance right away, allowing you to take intervention measures before your team falls apart.
Be aware that you may have to adapt your team dynamics if you start to shift toward remote and hybrid work. When colleagues aren’t working in the same space, they may find it harder to build the trust that’s necessary for collaboration. In that case, you’ll need to identify ways to bring your team together regularly, whether that’s physically or online.
Designing strong teams capable of sustaining innovation
Today’s marketplace is fast-moving and competitive. For startups that are just entering the business world, having culturally resilient teams is a huge differentiator. But teams aren’t born; they’re built. And you’re in a unique position to build the team that will move your business forward faster.
To prepare your startup and its team for the rapid changes that lie ahead, consider contacting the MIC. With an incubator supporting your efforts, you have access to some of the brightest minds and most advanced resources available. Contact our team right now, and we’ll start a conversation about preparing your team for sustainable innovation and commercialization.
