In a previous blog: 3M’s for Team Success: Monitor, Measure and Move Goals! I reflected on the three principles that drive success and transparency in teams: Monitoring, measuring and moving goals. If a team is to be more than average, increase their market share and brand awareness, then their success or failure is ultimately measured by their results. As budgets are presented, teams feverously plan on how they are going to achieve them. Sales strategies are carefully or optimistically considered, costs are monitored and savings made where ever they can. For a couple of weeks, perhaps even a quarter, the team focuses on what needs to be done….then….stalls.

Why do teams fail to achieve results?

I believe one of the contributing factors is complacency. The manager adopts a ‘set and forget’ mentality. Goals are established and the focus swiftly shifts to their implementation. An effective manager knows that at this stage they personally also need to evolve. Reflection, monitoring, measuring and moving goals now becomes the focus of conversations. The manager’s role changes to one of collaborator and coach (assuming that their team holds the competencies required to get the job done).

Teams fail when their manager lacks insight, self-awareness and resilience. To create opportunities through people, managers need to nurture and develop collaborative and creative thinking opportunities with their team. With business an ever-evolving organism, priorities and circumstances change as organisations seek to respond to market changes and opportunities. Operations and people need to be positioned to do the same. Thinking, approach and planning needs to change as people contribute and collaborate to achieve outcomes.

Successful teams and their managers keep their eyes firmly on the team’s plan; the difference is that they move it, mould it, or manage it as they need. Unsuccessful teams neglect it, revisit it quarterly and refrain from collaborating on it weekly. Rather than making it a guiding document to leverage opportunity and drive results, they disregard the 3M’s and leave it sitting on the shelf till next quarter. What a waste!

If you want to drive team results then it's no accident. You have to be conscious, collaborate and invested. Follow our guidelines and you will be well on your way to success!

Be curious and engage!

If you would like to apply fresh thinking to your team plans in a fun and collaborative environment, then talk to us about facilitating your next team workshop. Driving results through people is our passion!

If you haven’t yet downloaded our free ‘Plan to Achieve’ suite of planning tools, head on over to our download page on the website and just do it! Be curious and achieve!

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