Most managers and team leaders don’t have much control over major decisions and rarely have all of the answers. But leadership isn’t about having all of the answers, it’s about how you show up. Here are 10 ways you can support your team during times of change and uncertainty:  

1. Open Communication

One of the most important ways to support your team is through open and transparent communication. Keep your team informed about changes, even when the news is difficult. Acknowledge the challenges ahead, share what you know, and be honest about what is still uncertain. Of course, there are often details that you cannot or should not share for ethical or legal reasons. It’s OK to say, “I will share the information with you as soon as I can”.

Encourage two-way communication by creating a space for employees to ask questions and express concerns. By fostering an environment where employees feel heard and valued, you can help mitigate feelings of uncertainty and build trust.

2. Practice Empathy

Change can be stressful and anxiety-inducing (even when the change is positive). As a leader, it’s important to recognize the emotional toll that change and uncertainty can have on your team. Show empathy and offer support through regular check-ins. Help them access applicable employee resources if these are available at your workplace. Most importantly, you don’t have to agree with someone’s perspective to respect it. Sometimes the best thing you can do is to simply acknowledge and listen, even when you cannot do anything to fix it.

3. Create Stability & Clear Direction

Uncertainty can leave employees feeling lost and directionless. When it feels like things are spinning out of control, it’s important to focus on the things that can be controlled to maintain a sense of stability. Don’t start micro-managing but do make sure the basics are covered. Provide clear guidance and set SMART goals to help your team stay focused and motivated. Outline the steps needed to navigate the changes and ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities.

4. Embrace Flexibility

Be open to new ways of working and ready to adapt your leadership to meet the evolving needs of your team. This might include adjusting workloads or communication structures, offering flexible work hours, or allowing remote work options if applicable. Demonstrating flexibility shows your team that you are responsive to their needs and committed to their success.

5. Provide Training & Development

Providing training and professional development opportunities can help your team feel more secure and capable of adapting to new roles or responsibilities. Offer training, learning opportunities, workshops, seminars, or online courses that equip your team with inspiration, new skills, and excitement for the future. Investing in your team’s growth demonstrates your commitment to their long-term success.

6. Maintain a Positive Outlook

As a leader, your attitude significantly influences your team’s morale. This can be challenging when you’re personally feeling the negative impacts as well. But this doesn’t mean forcing fake smiles and ignoring the elephant in the room. It’s about striving to maintain a positive outlook toward the future and focusing on the potential opportunities that change can bring. In fact, Gallup’s research shows that the most important thing people need from their leader is ‘hope’, notably cited by a high majority of people when compared to stability, compassion, and trust.

Here are some tips for maintaining a positive outlook:

• Practice self-awareness: Learn more about how, when, and why your own emotions show up in the workplace.
• Manage your stress: You cannot effectively support others if you aren’t taking care of yourself. This article from Psychology Today has some great tips: 7 Helpful Ways to Manage Overwhelming Stress | Psychology Today
• Invest in your own development: Improve your confidence and leadership ability.
• Reframe challenges: As the saying goes, where one door closes, another door opens. What opportunities do the challenges bring?
• Seek support: Connect with a mentor, coach, or reach out to your own leaders for guidance and support.

7. Recognize and Celebrate Achievements

It’s important to acknowledge and celebrate your team’s accomplishments, no matter how small. In times of change and uncertainty, recognition can boost morale and motivate your team. Create a system for regularly recognizing and rewarding achievements. Consider including a peer recognition program to foster team building and cohesion.

8. Team Building

Promote an inclusive team culture where all team members feel valued and respected. Encourage diverse perspectives and foster an environment where everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute and succeed. Organize team-building activities and encourage collaboration. Create opportunities for team members to share their thoughts and ideas on how to navigate the changes together. A cohesive team can provide mutual support, making it easier to weather uncertainties.

RELATED POST: The Dos and Don’ts of Team Building Activities

9. Solicit Feedback

Regularly solicit feedback from your team about how they are coping with the changes and what additional support they may need. What’s going well? What’s not going well? What do they need? Use this feedback to make informed decisions and adjustments to your approach. By involving your team in the process, you empower them and foster a sense of ownership and collaboration.

10. Advocate

Ensure that your team’s voices are heard by passing along their feedback and challenges through the appropriate channels. Decisions made at the top of organizations don’t always include the voices that will be affected the most. Employees throughout the organization have a unique lens of how the business is affected by changes and can often provide valuable context.

Most importantly, your team just wants to know that you have their back. Build trust by advocating for their interests and ensuring that their voices are heard.

Final Thoughts

Change and uncertainty are inevitable, but how leaders navigate them makes all the difference. By communicating openly, leading with empathy, and fostering inclusive environments, leaders can inspire hope for the future and guide their teams through uncertain times with confidence and care.

