Businesses and enterprises that suffer from sustained negative performance lasting for more than a few months also face a challenge inside the organization.
Maintaining the energy and enthusiasm required to succeed long-term is exceedingly difficult when teams aren’t putting points on the board. Team morale plummets during a sustained downturn or market shift. Leaders must strategize to keep the team from sinking into a negative malaise.
Surrendering to the environment or setback is not an option.
Waiting until the external tide turns and/or the performance roadblocks dissipate is more hope than strategy. To foster optimism and focus, the best leaders take a more active approach than watching the clock. They know a team that is struggling needs a win, no matter where it comes from.
Winning takes many different forms for a team under duress. Any outcome where the team must collaborate to produce a desired result is considered an important “win.” When competing in the marketplace produces losses, good leaders foster a resilient team spirit by turning to other ways to showcase the skills of the team.
Creative leaders create a unique project and set a goal beneficial to the enterprise where the team can quickly achieve an important outcome.
Examples: Designing a new process, testing a new product or service, crafting new marketing materials, launching a new website, capturing new training or orientation videos, or composing a new set of templates.
Creating something significant from scratch is just the ticket for a team that needs to post a victory. Once the team feels the excitement of winning, they are usually ready for another venue through which to test their skills.
Charitable efforts are another great place for the team to score an easy win. Selecting a charity and creating a valued outcome the charity covets will often get the juices flowing. Building or renovating homes or running a kitchen and cooking meals for those in need are a couple of common examples.
External competitions where the team can showcase its many talents and skills are yet another place to look for a win. Teams can compete in a sundry of sporting and intellectual challenges and contests where fun and camaraderie are built into the event. Everyone on the team besting their record in a community 5 or 10k walk or race is an example.
When a team faces stiff headwinds for a prolonged period, good leaders find a way for the group to succeed and win. This means looking to alternative sources of competition where the team can achieve a hard-fought outcome and remember what it feels like to win. Nothing feels better to a team that hasn’t had a victory lately.
Winning keeps a team in the game.
