Goal setting: Discover hearts, align hands

The start of the year is prime goal setting time. It's a time where we are naturally moved to reflect as we say goodbye to one year, and start dreaming about what could be for the next one.

Can you relate? Well, so can your team members!

Do you know what your team member's goals are for this year?

One of my favourite things about coming back to work, and to my team, after the end of year holidays, is hearing about what they've envisioned for their year ahead.

Not all of your team members may do 'goal setting' per say, but believe me they all have ideas about where they'd like to go, or what they want to focus on, professionally and personally in the year ahead.

I once had a team member share that they wanted to expand their skills in content development. And, once I had a team member who shared that she wanted to focus on being a great mom in the year ahead. To her, this meant being present for her little one.

Wait, isn't this too personal for work?

The reality is that our team members are human, and life moves in seasons. Our personal goals and priorities shift as a result.

As teams we work together to achieve goals. And, how we work is impacted by what's important to us. By knowing our team members, as leaders, we are better able to align our team members goals to their work.

For my team member who wanted to expand their content development skills, I was able to give them assignments and expose them to training and opportunities that both aligned to their personal goal and supported our team's goals as well.

By knowing I had a team member who wanted to be present for her kids, I could review our schedule. I was able to make the decision to adjust our meeting times to a bit later in the morning so that she didn't feel rushed heading in. And, as a team, we could work together to manage overflows during peak periods to avoid staying later in the office.

By taking the time to find this alignment, between your team member's personal goals and their work requirements, you are able to create value for your team member and your team.

As a result, your team will be able to work together more effectively, and you'll be in a position to have your team member perform at their best as individuals and your team will perform at their best too!

I'm in. How do I do this?

It's simple. Talk to your people.

If you need more guidance, here are some suggestions:

• Set-up a back to work 1:1 meeting with each of your team members. As part of the meeting request, ask them to think about their professional goals for the year ahead. In the 1:1 discuss their goals - first professionally, and then personally - and share yours too! Brainstorm together how & the company can support them to reach their goals this year.
• At your next team meeting, invite each team member to share their goals with the rest of the team. Lead a discussion where you encourage everyone to consider how they can best support each other given what they have learnt about their goals for the year ahead.
• Follow-up. At subsequent 1:1 meetings, find out how things are tracking for your team member; and if any changes are needed. People change, and our goals may change too. Because of this keep the conversation open and ongoing, and revisit it often in your regular 1:1s.

By caring about what's important to your people, you'll be able to optimise your work plans to help everyone thrive.

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