The NHL (National Hockey League) and NBA (National Basketball Association) playoffs are now underway, so we thought it was a fitting time to write about commitment. If your favourite team is still playing, their commitment to their end goal and the team will be tested over the coming weeks and hopefully months. For all of you non-sports fans, don’t worry; this will still be relevant. We promise not to inundate you with sports analogies! Read on for more details of a committed team vs. an uncommitted team and the 8 steps to get your teams commitment.
Whether it be a team’s quest for the Stanley Cup or a new project launch, to be successful you need commitment and buy-in from the team. While you need the right balance of talent, personalities, knowledge, understanding, and common goals, if you don’t have every team member’s commitment to the end goal, you will not achieve your ultimate objective. A committed team has the following characteristics:
Behaviours of a committed team . . .
- Learn and grow from their mistakes
- Align around a common objective
- Create clear direction and priorities
- Move forward or change directions without hesitation to align with the end goal
- Willing to offer opinions and debate the issues
Does this sound like your team? Do you have everyone’s buy-in and are you heading in the same direction? Is your team willing to debate the issues? Or does your team demonstrate more of the tendencies below?
Behaviours of an uncommitted team . . .
- Lack of confidence and fear of failure
- Ambiguity amongst the team about direction and priorities
- Revisiting past discussions and decisions again and again
- Second-guessing among team members
- Unwilling to offer opinions or debate the issue
Do you notice any of these behaviours on your team? How do you address them? Commitment is built on a foundation of trust and mastering conflict. If you or your team are unable to have difficult conversations, have not built-up trust for each other, and are not willing to be vulnerable together, you will not be able to get them to commit to the end goal. If you’re still struggling to build trust or have difficult conversations, we have resources to help. However, if you are ready to create that commitment within your team, here are some steps to take.
8 Steps to get your teams commitment once you’ve gained their trust:
- Clearly define individual roles, responsibilities and expectations.
- Find challenging and engaging work for your team members.
- Reward success and quality work.
- Accept and encourage failure, providing opportunities to learn and grow.
- Offer sincere praise when appropriate.
- Be willing to have the difficult conversations, share the challenges and discover solutions together.
- Understand everyone’s strengths and challenges.
- Have fun! (65% of people say that having fun at work is critical to success)
Follow these 8 simple steps to get the commitment you need from your team to achieve your next big milestone or hope your favourite NBA or NHL team already has as they pursue a championship!
