You’ve set your company-wide goals - now what?
So your organisation managed to set their strategic roadmap / annual operating plan / company-wide strategic goals at the start of the year (sidebar: is anyone else overwhelmed by the sheer variety of strategic planning methodologies and tools out there?!)
In view of the recent global developments, you might have even found yourself pivoting your business model or evolving your work priorities to be more ‘agile’.
But does that really mean you’re set for success?
Having an idea, or setting goals for everyone to accomplish is easy (65% of organisations have an agreed-upon strategy) — but executing them well, and in a manner that inspires your teams to bring their best to work everyday, is a whole other ball game!
This is probably why only 4 out of 10 employees feel they’re aware of their companies on-going priorities and goals.
So what can you do to set your teams up for success? Read on to find out.
1) Divide and conquer
Whether you follow KPIs or OKRs as your guiding light, make sure you’re able to provide the last individual contributor in your team clarity on exactly what is expected out of them in the next week, month, quarter. This requires some level of objective thought, and an effective cascade of milestones through the organization.
Here’s a quick and dirty example that not only breaks down strategic priorities into specific tasks for each individual, but also calls out smaller milestones that can be monitored to make sure everyone is ‘on-track’.
2) Check-in, not micromanage
By jointly articulating milestones, you’ve already set the stage for an outcome-focused approach towards team management. However, to avoid being a micromanager (as discussed here), encourage your team to self-report their progress (complete/on-track/delayed) prior to team check-ins
Doing this in advance is also more efficient, as you can use your time on team-wide calls to discuss what’s going well and the way ahead (i.e. new tasks to be taken up). Collaboration tools like Mesh help you do this by allowing you to allocate and track progress against tasks or deliverables.
We also suggest you take out time for 1:1 check-ins where you discuss constructive feedback and coach team members in areas that are best addressed individually.
As suggested by Elizabeth Saunders at HBR, you might find this particularly helpful as your team is keen to demonstrate their value while working remotely. This will not only help you not fall prey to micro-management, but also engrain a sense of ownership and accountability within everyone.
3) Celebrate each win
Nothing drives employee engagement more than recognition for meaningful progress made at work. By appreciating a job done well or meaningful progress made at a complex task, you’re able to showcase to all team members what ‘good looks like’.
But to truly nurture a positive work environment, we encourage you to go one step ahead, and encourage peers and even cross-functional team leaders to share praise where deserved!
As the new world of work evolves, so must our ways of getting work done, especially when it comes to remote teams. However, here at Mesh we believe in helping teams and organizations find ways to simplify the often painful process of managing your people and projects, while also accelerating goal achievement and boosting employee engagement.
Built as an interactive internal social network, Mesh makes it easy for employees to manage goals, share recognition and conduct check-ins, especially when working remotely. Sign up for Mesh today and help your team transition successfully into the realm of remote work.
