Empowering Your Team to Do More with Less: Leadership Lessons from TeamGantt
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Looking for fresh ideas to help you inspire your team? Youâre in luck! Weâre taking a page from history (our own) and sharing lessons weâve learned building TeamGantt from the ground up.
Since launching TeamGantt in 2010, weâve gone from a scrappy startup to a multimillion-dollar company with thousands of customers and 20 remote team members. We did it without investors and nowhere near Silicon Valleyâand learned a ton along the way.
Whether youâre new to leadership, have a few years under your belt, or manage a team of 2 or 20, this 6-part series will show you how to:
- Build a team thatâs motivated and engaged
- Increase productivity and prevent burnout
- Establish trust with and among team members
- Continue growing as a leader
Letâs start by laying some groundwork.
Why we funded TeamGantt on our own
The way Hollywood tells it, you canât launch a successful startup without moving to Silicon Valley and securing loads of investor funding.
But when cofounders John Correlli and Nathan Gilmore set out to build TeamGantt in 2009, they made a bold decision: to forego outside investors and fund TeamGantt completely on their own.
Why go it alone? Because John and Nathan wanted the freedom to focus 100% on building a product people would loveâwithout worrying about keeping investors happy.
âOur customers are our funding,â John explains. âIf youâre solving the customerâs need, theyâre going to keep investing in you.â
If thereâs one thing John and Nathan learned from bootstrapping TeamGantt, itâs that you donât have to follow tradition to build a rockstar team. Hereâs a quick look at 2 simple takeaways that shaped the way John and Nathan fearlessly lead TeamGantt today.
Lesson #1: You can do big things with small resources
When TeamGantt got started, John and Nathan were just 2 guys working out of a basement in the suburbs of Baltimore with no seed money to speak of. They didnât have the luxury to quit their day jobs or hire a big team to get TeamGantt out faster.
So they made the most of what they did have: 4 hours every Saturday morning.
Making progress in such a small window of time required patience and prioritization. By focusing on one important thing each weekâwithout getting distracted by ânice-to-havesââJohn and Nathan were able to release a beta version of TeamGantt in just 6 months, with a public release 7 months later.
That super-focus, with a commitment to staying lean, has been a cornerstone of TeamGanttâs culture as the team has grown.
âThere will always be distractions or more areas we could try as we add people,â Nathan says. âWeâd rather do a few things really well than try to spread ourselves too thin.â
Lesson #2: Itâs okay to break convention
In most corporate circles, working just 36 hours a week would get you fired. But here, a 36-hour week is the norm. Whatâs more, we can work from anywhere we like because TeamGantt is a 100% remote company.
Thatâs all thanks to bootstrapping.
Without investors weighing in, John and Nathan said to heck with convention and built a company theyâd actually want to work for. Since work/life balance matters deeply to John and Nathan, they put it at the heart of TeamGanttâs culture.
Going remote and limiting your teamâs work hours might feel like a scary leap to take, but we wouldnât have it any other way. Itâs enabled us to have our pick of talent across the nation. Whatâs more, team members start their day refreshed and work where they can be most productive. We consider that a win-win!
Thatâs just the tip of the iceberg
These are just a couple of things weâve learned on our journey so far. But weâve got a lot more to share.
Be sure to check out the other lessons in this series so you can continue learning and growing as a leader.Â
- How to Build a Stronger Team by Hiring Slow
- 3 Simple Tips to Create Work-Life Balance for Your Team
- Why Simplifying Collaboration Is the Secret to a More Innovative Team
- How to Score Big Team Wins by Leading Lean
- 9 Leadership Books, Podcasts, and Learning Opportunities to Inspire You
Want to help your team work smarter?
TeamGantt makes it easy to eliminate confusion, streamline communication, and beat project deadlines. Even better, youâll save time and energy on project setup so you can focus on doing the work that matters most.
Of course, donât just take our word for it. Give TeamGantt a free try to see for yourself!