Fight for Your Franchise Challenge, Week 3: Building Your Tribe

April 20, 2020 5 min read

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Now that we have created new 90-day goals and KPIs and intentionally focused on creating a positive mindset, it is time to build your tribe. 

I have mentioned in past articles that we use a specific framework for our coaching program that we call the Franchise Success Plan. This is a combination of the industry best practices and our Franchise Bible Coach proprietary strategies. We begin with what I call the Franchise Equation, which breaks any business into five distinct departments: Leadership, Marketing, Operations, Finance/Legal and Technology. 

Leadership development for yourself and your team leaders is mission critical to keep your organization growing in a positive direction. For the Fight for Your Franchise Challenge, we started with Leadership Development exercises including goal setting and KPIs, along with getting in the right mindset for success. 

Related: Fight for Your Franchise, Week 2: Getting in the Mindset for Success

The next step in the process is to Build Your Tribe. (Or rally the troops, all hands on deck or any other familiar phrase that suggests working together and rowing in the same direction.) Many of my clients have shared their stories with me about team-building during this pandemic. It is very different in today’s world than traditional efforts in the past. Here are some of the strategies that I wanted to share with our readers: 

1. Be a decisive and inspirational leader. The number-one priority as you develop your game plan for future team-building efforts is to comit to being the leader that they will follow onto the battle field. This comes from being decisive so your team has a clear plan to follow. Indecisive leaders spawn confusion and reduce trust. 
2. Get the team involved with the direction of the company. We all feel more deeply committed to a cause when we contribute. It goes from being a cause to our cause. The best ideas, solutions and innovations come from the people on the front line. They are closest to the action and have up-to-date real-world experience. Get your team involved with making this situation better, and they will row in the same direction. 
3. Create a rewards system. This is the time to make sure everyone on your team is being rewarded. Even if hours and pay is cut, you can create systems to reward your team when they hit their KPIs. Remember the rules of a goal and KPI exercises from week one. You can use a variety of tracking systems, such as customer-satisfaction surveys or online reviews for customer-service KPIs. 
4. Recognize team member victories. Most people are far more fulfilled from recognition than money. Especially when you are in a challenging time, it is even more important to recognize the people on your team who go above and beyond the call of duty. 

Remember that last week, I pointed out the leadership-development strategy of building your tribe during a crisis as a galvanizing experience. People tend to bond faster and at a more significant level with others who they share a challenging time with. A good example is soldiers who serve together or people who survive a life-threatening experience. 

You may think this is a bad time for your team, but what if it could be stronger and more committed after this crisis? What if you pulled them together in such a powerful way that your company grows more than ever before? The strong leader will take a challenging time to strengthen their team. When talented people bond over a fight with a common adversary, great things happen.  Petty things fall away and alliances form when team members defend each other and work together to win. 

I had the privilege of having another awesome guest on our Franchise Bible Coach Radio Podcast with Rick and Rob this week. Jason Feifer is the Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur. We focused on building your tribe in this time of crisis and discussed many areas of the current marketplace and the impact that the coronavirus is having on businesses. We asked him to share a key takeaway piece of advice for our listeners. He said, “Just because the world has changed, your value hasn’t changed.” He added that business owners may have to deliver service in a different way or communicate in a different way, but the value is still there. This is great advice for business owners who are struggling to adapt. You can hear the entire interview in this week’s session. 

Related: Fight for Your Franchise

Take this opportunity to get your team together even if it is virtually. Keep consistent communication going and make sure everyone feels connected with your core values and overall game plan. You can learn more about the Fight for Your Franchise Challenge and join the fight at www.franchisebiblecoach.com