Unlocking Your Team's Performance Potential: Evidence-Based Strategies
Written by Donna Thaxter: Training, Coaching, and Professional Development Consultant
Unlocking your team's performance potential is little bit like nurturing a garden; it requires attention, care, and the right tools. While it might seem like an exercise of trial and error, there are proven strategies backed by research to fast-track your team's success and elevate their collective performance. This article looks at four simple ways leaders can positively influence their team's effectiveness.
Clear Expectations: The impact of clarity of your team's goals and expectations has been the focus of many well-documented studies. Uncertainty breeds confusion and demotivation. As business conditions change, engage your team in a conversation to collectively re-define or revisit the team’s key goals. Once established, memorialize them to serve as guiding principles.
Empathy and Conflict Resolution: Personality clashes can hinder productivity and morale. Harvard Business Review suggests a simple yet powerful exercise to foster empathy and proactively diffuse conflicts and reduce tensions among the team. Have each team member complete and share these 4 statements followed by some discussion by the team. This exercise builds awareness of different workstyles, and fosters trust among the team.
I am at my best when ______________________.
I am at my worst when _____________________.
You can count on me to ____________________.
What I need from you is _____________________.
The Power of Storytelling: Leverage storytelling to remind your team of the impact of their hard work. Share anecdotes that demonstrate how their efforts have positively impacted customers, colleagues, or the company's success. These stories not only inspire your team, they also convey what you value as their leader. What gets noticed gets repeated.
Respect: Research by Christine Porath from Georgetown University concluded that no other leadership behavior had an effect on employee outcomes than respect shown by the leader toward his or her team members. Showing respect not only improves team outcomes, it enhances perceptions of the leader’s capabilities. It's a win-win scenario.
Creating a high-performing team isn't just about boosting productivity; it's about creating an environment where individuals are set up to thrive collectively. By setting clear expectations, valuing empathy, harnessing the power of storytelling, and embodying respect, you can unlock your team's full potential and propel them towards success.
To discuss ways in which SCA can help to unlock your team’s best potential through these or other performance-enhancing processes, please contact our Director, Bill Dolan, at wdolan@scapartnering.com or by phone at (617) 694-2617.
