Your team is the major driver behind your business. An ineffective team can mean low productivity and terrible support and service. You want your team performing at top levels, focussing on innovation, collaboration, and effectiveness. When they do, not only are they more productive but you create an environment that fosters and grows talent.
So how do you get there?
Help Them Trust One Another
Top levels of performance cannot be achieved when everyone is working within silos and not sharing information, working toward common goals. But it’s difficult to get to those levels without trust. It’s your job to create an atmosphere in which your team trusts one another and wants the group to succeed.
This is done in two ways by:
- ensuring that the team understands expectations and goals
- removing any challenges they have blocking their ability to get there
This means dealing with negativity in the workplace, establishing boundaries and firing those who are not performing to team standards.
The last one may not sound like a trusting activity but too often within a team environment, expectations are communicated. Some adhere, some don’t. But when those who do not meet them are left to languish as others watch their underperforming or toxic partner fester in the role problems arise.
It is impossible to create a cohesive team when others see this. And they cannot trust their underperforming cohort. They also can’t trust their manager at this point because they are not helping remove team inefficiencies.
Additional idea: if you want a strong team, try recognizing them as one. Some business owners do this by providing team shirts or apparel. Others get them involved in bonding activities like going to a puzzle or escape room.
Be the Leader They Want to Work With
There are thousands of leadership quotes about serving your team with humility. but if you want them to be a high-functioning team, you want to concentrate on a few additional things such as:
- leading by example. Don’t say one thing or require something of them that you don’t exhibit yourself. That may work at home but it builds resentment in a business.
- everyone has a role. You lead the group but your team is as critical as you are. Make them feel that by expressing thanks when it is warranted and asking for input. But don’t aks for input if you already have a solution.
- expressing the team or company’s “why.” As Simon Sinek says in his well-received TED Talk, people care about your why. They want your why, not your what. Employees should know your why as well as the company’s. Sharing your why helps your team connect and identify with you while knowing the company’s direction and mission as well.
Position People Properly
Make sure you have the right people in the right positions. This means understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your team both as they see them and as you do. Also, it’s important to understand what they want to do and where they see themselves going.
It’s possible to create opportunities within the job duties to play up their strengths. For instance, you may discover someone on your team has a way with words and they are a natural choice for taking on the responsibility of your blog. Maybe they really enjoy writing and they have many ideas for it. If that is the case, it shouldn’t really matter what their actual job description is. They could be a developer or a cashier but if they enjoy that responsibility and are good at it, you may want to consider an intradepartmental approach to job responsibilities.
On the other hand, if someone is not positioned to thrive you need to ask if they are a valuable part of the team and just in the wrong position or charged with the wrong responsibilities or if they are simply not suited for your place of business.
Pro tip: do a yearly assessment and ask employees what they want to learn that year professionally and personally. Use their answers to shape their jobs and responsibilities, filling in what makes sense for your business. Look for ways to help them grow and they will value their positions.
Give Up Mediocre and the Auto “No” Response
Mediocrity is a curse for business. While finished is better than perfect, if you are continually satisfied with just getting by you’ll never become a leader in your industry. Help employees recognize when the extra effort is needed and when completing the project is more important than perfecting it. For instance, completing your newsletter is important. Adding a VR video to it is likely not worth the delay in the delivery. However, adding VR to a trade show exhibit may be. Know where to concentrate your efforts for maximum effect.
Also, create an environment where your employees feel comfortable bringing up ideas and innovative suggestions. If “no” is your first answer to everything presented to you, they will quickly tire of approaching you. When you are tempted to say no, use “what else” or “and” to get them to talk through their proposal further until they see the same limitations that you do. You may be pleasantly surprised that they have a solution for the challenge. If you shoot them down with “no” immediately, you’ll never get to the idea.
Speaking of…
Encourage Solutions, Not Complaints
It is natural for team members to come to their managers with problems, After all, it is the manager’s job to remove the obstacles. But that creates a very subordinate relationship and the impression that they can’t clear their own paths. Instead, empower them to think of the solutions to their challenges. You’re not requiring them to actually perform the solutions, just switching the way they see their role.
Now instead of carrying their problems to another person, they are looking at the environment and creating their own proposed solutions. This not only empowers them but also switches their focus from problems to solutions.
Additional thought: if they don’t come with a solution walk them through the process of how they can get there on their own and then invite them to come back with a few suggestions.
Share and Celebrate Smaller Milestones Too
In order for your team to be a high-performance team, they need a mission and goals. Often with businesses though, those goals are far off in the future. While some people are able to focus on those, many of us need the shot of adrenaline we get from achieving something on a more regular basis than once a year.
That’s where smaller micro goals come into play. For instance, let’s say your business goal is 100 new customers and $5,000 of new revenue by the end of the year. Instead of waiting until the end of December to share and celebrate your increases, set quarterly goals and celebrate them or share firsts such as your first customer obtained through social media. This isn’t just info for the sales team. Take it to your whole business. These types of wins energize a team and keep them on track to make end-of-year goals.
Fail Valiantly
Okay, this one gets a lot of play in business circles. All management books and blogs talk about failing as a top priority. It’s an indicator that you’re innovating. After all, innovation is not done in a safe place. The mere definition of the word innovation suggests that you will try something and it will work or it won’t. If you’re always afraid of failure, you’ll never take the necessary risks.
But no business person wants to fail. That’s why you need to show your team through example how to fail smart. Don’t innovate for innovation’s sake. Don’t try something new just because the management books tell you to. Give some thought to what you’re doing, what you’re asking your team to do, how you’re measuring it, and who else is in the space. If you win, awesome. If you fail, figure out why. Could you have done anything differently? Talk to your team about it.
Did you fail because you:
- weren’t prepared or because the world wasn’t?
- neglected to connect with your audience?
- lacked the budget or it ran a lot higher than you thought?
- didn’t have the right resources or you had them but in the wrong places?
Deconstruct how it happened and why. By understanding this, you can assess whether it’s worth another attempt or if you should try something else.
Finally, document what you try, the results and measurements you use to gauge success or failure, and your analysis afterward. Failure isn’t worth anything if you don’t learn from it.
If you want top performance from your team you need to ensure they feel valued and heard. You can do this in the ways we covered in this article.
Don’t forget that once you have a high functioning team you can reward them with gifts of swag and giveaways.
Contact our high-performing team at ThinkQuik today. We can find the perfect employee recognition pieces for you.
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