If you’ve been following along with my last few posts about the Five Factors of Leadership and Team Success, we’ve covered a lot of ground. Vision, Trust, Accountability, and Right People with the Right Skills – all of these factors lead to this final factor in taking collective action to deliver the results you are looking for.
Are You Clear On Your Success Metrics?
It’s not really possible to achieve great results unless we are clear on what results we are shooting for. As you took the first step to establish a clear vision of what you were trying to accomplish, hopefully you also took time to create some metrics so you could measure progress along the way. This is important for a few reasons. First of all, having clear goals to reach is a motivating factor for most people. It also significantly improves performance. One of my favorite quotes is:
“When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.” -Thomas S. Monson
So be clear and intentional about what you measure for success, and continue to hold true to those metrics so your improvement can accelerate.
Progress = Motivation
I recently read a fantastic article from Harvard Business Review on what really motivates workers. In a study performed, most managers thought that “recognition for good work” was the number one factor in motivating people. While this certainly was a good thing to do, what came out for workers was actually progress. Setting goals and objectives at all stages along the way help teams see how they are progressing towards larger accomplishments. That feeling of progress is extremely motivating. Take time to help people see the progress they’ve made.
Results Happen Together
Great results rarely happen as a result of a single individual. They come from collaborative effort from many people. This is one reason I’m a big believer in setting rewards focused on team and organizational achievement rather than individual achievement to keep people focused on team success. You’ll also want to build in some systems and expectations for key behaviors that promote collaboration. A few indicating behaviors of collaboration include:
- Team members actively seek help from each other
- The group collectively is energized by the tasks at hand because of the greater vision
- Goals/objectives are met and often exceeded
- People strive for success for the team, not themselves
So keep the team together, help them be collaborative, encouraging, and helpful to each other, and take bold action to do great things for your organization. Then, at times, stop and reflect with your team on the successes you’ve had. If you do this, your team will be even more willing and motivated to crush your next set of goals.
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