In the thousands of facilitator man-hours I’ve put in together with the Everest Motivation Team, evidence ( empirical and anecdotal ) suggests that there are some key ways that do not cost the earth an organisation can get enhanced Return on Investment ( ROI ) in their efforts to build great teams.
78% of organisations* want ROI, yet only 11% of them have any learning and development measurements in place to find out the value they are getting. Have you ever been to a fun teambuilding event where you learned little and applied even less at the workplace? How about an expensive training programme that had the same results? In either case, much of the monies spent was wasted – if a ROI was expected. But most critically, people have a tough time creating great teams because they haven’t learnt how to adopt key steps in developing a winning team. Depending on what you need, you can do a number of things to create great teams. It starts with rigorous focus on outcomes desired:
First – ask your team – who are they? How well do they know their relative workplace values, work preferences and risk orientation (do see more opportunities or obstacles in a given scenario? )
Second – ask – where are you going? Are they near and medium terms goals crystal clear?
Third – what are your resources, and this includes leadership and more physical assets
Fourth – what kind of rewards can they expect for their performance
Fifth – How are you going to get there/ meaning – what strategies will be employed, how will you measure progress and ROI
Factor #1 +#2 will probably have the biggest impact on the rest, and in this months newsletter, the focus will be on these two points
Most teams seem to muddle through and are satisfied with ‘ good’ results. If the team can spend more time figuring out who they are, acting authentically – and before focusing on specific goals, it is well on its way in achieving greatness. Knowing who you are needs to happen first. if you already have your personal values and beliefs aligned with your
professional ones – fine. If not, you might want to spend time asking if the kind of work and values of the business you are in are very nicely aligned. If it isn’t, the ‘ disconnect’ will eventually cause great personal unhappiness ( no
matter how much the job pays ) and poor performance. You can find out by some quiet time on your own, and a pen paper to jot down your thoughts about who you think you are ( NOT what you ‘ do’ ).
External aids like certain personality profiling tools like the Motivation Profileâ„¢ or TMS’s Team Management Profile can help in determining work type preferences and key motivational drivers. Second, define your goals, especially how you know when you’ve achieved them. It seems silly to cover this point but you’d be amazed at how many people fail to pinpoint when exactly they know they’ve achieved their goal. Wooliness does not help. Be rigorous. Are the goals exciting? Will they stretch your talents and abilities? Are there key timelines to follow?
These are key ingredients to creating a motivating environment in which to operate.
* information from Dr Jack Phillips, ROI Institute