Focusing on results

The whole purpose of a team or organisation is to do something, achieve a result or deliver a service. The result is the outcome of working together cohesively. The better you work together, the better the result. So, the ultimate goal of encouraging trust, healthy conflict, commitment, and accountability is to achieve results. And yet, as it turns out, one of the greatest challenges to team success is the inattention to results.  

I wish I could tell you that working in a methodical process through all of the behaviours would lead you directly to results. The truth is that all behaviours have equal effort and focus, and must be worked on continually. The result should be present from day 1. It should be referenced continually and reminded to everyone that this is why you are "doing" teamwork.

As the leader, what you focus on, everyone else focuses on. Humans all fall into "out of sight, out of mind" mentality. If you, as the leader, are brilliant at new ideas and get excited by new opportunities, it is easy to refocus on the new, and forget to focus on delivery of the older objectives. I can't tell you how many times members of the team give up on projects because no-one asks about them anymore. They feel de-prioritised and new work just keeps coming in. Leaders must continually focus on what has been agreed and revisit outstanding actions until completion. The scorecards, Gannt charts and progress reports will keep you focused. 

If you have too many new initiatives, priorities or measures in place, it is difficult to focus. Should you focus on turnover, client satisfaction, market share, innovation or profit? The truth is all are important, but if you focus on everything, you are watering down your attention to results. Pick 2 or 3 key measures or themes for the year, quarter or month and focus on them.

A results focused team collectively commit to their own measures of success and remove ambiguity and subjectivity. Once you have agreed what your priorities are (business objectives), you must communicate them with all interested parties (employees, stakeholders, partners). You are putting a stake in the ground and asking others to hold you accountable. Every time you come up with a new idea or initiative, as a team ask yourselves, "How will this help us achieve our goals?" If it doesn't, then why do it? Really challenge each others thinking. 

In the context of a cohesive team, results:

• refer to the collective goals of the team 
• are not limited to financial measures, but are more broadly related to expectations and outcome-based performance.  

But what would a team be focused on other than results?  

Team status and individual status are the prime candidates.

A focus on team status occurs when merely being part of a group is satisfying enough, regardless of results.

Individual status refers to the familiar tendency of people to focus on enhancing their own positions or career prospects at the expense of their team.