In about another 3 or 4 months I am going to be so swamped there`s no way I can keep up with everything. I need to build a team ASAP. I know specifically the 3 positions I need to fill and what I need each person to do, and I`ve been casting around a bit to find people through networking channels but so far no luck.
What I really want is not a group of employees, but a group of partners. I want people who can understand my vision and be on board with what I`ve done so far and where I want to go, and be enthusiastic enough to contribute ideas and take responsibility. I haven`t put a "help wanted" ad in the paper for this reason.... I spent most of my life as an employee and I know that employees want to take their paycheck and go home. (And who can blame them since most work environments are horrible.)
How do I go about finding such people? Am I asking too much? What are my options?
—paula
Y`know, it`s funny but as I spent time working in the workaday world, a
lot of the problems and questions that came up reminded me of starting
a band. Then, getting into entrepreneurial and small business
situations, I saw they were even more closely similar to starting bands
and running them.
One of the most difficult problems for either the person starting a
band, or for an existing band who needs to replace a player, is exactly
that: How do we find someone who`ll "fit in?"
The first thing to keep in mind is the audition. That`s not at all
similar to an interview. Anyone can talk a good talk, but an audition
gets rid of all the talking, and moves on to action. Can they play?
One of the best ways to do an audition is to record it. While you`re
playing, it`s almost impossible to stay objective enough to listen
closely to what your candidate is really playing. The business world is
a little better, as there`s no external constraint---a
deadline---during the audition. In a song, you HAVE to all start and
end at the same time.
In a business audition, you take some sort of representative project
and have the candidate work on it. Depending on the potential future
and how long you want this person with you, they should work on it for
more than an hour. Same with a band: it isn`t unusual to have a player
"sit in" with the band at a live performance or three.
The problem I see in business is that there aren`t any auditions.
Nobody cares how well-spoken someone is during an interview. Nobody
cares what they did in the past, other than it being professional. What
everyone wants to know is whether this new person will "fit in" with
what`s already in place. Then, what can they bring to the company to
make it better.
How can that possibly happen without actually working on things?
Hi Erin, actually I do need people who live here, even the tech person. So while I appreciate you & Craig`s answers, these assume I already have a stable of people waiting in the wings to pick from. I don`t. I`d love to "audition" some people, but there aren`t any.
How do I find them? I still don`t know.
—paula
Also "Craig`s List" (which I don`t own...sadly). :-)
The how of finding people to audition isn`t the main difficulty, I
think. All you need to do is say you`re offering money, and you`ll get
all sorts of responses. It`s the audition---paid or otherwise---that`ll
get you in to finding the right choices.
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