Achievable early goals.

Make use of your goals to build team spirit and enthusiasm. Do this by setting small, easily-attainable goals early on in your project while your team is still bedding-in and settling down. Make them worthwhile goals, but goals that you are almost certain can be reached. In this way your team will notch up some early successes, which will certainly boost morale and establish a sense of pride in achievement. Later goals that you set can (and should) be more taxing and testing, but early successes will do wonders for spirit of team. This spirit will endure long into future as going gets tougher.

Communication.

It is almost impossible to exaggerate importance of communication within any organisation, and in particular within a work team. Make it your duty to ensure that everyone within your team knows what is going on. Make sure that everyone knows of outside events that will affect team. Make sure that everyone knows their own goals and objectives and those of team as a whole. Make sure they know objectives of those interfacing to them and of any potential conflicts. Make sure that a problem or a delay in one area is immediately communicated to those whom it may affect.

Encourage and foster co-operation, not competition. Make sure it is in no-one’s interest to keep information to themselves. Communication will come naturally if it is in everyone’s own interest – and this will be case if you have earlier ensured that you all have common mutually interdependent goals.

These guidelines on their own are certainly not enough to guarantee a fully functional and successful team, but following them will go a long way towards creating one. On other hand, if you don’t follow them your chances of success will be minimal.

Refusing to Sign an NDA

Alarms and warning lights should go off if a party refuses to sign your NDA. Unless they can provide a very compelling reason for refusal, you should walk away from business relationship.

When An NDA isn’t really an NDA

Just because a document is titled, “Non-Disclosure Agreement”, does not mean it provides you with protection. You should ALWAYS read language of an NDA because document may establish that you are WAIVING all confidentiality rights. The waiver might be very direct and read something like, “The disclosure of information pursuant to this Agreement shall not be considered confidential.” Alternatively, language may be more indirect and read, “The parties acknowledge and agree that all information exchanged pursuant to this agreement has previously been established in public forums.” Regardless, “reverse NDAs” strip you of protection and should not be signed.

Obtaining non-disclosure agreements should be a standard practice for your business. Don’t exposure your proprietary business secrets to others without this protection.