As a leader or a manager it is a major part of your job job to create an environment where people can meet their potential. Furthermore, it is the leader’s job to keep the team heading in the right direction. Most managers have their own superiors and what matters most to them is delivering results and meeting goals. Simply setting goals is not enough to actually reach them. So, how can a leader or manager do all of these things without compromising the work environment within a team?
7 Steps to Help Leaders Deliver Results As a Team
Step #1 Big picture and goals
It is absolutely vital that everyone on your team understands the bigger picture and especially their role reaching the objective. People with goals are tend to achieve 10 times as much as people with no goals. To do that, set a company goal and clear metrics, including timescales, on which basis it will be measured. Secondly, find a place or a forum to share this knowledge. Thirdly, align the company goal with each member of the team. Even the act of writing down a goal increases the odds of achieving it. Then – sustain it – one of the main reasons for objectives failing is the lack of sustainability, objectives are often bandied about a business and then left for 12 months – with nothing being done.
Step #2 Assign tasks according to each team member’s strengths
In order for your team members to be happy and most productive it is essential to play to their strengths. According to a Gallup survey, employees are 61% more engaged if their managers focuses on their strengths. In addition, people feel good doing tasks that they are good at and most importantly they perform better. Make sure you know your teams strengths and give tasks accordingly.
Step #3 Sharing and generating ideas
Teams are known to achieve better chemistry and results if there is a place or a forum to share ideas. There are a lot of different formats out there to choose from. The benefits of brainstorming and sharing ideas are essentially getting ideas, solving problems and generally being better as a team. Furthermore, create an idea bank where everyone can contribute. For example, idea banks can result in process innovation, operations and product innovation. Again the danger here is that after the talking – nothing actually happens, this then reduces team members trust in the innovation process.
Step #4 Increase engagement by implementing methodologies
One of the key parts of achieving your goals is repetition and a system that helps to keep the work process going. In the beginning I already emphasized the importance of goals and the best methodology for that is Objectives and Key Results – OKRs. It is used by the likes of Google, LinkedIN, Zynga. Using a goal setting and tracking method helps the people to start moving towards important goals, not small unimportant tasks. On the other hand, employees love it for the clarity of knowing what’s expected from them.
Secondly, another process to consider, would be the Problems, Plans and Progress – PPP methodology. This system is used by companies such as Skype in helping to enhance team collaboration and keeps everyone informed. It also helps to clarify what needs to be done in order to achieve a certain goal.
Step #5 Constantly improve the work process
Using PPP methodology helps to bring out the flaws and problems of your team’s work process. In order to achieve the results as efficiently as possible, it is critical to make improvements in your workflow. As a leader, it is good to check in regularly to see how everybody is doing and if they need a push to get them over the hump. This can be done in a online status update format or just talking to your team members individually.
Step #6 Encourage and motivate
All of the methodologies and goal setting techniques are tools to help the team achieve better results, but we have to remember that we are dealing with humans. People are emotional beings and by setting goals and giving tasks according to their strengths increases the odds of success, but it does not mean that you should not motivate them as well. The best times to encourage and motivate your team is in the beginning and the last part of the process. People tend to get stuck and in order them to finish their task, it is good to reinforce the knowledge that they are moving in the right direction and that they are a vital part of the outcome.
Step #7 Give feedback and recognition
On the last step I kind of touched the emotional side of a delivering results and there is one last thing leaders should not forget. Give your team members feedback and recognition. These two elements are known to motivate people more than money. In addition, regular feedback makes your people twice as happy and makes sure they are engaged.
In conclusion, setting and sharing goals with your team is a good starting point towards delivering the results needed. Make sure you have implemented the suitable work process for your team and urge everybody to make improvements. As a leader, you can provide the necessary tools, but in the end it is the team that delivers the results. So, make sure you motivate them by giving feedback and encourage them if needed.
