Have you thought about what you want from your business? The answer is generally “yes, it is all in my head”. That’s great, except… in order to achieve those goals, your entire team needs to know what those goals are. Are you running a one man show, or do you expect the business to work with you in achieving those goals.
Are you a team player?
Or are you an individual – quite often left wondering why people around you aren’t helping you? You are left to do everything yourself right?
Family example
Have you ever been involved in a family exercise where you have a common goal? Day-to-day, the wife goes in one direction while the husband does his thing and the kids… well, they all have their own set of objectives. The only way you can work together is to find a common set of goals that will benefit everyone, somehow motivate them and for you to regularly communicate with them on how they are progressing. It could be as simple as a camping trip. It is very difficult if you are doing everything yourself, but if everyone has a task… the individual tasks will be achieved much faster if you pull together… and more importantly all the individual tasks must all be in line with your ultimate goal, to bring the family together.
What is your ultimate goal?
It is one thing for the team to know what you want, but it is another for them to share your passion. How do you measure the results? The performance of your team members. When results are measured, people get excited that they are achieving their goals and they can see how excited you are that those goals bring you one step closer to where it is you want to go… the end goal. Maybe it’s the camping trip, but maybe it’s a BMW or something else you want.
What do they want? Have you thought about that? If you paid staff a commission for meeting certain tasks, what is that worth to you in your business? Have you compiled a budget to figure that out? Maybe you need some help to compile a budget?
Once you figure out what you can afford to give them… money, gifts, education, trip away, then you need some way of measuring those achievements, and it needs to be accurate, real-time and achievable. You can’t do that in the first place if you don’t set aside a regular monthly meeting to discuss the consolidated achievements and to reward those that have achieved their individual goals. Once in place, it is not all that difficult, but you need to change the routine so it becomes part of what you do.
Performance reviews
Don’t wait until the end of the year to chastise staff in their performance reviews for not achieving results that are in your head. It is unfair for you to expect the team to know what it is that you want for the company, but you can’t do it on your own either. Staff will go around and around in circles, following systems and procedures because “that is the way things have always been done around here”. Unless they know what your goals are, and more importantly, how you think your staff fit into the achievement of those goals… how could they possibly change if you don’t communicate your objectives.
Communication
Goals are achieved much faster when everyone is on the same page and monthly management meetings are just another communication method to ensure goals are being met and people are being held accountable for their input into those goals. You need to show them how it is done.
