How to Energise Your Team
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You can see the lack of energy, the drawn expressions, and sense your team have lost some of their camaraderie. Time to gather your team together for a pep talk to energise and refocus them, rebuilding their self-belief and determination to deliver. Here’s how to deliver that morale building boost.
Begin by:
- Keeping your message clear and simple; remember that your key aim is to leave your team feeling like winners – they may be facing a challenge, but they have your full belief and support!
- Acknowledge the stress – you’ve noticed the team is having a hard time, and you are concerned for and about them.
- Acknowledge the difficulties they are facing, whatever these may be. Tell them you realise that these difficulties can be hard to ignore or shrug off. Let them know that you too struggle sometimes. Empathise.
- Thank them for what they’ve already delivered, their dedication and team spirit.
- Remind them of the key goal that has to be achieved and why it matters, the benefits that will come when the goal is delivered – for the organisation, customers and themselves. For them it might be that they gain experience and results that will help them drive their future careers to greater success.
- Crucially – tell them why you believe, despite the difficulties or setbacks, they can deliver the goal successfully – because of their professionalism, determination, previous successes, their team spirit. Above all be sincere. Smile when appropriate, make eye contact with each person, and talk about the positives each of them bring to the team.
- Let them know what your contribution is going to be. What you will do to lead and support each and every one of them in the delivery of this goal. It’s important that you are seen to be working towards the same goal with them, not observing from some distant office.
- Don’t focus too far ahead. If the goal is broad and/or long term focus your team on the next milestone – here I always use that lovely phrase about how to eat an elephant, ‘take it one bite at a time’. Be clear about what successful achievement of that milestone will look like, and how it will enable the achievement of the next milestone.
- Let them know that you are always available to discuss any concerns or issues one to one, at any time.
- Conclude by thanking them again and say how much you are looking forward to celebrating the success you know will be achieved.
You may need to energise your team at any stage of a difficult goal or project. By acknowledging the difficulties, appreciating their efforts, focusing on the future and showing them you are all in it together, you will ensure they come away from your talk with renewed self-belief – and feeling like winners!