As a founder in the CPG industry, you’re accountable for every business deliverable your company creates. The following building blocks can help improve the well-being of your workers and set future projects up for success.   

Promote Open Communication

Fostering an environment of open dialogue builds a workplace of trust, efficiency and effectiveness.  

1. Choose the Right Tools: If your team is hybrid or remote, find a communication tool that works for everyone. Slack, Teams, Zoom, or even a well-structured email system can allow information to reach everyone.
2. Create an Open Environment: Emphasize early on that every opinion is valued. Whether it’s a new intern or a seasoned manager, anyone can offer a fresh perspective.
3. Establish Regular Check-Ins: Set weekly team meetings and periodic one-on-one sessions. Use these meetings to discuss progress, while also genuinely connecting with and understanding team member’s challenges and insights.

Set Clear Team Goals

As a founder, your vision for the company must translate into tangible goals to ensure project completion.

1. Create Achievable Objectives: Set goals that are ambitious yet attainable for project phases. Think SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).
2. Track & Share Progress: Implement a system to monitor progress, such as Trello, Asana, or Tasks by Planner. Share updates in team meetings to keep staff motivated and up to speed.
3. Return to your Original Vision: As you progress through your stage-gates, review the company’s original vision to determine if your project’s development is still in alignment.
4. Celebrate Milestones: When a goal is reached, celebrate it! We all want to know we’re doing a good job, and you’ll be positively reinforcing feelings of accomplishment and team unity.

Set Individual Employee Goals

Your project’s success relies on each member actively contributing their unique set of skills.

1. Align Individual Goals with Team Objectives: Ensure every team member knows the role they play in the bigger project picture, providing a sense of purpose and understanding to their work.
2. Schedule Regular Check-ins: Check-in with individual members to ensure tasks stay on track. Do they have all the information necessary for completion? Conduct annual performance reviews, emphasizing two-way conversation, to assess progress, gain feedback, and understand their needs.
3. Provide Growth Opportunities: Offer training and development opportunities when applicable. You’re committed to your employee’s personal growth and confidence as well as your company growth.

Provide Necessary Tools & Resources

Your project team needs the necessary equipment to achieve their goals.

1. Assess & Provide: Identify tools, training, or extra support your team may need to hit their tasks and timetables. Whether it’s a new program, an educational workshop, or additional hands-on deck, ensure everyone has what they need to succeed.
2. Budget Wisely: Allocate your resources sensibly. Invest in tools and training that directly contribute to meeting your business goals.

Support a Work-Life Balance

In the hustle to scale quickly, keeping your team engaged and purposeful is key to avoiding burnout.

1. Set Realistic Workloads: Be mindful of the amount of work each team member is handling. Overload leads to burnout. Use your regular check-ins to adjust workloads as needed.
2. Encourage Time Off: Encourage your team to schedule their vacation time and enjoy it! We all need time to recharge, and it’ll help with productivity in the long run.
3. Promote Flexibility: Where possible, offer flexible working hours or locations. Independent working hours can positively impact family schedules, long commutes, and stress levels.
4. Foster a Supportive Culture: Create an environment where personal commitments are respected. Refraining from early morning or late evening meetings or re-scheduling when schedules don’t align are good steps you can take to support your team.

Utilize Fractional Support

There will be times when your team needs help. Fractional support can fill resource gaps to continue your project progress.

1. Identify Resource Gaps: Analyze your team’s strengths and weaknesses. Where are you falling short? Are you understaffed or lacking in technical knowledge somewhere along the timeline?
2. Hire Fractional Executives or Experts: Instead of hiring full-time employees, consider fractional professionals. They can fill in those resource gaps without the commitment or cost of a full-time hire.
3. Use Fractional Support Strategically: Bring in fractional help for specific project pieces to achieve your milestones. They provide high-level expertise on demand and are trained to assess and fill a situational need smoothly and quickly.

If you’re in need of fractional help, JPG Resources has a robust talent pool of 80+ CPG experts across product development, operations, sales, finance, marketing, and more. With JPG Resources, you can:

• Only hire for what you need
• Successfully meet project deadlines
• Onboard quickly with minimal hassle
• Receive expert help that taps into a huge supplier/knowledge network

Learn more about Fractional Hiring from JPG Resources.