What do you do if your Strategic Communications team needs a performance boost?

“Harmonize to Energize” Just as an orchestra tunes its instruments before a performance, assessing the team’s needs sets the stage for success. Dive into the nuances of team dynamics, uncovering areas where fine-tuning is required to ensure each member’s skills are utilized to their fullest potential.

If my Strategic Communications team requires a performance boost, I undertake a comprehensive assessment to identify areas of improvement. This involves evaluating team dynamics, skill gaps, and workflow inefficiencies. Subsequently, I implement targeted training programs, foster a culture of continuous learning, and provide mentorship to enhance individual and collective capabilities. Additionally, I optimize communication channels, streamline processes, and set clear performance metrics to align team efforts with organizational objectives, fostering a culture of accountability and innovation.

Once the key areas of improvement have been identified, sit with the team and create achievable goals together. You cannot expect change over night. Regularly check-in with the team/staff to ensure that they are not getting overwhelmed and also understand the importance of learning the new skill.

Studies after studies show that learning and growth opportunities are among the highest motivators at work (way before pay). So, if your team is in a rut and not delivering to its full potential, developing their capabilities is not only a way to close a skills gap and encourage the adoption of more productive behaviours but also a fantastic opportunity to boost morale and motivation. Building internal capabilities can be done through formal or informal training, coaching, mentoring, or stretch assignments.

“Cultivate Craft, Elevate Art” Training is the rehearsal process where skills are sharpened, and talents are honed. Share innovative training techniques that go beyond the conventional, fostering a culture of continuous learning and mastery.

A few tools you could work on to improve your team's performance would be: Upgrading technology, investing in training your team with the right skills they need for their respective roles and implementing collaborations amongst them. Most important of them is to foster a culture of feedback and continuous improvement within your team.

A word of caution regarding monitoring your team's progress. While check-ins and status updates are helpful, be careful not to turn these into feasts of "busyness" reporting. Measure what matters, hold the course and promote accountability. Ultimately, you want to empower your team to achieve results, not micromanage them.