How do you measure and improve team performance and engagement?

1. Get to know your team better before defining the measures. As the saying goes you cannot measure the performance of a fish on how effectively it climbs a tree. Just like that without knowing the individual interests, motivations ans skills defining performance measurements can be challenging to implement. 2. Break down what you want the team to accomplish into individual goals for each team member and then use one of the frameworks above to track the progress.

For the team to be able to measure its performance, it must have clarity of purpose as well as team objectives and goals. It should also be clear to all, that individual objectives must contribute to the team’s success.

I have found you must identify metrics that make sense to the staff being measured by it and definitely have the ability to control it. For example. I always thought it was not fair to just measure the recruiter for time to fill as the hiring manager shares in that goal

Participation of the team in goal-setting can be a game changer. Thinking through bigger business goals to break them into measurable tasks/initiatives helps to set up the team for success.

Avoid surveys if you are unsure there will be follow-up to the results. Neglecting follow up is sure to disengage the team.

The ideal is when the staff themselves can monitor ongoing progress so that they can adjust performance depending on the metrics

My favorite way to measure team performance and get actionable data is to use The Five Behaviors. Those assessments allow teams to rate themselves in the areas that really count and once the gaps are understood, they learn what steps to take to make the team more cohesive. The best part, the workshops are actually a lot of fun! You learn more about your team, who they are as people, what motivates them, and what you can do differently to make their jobs easier.

It is incredibly important to have a consistent and frequent reporting of metric progress. If you wait over 3 months it is too long to make adjustments

A great way to drive engagement among team members is by explaining the larger organizational puzzle and how what they do makes a difference in it. Understanding the purpose of one's work helps to drive engagement. Surveys can be effective only if identified plans/actions are implemented with team members' support. That ensures buy-in and commitment.

Conduct regular check-ins and feedback sessions: Hold frequent one-on-one meetings and team discussions to review progress, address concerns, and provide constructive feedback. Encourage open communication and active participation from all team members.

If there are clear and fair goals and they can be incentivised financially either as shared goals or individual it helps the employee feel that their performance actually does matter

Assess your own leadership style and adapt it to the needs and preferences of your team. Be open to feedback and willing to make changes to better support and motivate your team members. Ensure that team members have a healthy work-life balance and are not overwhelmed by work-related stress. Offer resources and support to help employees manage stress, and promote mental and physical well-being.