The Cost of Complacency

So, you have a great team. In fact, they’ve been with you a long time and are almost like family.

The trouble is…they’re almost like family and things have gotten a little too laid back lately. You’ve tried a few things over the years to light a fire, but now, you’re like the parent that didn’t follow through and now your words don’t mean much.

Here’s why it’s a problem:

1) It’s costing you thousands of dollars a year in lack of productivity or lost sales, AND

2) You’re probably working too hard for too many hours to make up for it.

If you want everyone to get off the comfort train and re-engage you need to capture the hearts and minds of your employees with these six fundamental principles.

Six Keys to an Engaged Team

Foster Strong Leadership – This isn’t about a specific leadership style, but rather about the personality traits that typically make up a great leader like confidence, commitment, integrity, creativity, and optimism. And, of course, if you don’t have passion for what you’re doing how will you ever inspire your team? You aren’t born with leadership skills, they’re learned. Work on yours and don’t be afraid to nurture leaders at all levels of your organization. It will pay great dividends.

Determine Your Vision – Your team needs to know and understand the overarching goals of the business beyond “making widgets.” How can you expect them to achieve remarkable results if they don’t know what motivational end they’re aiming for? Your Vision, or Common Goal, should inspire team members to leave complacency behind and reach for more.

Design Your Rules of the Game – What behavior is reasonable to expect in your organization? Is gossip okay? Being late for work? Every sports team has rules in which they play by. It establishes boundaries and expectations. Work teams, if expected to rely on each other, need those too. Of course, everyone, including you, needs to know and follow them or they won’t work.

Create & Use Action Plans – “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Every member of your team should know exactly where they fit and have a plan to help the company reach its goals. In some jobs that will mean following best practices, looking for ways to improve. In others it will require the implementation of strategies to grow revenue and profitability. Everyone should be held accountable for a plan to move themselves and the company forward.

Support Risk Taking–Are you willing to take risks and allow team members to make mistakes? If not it’s likely your team will lag behind, constantly looking to you for guidance, reassurance, and direction. Calculated risk taking will continue to be a crucial business skill as the world continues to move at a faster and faster pace. Do you encourage your team to experiment with new ways of doing things or reward them for innovation?

Ensure 100% Involvement/Inclusion – This key encourages every member of your team to be included. In business today, no position is so small that it won’t have some impact on your organization either good or bad. Be aware of who is & isn’t participating, and do your best to include everyone by asking their opinions and listening to what they have to say.

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