A motivated team can overcome some of the biggest business challenges a company can face.
People are your #1 asset. It makes imminent sense to kick off the New Year with this tenet in mind. How can you start with gusto?
Frequently, employees take off time near the end of the year, and so it can take time to get back into the swing of things. To shorten that cycle – and, most importantly, to empower and engage your people, think about leveraging some of the following strategies:
- Check in: Start the New Year by checking in with your employees. How are they doing? What are they working on? It’s interesting how often we find out that we didn’t know where our employees spend their time. Find out. Are they concerned about potential roadblocks? What would they most like to accomplish this year? Make it your priority to find out.
- Remind employees of the vision: You cannot emphasize the whys behind what your company does enough. Remind your employees of the vision. What does it mean to you? What does it mean for your customers? End users? In essence, remind everyone why what they are doing is worthwhile.
- Align on goals: I believe in quarterly goals with frequent check-in’s. What lasts for a year unchanged anyway? Not much! Your employees will ditch their cobweb goals with or without you. It is always better to align, discuss priorities, strategize on resources etc. The bottom line is to make sure everyone has clarity and is involved in creating that clarity.
- Recognize successes: There’s no better time to recognize small wins than after the holidays. It jump starts success. Success builds on success.
- Communicate, communicate, and communicate: In essence, the title says it all. Don’t expect people to fully absorb with one communication. Be repetitive. Vary the medium so that you don’t sound like a broken record or your mother. Collaborate on ways to communicate effectively. Involve the team in communication.