At the end of the day, the most important thing you can offer your team isn’t certainty—it’s confidence that they won’t face these challenges alone.

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The post 10 Ways to Support Your Team During Times of Change and Uncertainty appeared first on Leading For Tomorrow.

In this article, I’ll list my favorite dos and don’ts of team building to help you avoid the common pitfalls and create experiences that actually strengthen your team.

DO: Align Activities with Team Scope

To be effective, team building activities should align with the unique needs of the team, including the scope of day-to-day interactions. If the team often collaborates on creative projects, activities that encourage brainstorming, problem solving, and innovation can help move the team and business forward. Alternatively, if team members work mostly independently and barely know each other, consider activities that enable connection and help build relationships. This alignment helps ensure that these exercises are practical and relevant.

DON’T: Schedule All Activities Outside of Work Hours

Surely, there are plenty of times when team events are beneficial and/or appreciated outside of work hours. But when this becomes the norm for team building opportunities, employees are put in an unfair position in which they must sacrifice another part of their life to participate. This automatically excludes people that have unbreakable commitments (which disproportionately affects some groups more than others). It can also lead to a divide between those that attend vs do not attend.

DO: Incorporate Team Building into the Day-to-Day

Not all team building needs to be a formal activity or big event. Consider ways that you can incorporate team building opportunities into the team’s existing workflow. Here are some ideas:

• Collaborative projects: Assign projects to partners or groups to enable collaboration and teamwork.
• Check-ins: A brief check-in during existing team meetings where members share a goal, challenge, or another relevant topic. This helps everyone stay informed and encourages support and collaboration.
• Peer recognition: Create a system where team members can recognize and appreciate each other’s strengths and contributions.
• Rotating roles: Rotate responsibilities for a short period to help team members understand each other’s perspectives and challenges.
• Virtual meetups: For remote teams, provide virtual meeting rooms where team members can grab morning coffee or meet for lunch.

DON’T: Make It Awkward

Team building should not make team members feel uncomfortable. Many people already feel an inherent awkwardness when meeting new people and developing working relationships, so it’s important that participants feel psychologically (and physically) safe. Avoid activities that are overly intrusive. For example, requiring people to share deep personal details about their lives or excessive physical touching (I’m looking at you, human knot!). When people feel uncomfortable it can lead to stress and disengagement instead of building team spirit.

DO: Select Inclusive Activities

Ensure that your team building activities are considerate of everyone’s abilities and cultural differences. This means selecting activities that don’t exclude team members due to physical limitations, personal beliefs, dietary restrictions, etc. It’s also a good practice to mix up activities so that you can better cater to a range of interests. Ask for feedback on your activity plans to get a variety of perspectives.

DON’T: Force Participation

Not every activity must be mandatory. Offering the option of a virtual meetup in the morning for your remote team can be a simple and organic way to help team members get to know each other, but it becomes just another awkward, time-consuming, mandatory meeting when it’s forced. Forced participation can lead to resentment and reduced morale. Including team feedback in the planning process can help align activities with the team’s interests and engagement level. Provide opportunities, encourage voluntary participation, and use participation rates as a measurable indicator of progress.

DO: Set Clear Goals for Each Activity

Every team building activity should have a clear objective, whether it’s to improve communication, enhance problem-solving skills, or simply help people break the ice. Align goals and team building activities with a larger team development plan. Setting specific goals ensures that each activity has a purpose and can help contribute to measurable outcomes.

DON’T: Ignore Follow-Up

Team building activities lose a lot of value if they aren’t followed up on and incorporated into larger team development efforts. Ignoring follow-up after formal team building activities is the same thing as having your team attend a learning workshop and then never speaking of it again. This results in lost opportunities for growth and improvement, and much of what is learned is forgotten. Ensure that the team has opportunities to reflect, provide feedback, and take future action.

DO: Make It Fun!

If the team hates doing it, what’s the point? You don’t want your team to feel like this is just another task on their (already full) to-do list. When the experience is enjoyable, employees are more likely to be engaged, and when they are engaged, they are more likely to take something valuable away from the experience. When team members have fun together, they build stronger bonds which help foster a positive work environment.

But you can’t force fun. So instead of googling for a list of “fun team building activities”, consider going straight to the source, and asking your team what types of activities they might find enjoyable?

Final Thoughts

Team building doesn’t have to be cringeworthy, and it doesn’t have to waste anyone’s time. The difference between activities that spark real connection and those that spark side-eye is simple: purpose.

When you focus on the dos—clarity, inclusion, and linking activities to real goals, you create space for your team to grow stronger together. When you avoid the don’ts—forced fun, one-size-fits-all exercises, and disconnected events, you save your team from wasted hours and missed opportunities.

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The post The Dos and Don’ts of Team Building Activities appeared first on Leading For Tomorrow.

This article aims to help you understand the stages of team development, appreciate the benefits, and create effective team development strategies.

