It takes a team to save a world

As a manager you have great impact on your team's effectiveness.

But how is it done?

Here are our 8 must haves and how to's to create a winning team:

1. Create enthusiasm about the mission of the company or team
How to: Remind yourself and your team the meaning and impact of your company. Ask your employees what is the most important thing to them.

2. Clearly communicate what is expected from team members.
How to: influence by implementing frequent check-ins – "What are you working on?" "How can I support?"

3. Find shared values that all team members connect to.
Whether its discipline or respect, accuracy or innovation. No matter what value it is, it needs to be a value all team members believe in.
How to: even when the team is diverse insist on defining mutual values while maintain uniqueness.

4. Focus on team members strengths when assigning responsibilities at work.
67% of employees who say their managers focus on their strengths are highly engaged, while only 31% of employees who say their managers focus on their weaknesses are engaged.
This can be a differentiator of your team so that it will stand out.
How to: Engagement is made of 3 things- Attention, Attention, Attention!

5. Make sure teammates "have each other's back".
 A unified team is a string force in the organization.
How to: Watch this for inspiration:

6. Make sure you recognize excellent work
How to: "catch them" doing something right and verbalize it with them.

7. Create confidence in the company's future
How to: ask yourself these questions –
What do you do as a manager to create certainty in an uncertain reality?

• Have you recently shared a detailed vision for the next 6 months?
• Do your people know what makes your company special?
• Do your people see why your clients need your company every day?

8.  Make sure you constantly challenge your people to grow.
How to: frequently ask your employees where they want to be in a year.
Make sure at least 20% of your team's assignments and goals are "a stretch" to them.

As a start you can use the below 8 questions with your team to sense and understand what to focus on (asking them to rate each sentence on a scale of 1 to 5) :

Some inspiration: "people are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying "soften the orange a bit on the right-hand corner", I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds." (Carl Rogers)

Best of luck for the new year!