Wouldn’t it be great if teams magically started performing the moment they were formed? That by some miracle everyone knew why they’d been brought together. Understood the challenge, their role and why it all mattered.
The reality though is that it can be tricky getting a team to perform at a high-level, consistently. But we’re a pragmatic bunch at LIW. It’s our job to help you to cut through the noise and show you how you can build an engaged, happy team that hits its goals time after time. But where’s the best place to start?
Give your team context and a sense of purpose
If you joined us for our November webinar, you’ll have heard us talk about the all-important first step in our five-step Team Acceleration framework. Context. Teams need context and clarity so that they can make sense of the team purpose and switch on the ‘what’s in it for me’ light bulb.
We know how easy it is to get bogged down in the day-to-day busyness of the to-do list and lose sight of the why. Why am I spending time on this task? How will it help the team and organisation achieve its goals? If people are struggling to answer these questions, it’s probably time to hit pause and go back to the beginning.
Revisit your organisation’s goals and purpose
Taking the time to understand the context and regularly revisit the ‘why’ will give you and your team clarity: a clear purpose and frame of reference. It’ll keep you all on track and you’ll soon know if you’re heading in the right direction or need to change tack.
What’s in it for me?
It’s good to regularly remind yourselves of the bigger picture, even more so when negative headlines are circulating whether that’s about the great resignation or a disengaged workforce. They might not help lift the general mood, but they do give you an opportunity to check in with your team and see if everyone is on the same page and speaking the same language. It can be easy to miss signs that people are struggling or losing their way when most of your contact is through a screen.
- Be empathetic and curious: listen to your team and take time to understand what’s going on with them before you gently move the conversation onto the future.
- What’s the organisation trying to achieve and why? Create a frame of reference for the work your team does.
- Set the direction: What’s my role in this? What’s in it for me? Help your team to understand how their role fits into the team goals and organisation’s aspirations.
It’s worth spending time on putting strong foundations in place, because that’s how you create resilient teams that continue to perform even while they flex and pivot in the face of constant change.
If you want to find out more about the webinar and our five -step Team Acceleration framework, please get in touch. You can contact us here, we’d love to hear from you.
Take a look at our other blogs.