Team Building vs. Team Development

Terms like “team building” and “team development” are sometimes used interchangeably. However, understanding the distinctions between these concepts and their benefits is crucial for achieving long-term success.

Team Building

Team building is a collection of activities, events, or other structured interactions designed to provide social opportunities and improve interpersonal relations. It often involves fun and engaging exercises or events that encourage collaboration, communication, and trust among team members. But it can also target specific skills like problem solving and strategic thinking. Examples of team-building activities:

• Icebreaker activities
• Challenge-based or problem-solving activities
• Office games or friendly challenges
• Interactive workshops
• Team retreats

While team building fosters positive relationships, its impact on its own is often temporary and may not translate into long-term improvements in team performance. But team building activities that are part of a larger team development strategy can be extremely effective for targeting specific needs and goals.

Team Development

Team development, on the other hand, is a continuous process and plan aimed at improving the overall functionality and productivity of the team. It involves ongoing team building, training, skill enhancement, and structured interventions that address specific needs and objectives. Team development focuses on:

• Improving communication, collaboration, and trust: Helping team members practice conveying ideas clearly, active listening, and resolve conflicts constructively. This results in smoother workflows and fewer misunderstandings.
• Increasing productivity and efficiency: Well-developed teams are more efficient and effective in their work. They can delegate tasks appropriately, leverage each other’s strengths, minimize redundancies, and overcome obstacles, leading to higher productivity.
• Enhancing team skills and competencies: Teams that undergo continuous development are better equipped to tackle complex challenges. They can brainstorm innovative solutions, think critically, and approach problems from multiple perspectives.
• Sustaining engagement and morale: When a team works well together, trusts each other, and enjoy being around one another, it makes for a more pleasant and positive working environment for everyone. This leads to higher job satisfaction, increased motivation, and lower turnover rates.

Team development requires a strategic and consistent approach that integrates into the existing systems and processes of the organization or team.

The Tuckman Model of Team Development

The Tuckman model, developed by psychologist Bruce Tuckman in the 1960s is a well-documented framework for understanding the continuous dynamics of team development. The model outlines five distinct stages of development that teams typically cycle through:

• Forming: In the initial stage, team members get to know each other and establish ground rules. There is a sense of excitement and anticipation, but also uncertainty as roles and responsibilities are not always clear. Teams can revert back to this stage when a significant portion of the team is new or replaced.
• Storming: As the team begins to work together, conflicts and power struggles emerge. This stage is characterized by a clash of personalities and ideas as members assert their opinions and vie for their place within the group. In this phase, natural potential for innovation and problem-identification is at its highest, because team members are more willing to challenge one another.
• Norming: Gradually, the team starts to find its rhythm. Members resolve conflicts and develop stronger relationships. There is a sense of unity and cooperation as the team aligns towards common goals.
• Performing: In the performing stage, the team operates at its highest efficiency. Members collaborate seamlessly to achieve their objectives. The longer a team stays in this phase, the higher the risk for eventual burnout.
• Adjourning: The final stage occurs when the team has accomplished its goals and disbands. Members reflect on their experiences, celebrate their achievements, and prepare for future endeavors. Not all teams experience an adjourning phase.

While no team will fit perfectly into one single phase or box, the framework helps align team building activities, training sessions, and skill enhancement programs with the team’s unique needs and objectives.

How to Get Started with Team Development

1. Assess Team Needs

The first step in team development is to assess the current state of your team. Which phase(s) of the development model matches your team the best? Clarify what your team is responsible for accomplishing in the short term and long term. Collect data, identify key performance indicators (KPIs), strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. Use tools like surveys, feedback sessions, and performance reviews to gather insights from your team.

2. Set Clear Goals and Expectations

Establish clear, measurable goals and clarify roles and responsibilities. Team development goals should align with the organization’s objectives and address the specific needs identified in the assessment phase. Break larger objectives into smaller milestones to keep up momentum and track progress. Include your team in the goal-setting process to ensure that all team members understand the goals and are committed to achieving them.

3. Create a Development Plan

Develop a comprehensive plan that outlines the steps, tasks, resources, and timelines needed to achieve your team development goals. Include applicable training programs, workshops, coaching sessions, and other strategic interventions. Think of this as a roadmap. Research and map out what must happen to get your team to the finish line. Just like with goal setting, including your team in the process will help bring them along.

4. Evaluate Progress

Regularly monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of your team development initiatives using KPI metrics and team feedback to measure progress and identify areas for further improvement. Celebrate achievements, big and small, and address challenges promptly.

Utilize feedback loops to foster a consistent flow of both qualitative and quantitative data. For example, surveying team members before and/or after formal team building sessions can help measure the effectiveness of these activities, and how to continuously improve them going forward.

