One of the biggest challenges for leaders today is to increase productivity in their team. Low productivity costs businesses money. It is closely related to low levels of employee engagement and motivation.
Leaders need to really get to know the individuals they are working with; with a focus on getting to know their key strengths, talents and skills and what they really want to develop themselves in. With a vested interest in the people in your team and what they want to achieve and learn, you contribute to keeping them engaged and motivated.
A fundamental aspect of effective leadership involves cultivating an atmosphere that fosters collaborative efforts, that harnesses the individual strength of the team for the greater good. After all, it is through productive collaboration that new ideas and strategies are conceived. Good team work is the foundation of a bonded and engaged workforce.
There is a simple and highly effective leadership technique that you may have heard of, it’s refreshingly simple and easy to remember and one worthy of delving into the memory bank to rehash and remind yourself of. It the See-Be-Do-Get technique. Let’s delve into its components.
See
The see involves creating and communicating a crystal-clear vison of your desired outcome for a project. Thought the process, using this approach to leading a team, you will constantly come back to the “see” to remind your team of the bigger picture, of the desired outcome and to track your journey on how you are progressing to get there. Connecting people to the bigger picture is vitally important as we tend to get lost in the detail otherwise.
Reminding our team that we are working towards something important and bigger than each individual part helps cultivate collaboration and engagement. Keeping the outcome refreshed and top of mind, keeps everyone focussed on the big picture and stops people going down rabbit holes that veer them away from the outcome. Focussing on the outcome keeps people on the right path and can creates an environment where productivity thrives without investing too much time in the insignificant detail along the way.
Be
Be the kind of leader to inspire others. A bad leader will have the order around the wrong way; “when I GET more time and collaboration from my team, then we will DO all the things we need to do in order to BE successful”; or “the more we DO, the more we will GET success”. A good leader focusses on what sort of leader they need to BE in order to GET the results they want. This kind of facilitiative leadership approach seeks to uncover how to get the best out of their team, in order to quicken the speed of productivity. They push the apple cart along to gain momentum. And they do so by extracting the right creativity and ideas and skills out of their team.
Exemplify the type of leader who inspires others. A misguided leader may invert the sequence, thinking along the lines of, ‘Once I GET more time and cooperation from my team, we will then DO all necessary tasks to BE triumphant,’ or ‘The more we DO, the more success we will GET.’ As a leader, your focal point should perpetually be on the qualities you A good leader propels individuals in their team to really shine – to be engaged, motivated, and working cohesively to reach their maximum potential.
Do
“The distinction between your present self and your aspired self lies in your actions” – anonymous. Luckily, many leaders today know that an authoritative leadership style is outdated and simply ineffective in building engagement. It sets up a power dynamic, disengaging individuals and consequently reducing productivity.
Good leadership involve empowering people by asking the question, “What can we do?” or “What are our alternatives?” with fosters active involvement and collaboration.
By encouraging a culture of curiosity and open-mindedness, you foster self-reflection and growth as well as team work. The old adage “no idea is a bad idea” is a great base to encourage participation and collaboration without people thinking their contribution needs to be perfect the first time. Involvement begets more involvement. Create a safe space for collaboration and team work to get the best out of everyone and create a truly bonded team.
Get
This brings us to the ‘get’ or ‘have’ phase, where you reach your desired outcomes.
Follow this technique to better reach your goals and cultivate productivity and collaboration within your team.
Try to catch yourself going about it the wrong way; falling into the GET-DO-BE and actively work on creating a shift of focus to embrace the SEE-BE-DO-GET approach in your next project.
Could your leadership team benefit from one of my tailored workshops in 2023? Please get in touch today . I’d love to help!