Over the past months I have been really pushing myself and my team to move on with a variety of new projects.
One project is going forward whilst another is a little slower due to external circumstances, but how long can a team persist under a sustained lack of progress of a project I have been wondering?
Would it be true with all kinds of teams? So whether it is a corporate team chasing a deadline for a large international assignment or if it is a major league team.
If there are no results, no victories, the team may not stick together. One of the reasons for that is the ‘lack of confidence’ among the members of the team. Their main intention when they formed the team was to unite with people who had complementary talents to what they have. But when the results do not come, they may think that this blend of talents is not working. The team will likely dissolve if this happens on a monthly basis. The members will go apart and either form a new team with new members or completely forget the thing that they were planning to achieve and focus on something else.
If you have a team, you must remember this.
You have to ‘WOW’ your team constantly with results. But what if you do not have results? Well of course I will not talk about major victories all the time. No one expects you to be knighted for everything that they do as a team. However, do not ignore smaller achievements!
Even a single team member is doing something that contributes to the team which is an achievement! A team member may have brought the team forward in his or her own way. This is something that can be highlighted. There is no need for open felicitation for everything, but the fact should be brought into the next team meeting. The member in question should be given an acknowledgment or praise. In fact, the entire team gets motivated by acknowledgement and praise it likely will propel them to keep working.
When the real big victories happen (and we just had one the other day), there should be a serious effort in planning a celebration. A celebration is not a waste of money or time for people in a team – it is a way of acknowledging the fact that the team has worked together in achieving something. It is a collective pat on the back of the team. (as most of my team is virtual we usually have a fun interactive celebration)
So, how do you go about seeking commitment from your team?
Your team will have their own missions, goals and objectives. You must have something of that kind and make sure that have all these objectives ready for anyone to see. We have a bit of a tradition of that looks like a virtual swearing-in ceremony when a new member comes in.
Whenever the opportunity arises, we make a point to reinforce the values of the Human Resources Global team, even the non-obvious ones.
Keep wowing your team with results. Big results may take awhile, but do not ignore the small things that can help keep your team inspired and motivated.
By Nicole Dominique Le Maire – @NicoleLeMaire
© 2014 Human Resources Global Ltd.
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