5. Lead the Way

If you want your team to continue to grow and improve their performance, you must promote a culture where continuous learning and improvement are valued. Encourage team members to seek out opportunities for growth, share knowledge, and support each other’s development. This begins with the leader modeling desired behaviors and celebrating progress.

Additionally, team members must feel psychologically safe to participate in the process, for example, healthy conflict resolution and team building. Team members are more likely participate and give honest and meaningful feedback if they do not fear negative consequences for doing so, whether from their peers or their leader. Thus, it’s important to lead the way by modeling vulnerability, fostering open communication, and demonstrating a commitment to continuous learning. By setting the example, leaders can foster a culture where growth, trust, and collaboration thrive.

Conclusion

Team development is a vital component of organizational success. By understanding and appreciating the benefits, and implementing a structured approach, you can create engaged, high-performing teams that drive long-term success.

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• Improve team engagement, communication, and collaboration
• Identify and develop team and individual strengths
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• Foster an inclusive, high-performing team culture

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But how do we develop great leaders?

With so many wonderful leadership development programs, competency models, and assessment tools available, it can be hard to choose. Having spent a decade utilizing many of these resources as both a facilitator and participant, I believe that a strengths-based approach provides unique versatile benefits for both the participants and company. But it doesn’t need to replace your favorite development strategies. Rather, it can complement them by helping people develop self-awareness and motivation to practice new behaviors and apply authentic leadership skills in the real world.

What is Strengths-Based Development?

Born from positive psychology, strengths-based development focuses on abilities and capacities rather than deficits.

Traditional performance evaluations often grade competencies with a focus on improving lesser areas, or “fixing weaknesses”. While it’s essential to understand and address weaknesses, a strengths-based approach empowers people to develop natural talents as tools to achieve goals and overcome weaknesses.

Picture a manager that is naturally talented at relationship building but struggles with strategic problem solving. When the focus is to fix weaknesses, the manager will spend time and energy trying to improve their problem-solving skills, which may or may not have the desired impact on their day-to-day ability (depends on the manager’s capacity combined with the company’s training & development effectiveness).

Alternatively, a strengths approach encourages the manager to refine their natural relational skills as a tool for solving problems, overcoming the “weakness”. For example, collaborating with strong strategic thinkers to tackle complex problems. It allows the manager to feel more fulfilled along the way by spending more time working in strength areas while simultaneously learning from others and actively solving real problems in the workplace.

Whether you’re seeking development for yourself, your team, or your workforce, here are 5 major benefits of adopting a strengths-based development approach:

1. Authenticity

There is a difference between mimicking behaviors and developing skills. If you’ve ever failed a New Year’s resolution in the first few weeks of the year, you know that it’s quite challenging to change habitual behaviors, even when we really want to! How likely do you think you are to be successful in changing your behaviors long-term if they don’t align with your values, natural talent, motivations, abilities, or personality?

Earlier in my career, I frequently promoted team members into leadership roles—it was one of the most fulfilling parts of my job. One promotion, however, taught me an unforgettable lesson about the importance of authentic leadership.

This individual had natural relational and managerial talents, paired with a warm and friendly demeanor. Their strong rapport with the team made us confident that the transition would be seamless. But just weeks later, I hardly recognized them. Gone was their colorful, upbeat, positive presence. Instead, they were dressed in all black, carrying an uncharacteristically serious demeanor. The atmosphere in the workplace had shifted dramatically, from vibrant and engaged to gloomy and tense.

It didn’t take long to uncover the issue. The manager was mimicking their boss, a highly respected leader with a completely different leadership style—serious, formal, and stoic. Both the manager and their boss believed that replicating these behaviors was the key to great leadership. After all, it worked for the boss! Unfortunately, this clashed with the manager’s natural strengths and personality.

The result? Frustration and stress rippled through the workplace. The manager felt inauthentic and overwhelmed, the manager’s boss struggled to mentor someone so unlike themselves, and the team’s morale suffered under the weight of misaligned leadership.

Leadership isn’t about copying someone else’s style; it’s about understanding and leaning into your own. A strengths approach empowers people to develop leadership competencies through a lens that aligns with who they are. Thus, maximizing potential and likelihood of long-term success.

2. Engagement & Wellbeing

People that have the opportunity to use their strengths at work are six times more likely to be engaged and three times more likely to report having an excellent quality of life (Gallup®). When we’re able to do what we do best, we feel more connected to our work and experience greater fulfillment.

Engagement is also a key factor for learning & development. Adults learn more effectively (and are more motivated to learn) when they’re genuinely interested in the material. Leadership development is no exception. A strengths approach helps create an individualized experience by empowering participants to learn more about themselves. This personalized aspect boosts engagement by making the learning process more relevant and meaningful. Participants gain insights that not only help them excel in their current roles, but also prepare them for future opportunities and challenges, extending beyond the workplace, positively impacting their lives.

