As we head into the New Year, many people develop a long list of resolutions to put into place.
Resolutions are always about change; they are about putting things into your life that don’t already exist, and changing habits in such a way that they make your life better, such as losing weight, or making your life more productive, such as organizing your home and clearing out the “junk”. But resolutions don’t have to be on a personal level alone; why not take this time to build new productivity habits in your project team as well?
Studies show that almost half of our daily routines are spent performing habitual actions. If your team has been together for a while, they probably do many things out of routine more than because it’s the most efficient way possible. As a project leader, its your job to step back once in a while, and analyze your overall performance. Are you working the best way possible to allow innovation, and keep things moving at an optimal pace? Or are you getting bogged down in the “as-is” mentality when it comes to doing things just to get them done?
Make this New Year a time when you reevaluate your team’s productivity habits, and change things up a bit to set you on a new course for the coming months. Change is not something human nature enjoys; we all fight it along the way. In fact, research shows it can take up to 60 days on average to make a new habit stick. Here’s how to introduce new habits to your team, and how to make the transition smooth.
Lead By Example
Successful team leaders don’t issue orders and step aside; they lead by example. Have a clear vision of where you want to go and what you wish to achieve by implementing these new productivity habits. Set the tone for the project. Set expectations, and give your team updates to show how well you are working towards the goal as well. And when you have setbacks, don’t hide them from the team. Admit falling back to old, comfortable ways, and show your team how you personally overcame the setback.
Bring In The Support Team
Recognize the fact that in some cases, you may need additional support to make a change stick. You may need new software programs or apps to make your office more productive; that may mean training sessions to understand how the system works. Recognize what you and your team needs in order to make the most of your new direction.
Establish Structure and Strategy
Have you clearly defined what the change means to your team, your project, and your company? What are the implications if you don’t change? How will you hold people accountable? Change is difficult at all levels, but its even more difficult if you can’t understand the purpose of the change. In some cases, it may be easier to bring on a few team members who are natural leaders with a “get it done” attitude, and help them understand the strategy first. When you have more than one person on board, it can provide support for the people that are having a more difficult time. Support is everything when implementing change.
Act With Urgency
Remember, to bring a new habit into existence will take on average 60 days to make it stick. What are you doing each day to make sure you are on board with doing things the new way, and your team is following in your path? While you don’t want to hover and develop an “in your face” attitude, communicate and look for opportunities to share both your successes and setbacks with the process. Engage with the team and set timetables for meeting deadlines and overcoming hurdles. Possibly set up reward systems for when successes are met faster than expected. If you take the attitude that this is the direction, this is the future, with no turning back, your team will follow along.
Cultivate A Sense Of Ownership
It isn’t just you or your company that will win when change is brought on. It should also give your team members more flexibility and more freedom to grow as employees. People like learning new skills; it adds to their skill set and makes them more valuable as an employee. It can give them more opportunity to stretch and approach things in new ways. Throughout the change, listen to each team member’s opinions, questions and concerns. Don’t just map out how this is good for the company or the project, offer advice on how this will help a person expand their career goals. And when people see ways to improve or move forward in ways you may not have thought about, use that to help grow overall. At times of change, even the smallest of breakthroughs can have a big impact; use them to cultivate togetherness throughout the team.
Projects, teams and people succeed when change brings everyone together and on board in a manner they are comfortable with. Bringing on new productivity habits doesn’t have to be difficult; it just has to have purpose. Give that gift to your team this New Year, and watch how much you can accomplish in the coming year.