It often takes a lot of hard work to get your staff and team members to be passionate and driven in their jobs. There are great advantages and satisfaction when your team are motivated and inspired by what they do as this contribute to the overall culture of your organisation. One way to fuel their zeal and keep them happy at work is to celebrate small wins with them, as some of these entrepreneurs have come to recognise its importance.
Recognising individual works and team efforts
“In our current COVID situation, celebrating small successes in business is high on the agenda of our business leaders. Business is tough at present, and what we determined as success previously has probably changed somewhat now. The little wins that we glossed over before have now taken on greater importance and acknowledgement amongst our teams to boost morale and build up momentum again to achieve the bigger targets,” shared Gary Lorden, Director at Monitor Consulting.
With a team of around 50 internal staff members, Gary noted that “we have people that are coping better than others to our change in workplace and ability to fulfil roles and duties, particularly in Sales positions. Communicating the ‘wins’ and acknowledging the work of individuals amongst the team has been a big focus.”
They have three team Zoom meetings a week for each state and division where they have a presence. At the start of the day, everyone has a couple of minutes to talk about their commitments for the coming days and their achievements since the last catch-up. “By completing key business activities that the individual highlights, we have found this to be a good way to celebrate the small wins, and build business momentum,” he stated.
On Friday afternoons, there is a final catch-up for the week on Zoom for each State, where everyone brings their drink of choice and a roundup on individual successes are acknowledged. “Everyone takes a turn to highlight their wins no matter how big or small. The final Friday of the month is a ‘monthly wrap’ where everyone gets a turn on the virtual spin-the-wheel competition for prizes. Staff will get awarded with points throughout the month for key activities completed. And with more points, the more spins they get.”
They also have Quarterly Awards, nominated by the staff themselves, which align with their company values. “We believe peer acknowledgement is probably our most powerful form of positive feedback amongst our team,” he added.
However, Gary admits, “we have had our ups and down with team culture and it never stays constant, particularly in these times. How we acknowledge the small wins will no doubt need to be refined even further as we get into stage 4 lockdowns in the coming weeks.”
Learning from good results as well as not-so-good jobs
BNR Partners Director – Franchise & Business Services Jason Bertalli conceded that up until about a year ago, they had not celebrated much of their wins. “During that time, I neglected the team in this regard. We would get caught up in the doing, and once completing a job or project, we simply barged headlong into the next. After a discussion at a forum one day, I decided to change it up a gear.”
With offices in several cities in Australia and several teams handling many clients and specialising in estate taxation, business accounting and financial services, there is a need to keep everyone on the same pace and direction, which is no easy feat.
To achieve this, Jason shared the changes they have to institute in their internal environment. “We implemented a daily stand-up to both keep up to date on what jobs were happening and also recognise what we had done well recently.”
It kept everyone on the loop of what’s going on throughout the organisation as well as made them feel good with their achievements. Moreover, the interaction made them learn from one another, both the best practices and the missteps that happened. “This leads to a monthly team lunch where we similarly acknowledge the good results and the potential lessons from not-so-good jobs. The change in camaraderie and bonding of the team since this implementation has been hugely positive. Buy them lunch, it's worth it!” Jason avowed.
Leading your team through difficulties
There is no doubt that the current pandemic has affected many business and lives, putting a huge dent on the economy worldwide. “For us, to keep fighting our way through, we have to be very agile, we need to always be listening to the market. We've got to be thinking long-term whilst also watching what's happening in the short-term, always keeping our eyes at the horizon whilst still keeping a very, very close range of what's happening in the here and now. I think that's also important for our teams as well because, as a leader, it's our responsibility to lead our people and our teams through that,” HungryHungry Co-founder Mark Calabro remarked.
The pandemic has brought many realisations to Mark. “Firstly, I used to think I was busy. It now has a whole new definition, especially in a startup which has doubled the team size in three months and just secured funding. I have learnt more about what being a leader means and also new skills to manage people in a time where things are not stable. Team members over-worked and overwhelmed whilst isolated at home has been a real struggle to navigate through.”
But what the current challenges have taught him is one thing – resilience. “I think you keep reaching that ‘next level’ in your life or journey, and I have certainly hit more of these in the last few months than I have in many years leading up to the present. I am fortunate to have a business which is in real need right now. We have gone from losing 6-figures a month to break even, before going on a hiring spree for growth,” he said.
Surviving the crisis is already a win for him. But more than that, what keeps him and his team motivated is the sense of purpose in what they do. “We've had to pivot on some instances through COVID, and we're in another lockdown here in Melbourne. But what's next for us is that we see a broader opportunity in the marketplace to create something for business owners as well as consumers by leveraging the data and technology that we have. So, how do we pair up consumers and fit them into places that they’re going to love and vice versa for business owners to be able to engage and communicate and attract more people to come to their stores? It’s around search and discovery and about personalisation and relevancy of food. We firmly believe that every meal should be an amazing meal. We have the vision to create a world where people live to eat. We just think that every meal should be a memorable meal for a good reason.”
Reaching out to communicate and serve your people better
Tristan White, Founder and CEO of The Physio Co, believes that the best way to celebrate small successes is to celebrate them when “in” the moment. He cites one example that happened recently.
“We're all working from home at the moment like many people are, so it’s very difficult to see people and to celebrate things because we're in different places. Because of that, I've got a regular rhythm of calling one or two of our clients every Monday and asking them what's working, what's not working and how we can keep serving them better and improving our services. This morning, I did that and spoke to a client,” he narrated.
The client was very happy with the physiotherapy that a member of Tristan’s team, his name is Daniel, is doing. “She scored the service that we're providing to her mum with a 9 or 10 out of 10, which I was excited about,” Tristan disclosed.
Right after that call, Tristan shared the good news to Daniel to celebrate it with him and celebrate it as quickly as he possibly could. In return, Daniel replied, “Tristan, thanks so much for taking the time to call me. I feel much more connected to the team and also to the work we're doing. I feel supported by having these regular calls and regular check-ins.”
Tristan found great value in that scenario. “I think it’s important, especially when things are changing. For example, in Melbourne, we've gone from stage two to stage three of lockdown, and then now we're in stage four. It's very easy for us leaders to be very reactive around what do we, which usually have to do from a legal and a health perspective. If we're not careful, we won’t be able to prioritise the checking in on a personal and human level with our team members. We can become very reactive and only call people when there's a problem as opposed to calling them to support them and to find out how we can help serve them better,” he pointed out.
“We work hard for the leaders of our teams to make sure that we're checking in with our team members not only about what's working or going on professionally but also how they're coping, how they're surviving, and how they're dealing with a challenging time personally. We encourage our leaders to be vulnerable and to share how they are feeling, as well as to ask, support and get involved respectfully with our team members. Also, if we notice something that's not quite right and we know there's a challenge in that person's life, we do our best to support them by allowing them to have a bit more personal time or sending something or a little gift to recognise their tough time and help them make their job easier,” Tristan recounted.
Establish your support system
Supporting your team members is crucial at this stage when everyone is affected by the global crisis. Take note of every positive thing and celebrate the wins in your organisation, big or small. Acknowledge the significance of each person in your team and show you care for them.
If you have a similar experience or if you have other insights on this topic, please feel free to leave us a comment below.