3. Performance & Productivity

It’s no secret that engaged employees perform better and stay at the company longer. But engagement alone isn’t enough to overcome a lack of knowledge or ability. Throughout my experience in learning & development programs, I have witnessed participants become inspired by new concepts, eager to take action, and genuinely committed to personal and team growth. Yet, many struggle with one critical question: How do I practically apply this in my role?

A strengths-based approach can elevate development and performance management programs by providing a clear and actionable framework. It introduces a common language for setting goals and creating development plans—not just for self-development, but also for leaders and managers tasked with fostering growth within their teams.

This approach offers a practical pathway for leaders to reflect, learn, and practice new behaviors that enhance their abilities. By focusing on their strengths, leaders can improve their performance, achieve meaningful goals, and grow targeted skill sets.

4. Team Dynamics

Have you ever thought something was common sense, then felt frustrated when others didn’t share the same perspective? This is a natural bias—we assume that others see the world the way we do. In reality, we all learn different, process thoughts different, grow up in different cultures, and have different values.

In the workplace, we may expect others to share our abilities or capacities, particularly when comparing ourselves to peers or leaders. The result? Frustration, miscommunication, and even animosity.

You’ve likely experienced how easily team conflict can hinder productivity and create uncomfortable workplace cultures. This conflict exists at all levels of a business, whether you lead individual contributors, managers, or executives. It’s human nature.

A strengths-based approach flips this narrative. It encourages individuals to recognize and value the unique strengths of others. Rather than viewing differences as obstacles, team members learn to celebrate them as assets. By focusing on individual and team strengths, these activities can foster a greater sense of collaboration and mutual respect.

5. Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a crucial leadership skill that extends far beyond having empathy and managing your own emotions. Emotionally intelligent leaders are self-aware, with a better understanding of who they are, their natural leadership style, values, and how these influence their beliefs, behaviors, and emotional responses. They are also socially aware and recognize how their emotions and actions affect the people around them—through decision-making, communication, perceptions, and expectations. This makes them better equipped to manage conflict, build productive working relationships, drive change, and inspire teams to accomplish shared objectives.

The foundation of EQ is self-awareness. You need to know yourself before you can effectively manage yourself and others. Strengths-based development helps build self-awareness with scientifically backed assessments like CliftonStrengths®, self-reflection, and other resources to help people learn more about themselves, and how to utilize that knowledge to improve their communication, influence change, make better leadership decisions, and so much more!

The Case for Strengths-Based Leadership Development

Leaders don’t become great by spending all of their energy trying squeeze into a perfect leadership mold. They become great by understanding who they are and learning how to utilize their strengths to achieve goals, overcome weaknesses, build trust, and inspire change. By empowering leaders to focus on what they naturally do best, organizations can foster engaged, high-performing, collaborative workplaces that are more effective and provide better experiences for everyone involved. At Leading For Tomorrow, we are passionate about helping leaders in all stages of their journeys discover and lean into their natural leadership talents.

The information contained on this website is not sanctioned or endorsed by Gallup®, Inc. Opinions, views, and interpretations of the CliftonStrengths® or business advice provided, are solely the beliefs of Leading For Tomorrow LLC. Gallup®, CliftonStrengths®, StrengthsFinder®, and the 34 theme names of CliftonStrengths® are trademarks of Gallup®, Inc. All rights reserved. To learn more about CliftonStrengths®, please visit Gallup Access.

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Setting goals isn’t just about throwing together a wish list and hoping for the best— believe me, I’ve tried! It’s about creating a clear, actionable plan that motivates and guides your team. Think of it as crafting a roadmap that provides direction and measurable progress. Without a strategic approach, even the most talented performers can miss the target.

Are you ready to see your team achieve more? Whether you’re responsible for developing performance goals for your team, or helping your team achieve high-level objectives set by your organization, this guide provides insights to help you drive successful business outcomes.

The SMART Way

You might be sick of hearing about SMART goals, but if you’re not using this method, it can feel like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

• Specific: Be clear about what you want to achieve. Without specificity, your team can’t see the target they are shooting for.
• Measurable: If you can’t measure it, how will you know when you’ve achieved it?
• Achievable: Aim high but be realistic. If the team doesn’t believe it’s possible to hit the target, they won’t. Use data to determine realistic outcomes.
• Relevant: Your goals should matter to your team and align with broader company objectives.
• Time-bound: Open-ended goals are just dreams. To achieve your dreams, you need to identify the steps needed to succeed and set deadlines to accomplish them.

Turn Goals into Achievements

Setting a goal is just one step of the process. Assessing and monitoring progress is where the magic happens! Including your team in this process, wherever possible, allows them to feel more ownership and autonomy over their work, improves engagement, provides learning & development opportunities, and generates ownership and motivation to achieve the objectives. Here are some key building blocks for creating your roadmap to success:

1. Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Which metrics are relevant to assess and monitor? Measurable indicators help track progress and identify barriers and opportunities. Let’s assume our objective is to increase total sales revenue by 20% next quarter. We’d monitor total sales revenue (and percent increase) at a bare minimum. But how does our team know which actions to take to achieve this goal by the deadline?

