As we turn the final corner and hit the home straight of 2022, we know it can be a challenge to keep your teams motivated and productive. So, we asked our Be Challenged leaders what their most effective tactics are in keeping your team energised to finish the year on a high.
Here’s our top 5:
1) Recalibrate your team’s goals:
This can be done in multiple ways;
- Like a professional marathoner, break down end of year goals into achievable, immediate targets to keep spirits high and demonstrate that the targets are within reach.
- Reassess your goals against today’s business and economic climate. Have things significantly changed? We’re guessing what you thought might happen in 2022 vs. what has, could be markedly different.
- If your team is hitting targets but starting to fatigue, it could also be time to introduce some new stretch targets with incentives to help re-energise and re-focus as you bring the year to a close.
2) Start planning:
Use the upcoming period to set clear plans for 2023. Rather than thinking about December as an ending, it gives people milestones to prepare for achieving next year’s ambitions.
Better yet, you may already be on target. Again, this provides the perfect opportunity to tap into the team’s enthusiasm and start setting goals for 2023. Need help in goal setting for 2023? Check out this article on Goal Setting & OKRs.
3) Reflect:
Use project retrospective sessions to highlight strengths shown throughout the year and how they can be best directed toward meeting short-term end-of-year goals. As we countdown to the new year, it’s important to weigh up effort vs. outcome and take a realistic view on what your team can achieve. By focusing on projects that best utilise their respective strengths, you can refocus them towards kicking goals and maintaining momentum.
4) Protect your team’s time:
New projects notoriously land without warning as the year closes. Tactics to maintain momentum can be pointless if your business sets new, unrealistic targets.
As a leader, take a pragmatic approach to scope and set achievable expectations with the business on new projects that land for your team. Should the new project provide a greater opportunity than the current pipeline of work, then consider how the team responsible for delivering this short-term can share in the incremental success.
5) Encourage efficiency:
As the silly season approaches, people’s energy levels may be lower and some businesses may lose more time with supplier and client end-of-year meetings.
Efficiency becomes extremely important in ensuring you achieve your upcoming goals. Some ideas to help you drive efficiency over these next few months:
• Remove unnecessary re-occurring meetings
• Alert your clients and suppliers early of your holiday closure periods to encourage proactivity in requests to allow for better planning and scheduling of work.
• Don’t cram it all into November and December, utilise January for some of your client and supplier catch-ups if required.
• Set a deadline a few days prior to breaking for Christmas to allow time for closing the loop and for your team to enjoy their final days of work before the break.
Of course, the priority of each tactic above depends on the seasonality and demands of your business. However, whether finishing on a high or getting a head start on next year applying one or many of the above, we’re confident you can keep yourself and your team energised.
A one-day strategy workshop can be a great way to maintain momentum as the year comes to an end. As weather starts to warm up, use this opportunity to get your team out of the office and re-energised! Call our team for a Free Consult and let one of our team members assist you in ending the year with a bang!
Thanks for reading.
Oliver Sheer
Joint Managing Director, Be Challenged