Hopefully you’ve celebrated your successes in 2016, and have successfully endured other experiences that have left you better suited to manage a tough situation. As you review what you’ve learned and where you’ve succeeded this year, there are things you can do before the new year to set your team up for success in 2017. Here are five things you can do right now to insure 2017 is even better than 2016.
- Team goals
We’re sure you set team goals each and every year. However, do you get input from your team on what they would like the goals for next year to look like? Are there things that are important to people on your team that are addressed in passing, but a plan isn’t really put into place for growth in that area, or do you not understand who would have the skills on your team to lead the initiative? Having an open conversation with your entire team about what happened in 2016, and what you’d like to see happen in 2017 will provide an opportunity for team brainstorming and honest feedback if it’s led in the right way. Here’s a great article from Harvard Business Review on how to get feedback that works.
- One-on-One’s
This advice is going to sound dangerously like we’re suggesting you perform an annual review. However, it is a review of sorts. If you have your feedback session before you start your one-on-one meetings with your employees, you’ll have gotten the outline of a big picture for team goals. When you’re in your one-on-one, take advantage of this time to talk about areas where each employee seemed particularly enthusiastic. Run with that enthusiasm, and ask how they can help the team with one of the team goals. Give them the chance to take ownership of a problem, initiative, or process improvement that they want to tackle. Not only might you get a glimmer of what they’re passionate about, they’ll likely elaborate on why they think this particular issue is so important to your team. Take the insights your team gives you about what’s going well, what needs improvement, and figure out what you can deliver them in return in 2017 to address some of their concerns.
- Wishlist
A natural occurrence during your one-on-one meetings will be hearing your employees utter the phrase, “I wish we could _________.” Write these things down. Put together a formal wishlist for what your team wants to accomplish this year. Depending on what this wishlist contains, it could give you ideas for future team outings, rewards and direction for how to motivate your team in 2017.
- Tool Check
You probably have a basic understanding of what each person on your team needs at their desk and away from their desk to get their job done. However, do you know if every tool your team is using actually works? Or, is there a tool out there that could put time back in the day of every member of your team? One caveat, if you ask the question, you’ll want to insure that you’ll have budget to upgrade or fix some of the current tools, or explore other solutions. If you’re unfamiliar with a solution or tool an employee mentions, don’t be afraid to ask for more information. Have them put an estimate together or walk you through how they think it can save your team time, money or both.
- Thank you
Hopefully you have a holiday celebration planned with your team. -One that is outside the huge, overwhelming company sponsored holiday party. Getting your team’s input on how or where they want to celebrate shows appreciation, and will likely result in a better event with less potential for complaining. Beyond a holiday celebration, simply saying thank you will go further than you think. Those two words acknowledge the work of your employees, and show you understand you could not do your job without them. In fact, following up the thank you with an explanation of how they make your life easier will insure they know just how much you value their work and contribution.
As a leader, you are likely employing some of these things throughout the year. However, we would recommend employing these five strategies at the end of the year to get your team aligned for the year to come, and excited about everything you’ve got planned!