Build Team Productivity with the One Word Challenge
As a leader, start off this year with a team activity that can build team productivity for the entire year! Forget about the useless task of encouraging the team to write resolutions. It’s a waste of precious time, and does not inspire anyone for any substantive amount of time.
Here’s a much more powerful approach! Gather the team together and focus everyone’s attention on the year ahead. The goal is, as a team, identify ONE WORD that becomes the focus of intention for the year.
What is the ONE WORD that can inspire the team, that will keep everyone focused, that will move them to action when they are faced with challenges?
Part of the power of this activity is the process of selecting a word. The discussion involved in sharing ideas about the biggest challenges the team is facing helps the team focus and create a shared vision of the coming year. Once several ideas have been shared, then the team can decide on the ONE WORD that captures the essence of what the team needs to use as their inspiration for the year.
Once the word is selected, create some reminders of the word for team members to use as triggers. You can design a poster featuring the word; business cards with the word embossed on them; mugs with the word; etc. Anything that keeps the team focused.
Here’s an example of how the ONE WORD can help a team be productive:
One of our client teams chose the word “CREATIVITY” because the company was rebranding itself, and each team was challenged to look at every project through the eyes of the new brand. This meant they would be redesigning the look of current products, and rethinking the way to approach new projects for the year. So CREATIVITY seemed like the perfect word for them.
Not long into the new year, the team reached an impasse with a project design. Everyone felt flat-lined, and no excitement was happening. The project was lagging way behind schedule, and the team was beginning to experience the negative impacts, such as infighting, blaming other departments, and low morale.
Then one team member took a sip of coffee from his mug, which had an artsy design of the word CREATIVITY on it. He jumped up, held the mug in front of the team and said, “Hey, guys! Our word for the year is CREATIVITY! Remember? How can we get our creativity flowing again?”
This led the team into a discussion of creative activities which sparked their fresh ideas, and BINGO! The project took off, team morale zoomed, and productivity sky-rocketed.
WOW! Imagine what can happen on your team, when you, as an Extraordinary Leader, challenge the team to take the initiative to identify the ONE WORD that will be their rallying cry for the year! And by the way, this activity also works for a specific project, or a new team start-up as well.
What’s YOUR word, as a leader?