We are more likely to be successful if we identify additional KPIs that contribute to total sales. In this example it could be metrics like lead generation, conversion rates, or average transaction value. Assessing KPIs helps us better understand where we should focus our energy. Let’s assume we learn that our team’s conversion rates are above average (a strength), but transaction value is the lowest in the company by a large margin (an opportunity). These are specific, measurable, and relevant data points that we can use to monitor progress and/or create milestones.

2. Create Milestones

Big goals and long-term performance objectives can be overwhelming. They are more achievable when broken into smaller pieces by creating SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) milestones that provide actionable steps forward and allow progress to be monitored (and encouraged) along the way. Using our example of increasing total sales revenue by 20% next quarter, these are two examples of SMART milestones with time-bound tasks:

• Launch a targeted campaign by the end of July, aimed at increasing the quarter’s lead generation by 15% (based on identified strength)
  • Develop strategy and budget (Due June 15)
  • Create materials (Due July 15)
  • Launch campaign (Due July 31)
  • Assess progress (Due Aug 15 & 30)
• Conduct targeted training aimed at increasing average transaction value by $15 by the end of the quarter (based on identified opportunity)
  • Assess training needs (Due June 15)
  • Develop materials (Due July 15)
  • Conduct training (Due July 31)
  • Assess progress (Due Aug 5 & 15)

3. Use a Communication Plan

Agreeing to a communication plan up front will help hold yourself and your team accountable when things inevitably get busy. It can also help you avoid unintentional micromanaging. Use meetings wisely! Regular check-ins prevent small problems from turning into full-blown catastrophes, but we all know that circumstances can change rapidly. Whether it’s an unexpected barrier, a resource shortage, or anything else that stands in your way, you don’t want to wait until the deadline to find out. Alternatively, you also don’t want to waste valuable time with unnecessary meetings or distractions. As part of the planning process, collaborate with your team to agree upon a communication cadence that best aligns with objectives and team needs.

• What specific information needs be communicated?
• How frequently should updates be shared?
• Who needs to be included in each communication?
• What are the most effective delivery methods? (email, meeting, shared document, etc.)

4. Make Progress Visible

Visualizing progress keeps goals top of mind. Use dashboards, charts, graphs, or even a giant whiteboard in the office. When everyone can see where they stand, it’s harder to put it on the back burner. Plus, it’s satisfying to watch those numbers move in the right direction! Some data may be better shared to the group, and some may be better shared more privately. In this digital age there are endless tools available to help you share progress and create motivating visuals, from virtual project management workspaces like Asana and Trello, to data analytics tools like Microsoft Power BI, to collaborative platforms like Google Workspace.

5. Celebrate Wins

Acknowledge progress and celebrate achievements, big and small. This isn’t just about morale – though that’s very important – it’s also about reinforcing the behaviors you want to see and maintaining momentum. Practice normalizing positive feedback and celebrations by utilizing a mix of formal and informal recognition, appreciation, and acknowledgement of strengths and contributions. Even small things like a compliment, thank you, or a shout out in a meeting goes a long way. Consider including formal options like awards, peer-to-peer recognition programs, performance bonuses, etc. There are lots of creative ways you can celebrate wins with any budget!

6. Adapt

Sometimes our approach and/or goal needs to be changed, but for the right reasons. While it can be tempting to move the target closer when they miss, in my experience, this often has the opposite effect. Yet, there can be a fine line between a challenging goal and an unattainable goal. This is another reason it’s important to use data and include others in the goal-creation process when possible.

In any case, even the best projections aren’t 100% accurate, and circumstances do change. If it becomes clear that the goal is no longer achievable by the deadline, adapting the action plan may be necessary, whether that means shifting resources, adding steps, changing a deadline, referring to a ‘plan B’, or changing the target itself. Indeed, sometimes we’re given goals that we can’t change. But we can always adjust the approach we take to get there.

7. Learn from Failures

Not every goal will be met, but the good news is that failure can be a better teacher than success! Whether you hit the goal or not, use the outcome as a learning opportunity to refine strategies, processes, and communication tactics for the future. Growth requires opportunities to reflect on the experience to better understand what went well, and what didn’t go well. You won’t see your team grow if they don’t have the opportunity to learn from mistakes.

The Bottom Line

Effective goal setting and monitoring isn’t about ticking boxes on a checklist. It’s about creating a roadmap for success and keeping everyone on track with clear expectations, measurable progress, and consistent communication.

