Preparing Your Team to Succeed

How do you set your team up to succeed in a project or change initiative?  When I look at why projects have failed, or change initiatives have not succeeded in delivering the benefits that were planned, I can usually track the issue all the way back to the beginning of the project.

When we want to get a mechanical pump to start working, drawing water from a source and delivering to the destination, we often have to ‘Prime the Pump’ by introducing some water into the pump in order to get it going.  In essence, we are leading the way and ‘showing’ the pump what it needs to do.

The same principal holds true for our people.  When a leader introduces a project or change initiative, we have to make sure we are:

1. Aligning our communication with the way that human beings’ brains process incoming information. We need to:
   1. Make sure that the Purpose or the ‘Why’ is well defined and… most importantly, the why is communicated in terms of ‘What’s In It For Me’ (WIIFM) and the ‘Me’ is your people. People will go on a journey almost anywhere when they are able to see the benefit to them.  Remember, the days of motivation by fear are over (thankfully).  People won’t give a crap about your ‘Why’ until they can understand what’s in it for them.
   2. There is a Mountain Top (Vision) that you have laid out for them. When people understand the ‘Why’, they immediately want to know the ‘What’.  People need to know the measurable steps to the mountain top so they can measure progress.
   3. There is a step-by-step ‘How’. In this step, the team will want to dig in and build the ‘How’ if the Purpose and Mountain Top have been well defined.
   4. Everyone knows what their personal role in the project is. If I’m to sweep the floor, I need to know how sweeping the floor contributes to the project’s success and what does my personal success measure look like.
2. Clarity around progress towards the plan. Create a scoreboard so that people can clearly see progress
3. Roll up your sleeves. Part of Priming the Pump is sometimes showing people the way.  The more complicated a project is where there is a lack of resident expertise and if it has not been done before in your organization, then you, the leader, needs to get your hands dirty and show the team that you are invested in the project’s success.  You don’t have to lead from the front – you just may need to be involved.  Your role may even vary from making sure that there is always donuts in the lunchroom or even picking trash.
4. Regular Governance. Every success project needs to be kept on track with regular reviews of the plan.
5. Celebrate. Short-terms milestones and project wrap up all need to be celebrated.  People have three basic drivers.  They want to feel important, appreciated and valued.  By celebrating along the way and at the end, you, the leader, have an opportunity to reinforce how important, appreciated and valued your people are!

Robert Murray is a Vancouver, BC based Business Strategy Consultant, #1 Best Selling Author, International Keynote Speaker, and TEC Top Speaker of the Year for 2018. For further advice, insight and inspiration on how to unlock your inner leader, connect with Robert on LinkedIn.

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