Understanding current performance is key. It’s hard to get where you want to go if you don’t know where you are. By analyzing KPI trends and stakeholder feedback, you can pinpoint performance gaps and the most relevant milestones. Furthermore, collaborate with your team to brainstorm how to best influence the targeted areas of performance. The people that perform the job everyday spend more time experiencing the processes firsthand, so they have a unique view of risks, challenges, strengths, and opportunities to improve. Inviting your team to be part of the goal and/or milestone creation process will help generate engagement and accountability to hit the agreed upon targets.

By setting clear goals, communicating effectively, and celebrating progress along the way, you’ll not only drive performance, but also help foster a team culture of trust, ownership, and continuous growth.

The post Team Performance: A Manager’s Guide for Turning Goals into Achievements appeared first on Leading For Tomorrow.

When feedback is done well, it can elevate engagement, build trust and excitement for the future, and inspire people to accomplish great things. When done poorly or not at all, it can negatively affect team and individual performance, damage trust and morale, and hinder development.

Have you ever avoided giving constructive feedback?

Whether we don’t want to upset someone, or don’t feel confident in our ability to communicate it well, or perhaps we simply haven’t made it a priority, it happens a lot.

Fear not!

The great news is that the solution to feeling more comfortable giving constructive feedback is to give more positive feedback! If that sounds counterproductive, keep reading. This article will provide some tips and best practices on how to confidently give and receive feedback that balances encouragement, accountability, and development.

The importance of feedback

It’s no secret that feedback helps drive employee engagement. Gallup’s engagement survey results showed that 80% of employees that received meaningful feedback in the last week were also fully engaged (Harter, 2024). In fact, according to the SHRM, continuous feedback programs have been trending in the workplace as a replacement for failing performance management systems (O’Connell, 2020).

Research on these continuous feedback methods suggests that while both quantitative and qualitative feedback contribute to performance improvements, qualitative feedback (from a person) was more effective in enhancing motivation and engagement (Giamos, et al., 2023). Basically, your team needs more than automated KPIs and data analytics. They need some human motivation!

Tailor it to your audience

The quickest way to meet your team’s expectations is to ask them what their expectations are. Asking the simple question of “how do you like to receive feedback?” is a great icebreaker and foundation for engaging in these types of conversations.

Consider these other variables that can impact how your feedback is perceived:

• Context and place. Is the feedback more appropriate for the team or 1:1? If it’s negative and doesn’t apply to most of the room, it probably shouldn’t be delivered to the room. Giving negative feedback in front of others can cause stress, embarrassment, and damage trust, which are all counterproductive for performance and engagement. If it’s positive feedback, consider that some people love being recognized in front of their peers, yet it makes others feel uncomfortable. Ask them.
• Delivery method. In person? Phone? Zoom? Email? Text? The perceived meaning of our communication can change drastically based on tone, body language, and how we phrase things. And yes, emails have a tone. Thus, the words you say can be different than what your body language and/or tone is saying.
• Frequency. Don’t confuse feedback with micromanagement. Feedback isn’t helpful if it isn’t meaningful. If you’re giving “feedback” several times a day you may be unknowingly creating a sense of being watched over the shoulder.

Tip: While acknowledging one person in front a group, remember that your audience is bigger than the one person receiving the feedback.

Highlight the good stuff

It’s easier to give constructive feedback when you consistently give positive feedback. In fact, most of the feedback you give should be positive and focused on strength areas. Positive reinforcement is real. When you point out what someone is doing well, it motivates them to keep doing it.

A common mistake is to assume that people know exactly what they do well and how their actions impact the big picture. When someone exhibits behaviors or actions that move the team or objective forward, tell them! Celebrate small wins, ask people to share best practices, and thank people for their contributions. Be specific. Here are a few examples:

• A simple thank you goes a long way. “Thank you so much for your hard work in organizing this event! Your leadership and project management skills were integral in making this event a success for everyone. Looking forward to hearing your best practices and feedback for future events”.
• Appreciation of strengths. “Great job with the presentation today. You have a natural talent for storytelling! Your use of metaphors kept me engaged and able to visualize the subject matter. I’m looking forward to your future presentations!”. Notice how this example not only shows appreciation for a talent, but also provides a specific example of how this talent provided value.
• Ask them to share best practices. When people are really good at doing something, it can be so natural that they sometimes don’t consciously plan it out. Asking them to share best practices is a great way to recognize them while also providing an opportunity for them to reflect on the experience to articulate which skills or behaviors attributed to their success (and consider what they might do differently in the future).

Tip: Employees expect to be shown appreciation for the contributions they know they are making. Boost morale and engagement by also pointing out achievements or contributions that aren’t as obvious.

Make it timely

Do not wait for performance reviews and formal evaluations. These should supplement ongoing feedback. The better you get at giving feedback, the less surprised people will be to see their performance review results. Imagine thinking you’ve been doing great for 6-12 months, but you receive a mediocre review that doesn’t align with any of your day-to-day conversations you’ve been having with your boss for the past year.

When evaluations don’t match the employee’s perception of their own performance, it can cause the employee to question whether their manager recognizes, appreciates, and understands their abilities and contributions.

Timeliness is also important to ensure both parties remember the events accurately. Talking about it while it’s still fresh allows people to reflect on the situation to gain a better understanding. Of course, it’s not always appropriate to share in real time, for example, in front of peers or customers. If it’s not an emergency, take note to discuss it when appropriate.

Tip: Incorporate regular 1:1 interactions with team members to ask questions like “what is going well?”, “what is not going well?”, and “what can I do to support you in your role?”. These types of questions can help bring out challenges and pain points organically, creating a more comfortable conversation that helps both parties understand how to create positive change moving forward.

Focus on behavior, not personality

One of the reasons we get uncomfortable with constructive feedback is because all too often it is delivered and/or perceived as an attack on our character. Of course, it’s uncomfortable to tell someone that they need to be more of a “team player”, for example. This is a vague topic that can be perceived as a personality flaw and can easily be taken offensively.

Focus on specific behaviors and actions. For example:

• Personality focused: “You’re domineering during meetings. It’s frustrating for the rest of the team when you’re frequently interrupting.”
• Behavior focused: “During our meeting yesterday, you interrupted your colleagues multiple times while they were speaking. This behavior can be disruptive to the flow of the discussion and make others feel unheard.”

Tip: Approach feedback conversations as a learning and development opportunity, rather than a disciplinary conversation.

Make it future-oriented

What’s done is done. No one wants or needs their boss to point out every mistake in the name of giving feedback. Focus on the future and inspire them to confidently move forward. Let’s go back to our behavior-focused example:

• Behavior focused: “During our team meeting yesterday, you interrupted your colleagues multiple times while they were speaking. This type of behavior can be disruptive to the flow of the discussion and make others feel unheard…”
• Future-oriented: “…While I very much appreciate your enthusiasm and participation, I want to ensure that meetings are welcoming for everyone. Do you have any other ideas or feedback about how we can improve our productivity and communication in future meetings?”

People are more likely to be successful in changing their behavior if they feel optimistic about the next steps, rather than worried and/or defeated. Feedback should feel like a stepping stone, not a road block.

Tip: Practice treating feedback as a dialogue, not a monologue.

Normalize it

Wouldn’t it be great if your team had a habit of asking you and their peers for feedback? This is possible! It’s not an overnight process, and requires some strategic change, but normalizing the process of giving and receiving feedback can help make these conversations less uncomfortable for everyone.

To encourage this within your team or workplace culture, a few things need to be true:

• People must feel psychologically safe to share opinions, ideas, feedback, etc. This includes the ability to admit mistakes. To be clear, some mistakes do require disciplinary action. Those aren’t the types of mistakes I’m talking about. I’m talking about fostering an environment where people can comfortably share or ask for feedback without fear of judgement or negative consequences. A team philosophy in which continuous improvement is a normal part of the learning & development process.
• People need opportunities to do it. People need to be empowered and equipped to take action. Two-way communication processes like scheduled check-ins, brainstorming sessions, 360 reviews, surveys, and development opportunities can help foster open communication. Consistent informal conversations from the leader encourages participation and complements the learning process.
• People need to see it modeled by their leader. It begins with you. Modeling the behaviors you wish to see is crucial. People tend to mimic the actions of their leaders more than the words they say. Ask your team for feedback, share what you’ve learned, and celebrate growth.

Tip: While asking others for feedback or ideas, consider that not everyone will be able to answer on the spot. Providing multiple ways to respond, and some time to think about their answers will help encourage people to participate and provide more meaningful feedback.

Where to start

I hope you’ve gained some valuable insights about how to feel more confident giving and receiving feedback. I challenge you to pick one action that you’ll start doing now. It begins with you!

Normalizing feedback within the workplace often requires behavior and belief changes. Respect the process and remember that everyone is different. Additionally, keep in mind that forced feedback sessions without feeling safe can lead to stressful environments and inaccurate feedback. Before you involve your team, consider taking the time to assess and build a communication and change strategy. I can help you! Submit a Service Inquiry.

The better you get at making employees feel appreciated for their contributions, normalizing feedback, and supporting two-way communication, the easier it will be to give constructive feedback (and the less you’ll have to do it!).

Good luck!

References

Giamos, D., Doucet, O., & Léger, P. M. (2023). Continuous Performance Feedback: Investigating the Effects of Feedback Content and Feedback Sources on Performance, Motivation to Improve Performance and Task Engagement. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01608061.2023.2238029

Harter, J. (2023). Gallup. A Great Manager’s Most Important Habit (gallup.com)

O’Connell, B. (2020). SHRM. Transforming Performance Management into Continuous Feedback (shrm.org)

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