Teamwork hitting a bum note this Christmas? How grammar can help!

W o w. What a year!

From the deepest darkest Q1 lockdown, to the bright sunshine of summer and now the threat of another Christmas lockdown, 2021 sure has been a challenge!

Yet I think it's fair to say, work wise at least, it has been a good (if tiring...) year for most of us.

I don't know about you, but a lot of people in my network are reporting feeling particularly fatigued and in need of a cosy wintry break to recharge!

The kind of energy we've all had to burn in 2021 is definitely not sustainable long term, but many of us seem stuck in a 'boom and bust' cycle, continually pulling out all the stops in order to hit an important milestone and justify some well-earned time off.

And that’s great if you’ve got well motivated staff all heading in the same direction, but what if you have also picked up a few passengers along the way?

Of course, people are motivated by different things and have different values, but sometimes the rhythm that some people work to can seem really out of sync with the rest of the team, so how do you address that?

This is a problem I hear about a lot from hiring managers. In fact, it's often one of the reasons they are seeking to bring on contract staff for a bit of extra ‘oomph’ when a project is flagging, behind schedule, or the team are a bit battle weary.?It got me thinking, exactly what is it that causes this issue?

My surprising conclusion was that it might just be a difference in punctuation!

Not exactly the kind taught in the classroom, although there is definitely something to learn from that, but instead, how projects are broken down and ‘punctuated’.

For example, right now I am looking at taking a ‘full stop’ over Christmas having barely surfaced for air for at least the last 6 months.?However, when I analyse what I actually do, despite having medium- and long-term business goals, much of my day-to-day work is made up of a series of short-term projects that can (usually!) be completed reasonably quickly, giving me a series of quick wins that help me to keep motivation and engagement high.

Without doubt the majority of people feel good when they have accomplished something.?However, for people working on large or complex projects, that feel-good factor might be 6, 12, 18 months or more in the making and, for some, that is just too long to wait.?They need regular pauses to stay focused and motivated, or their energy starts to slide.?

An ample sprinkling of commas can be very useful to enable team members to catch their breath, see how far they have come, re-prioritise and plough on through to the end of the chapter.?However, all too often those needs are unmet which can lead to some individuals flagging midway, losing focus, motivation or running out of energy, often right when they need it most!

Why? Well, its human nature to focus on the outcomes that matter most to us.?Managers, often under extreme pressure, have their own KPI’s to fulfil and naturally tend to focus hard on the big, high-profile outcomes where they are most exposed, such as meeting their quarterly targets and achieving wider organisational goals.?In doing so, they can overlook the need to stage meaningful ‘mid-point’ outcomes for their team members.??

This can lead to individuals feeling ‘emotionally distanced’ from the success of projects and robbed of the feel-good factor that comes with actually accomplishing something tangible day to day.?It is exactly this feel-good factor that is needed to keep motivation sharp, energy levels high and the team aligned behind its goals.

So with each team member potentially dancing to their own tune, what can be done to keep things harmonious?

Well, it pains me to say it, but my schoolteacher might have had it right when he told me off for racing through paragraphs without taking a breath.?Punctuation matters. Regular full stops, commas, and even the occasional exclamation mark can really help to introduce a sense of rhythm in a team and keep everyone on their feet.?

So what to do?

1. Provide enough opportunities to stop and access where things are at, and help everyone to find their own beat and you won’t lose anyone along the way.
2. ?Ask individual team members, do they prefer to work to daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly goals and then stage appropriate milestones.?Daily ones might be unmanageable, but if you have a team member that does find them helpful, get them to buddy up with a co-worker with an eye for prioritisation.
3. ?Celebrate the achievement of these milestones.?This doesn’t need to be big, plenty of simple 'that’s greats', 'well done' and 'thank you' can go a long way to keeping spirits high and making people feel appreciated and valued.

But what if someone is consistently failing or underperforming??

Find out why.?The vast majority of people naturally want to do well.?If they are struggling, there is nearly always a reason.?

This might be as easy as not having understood fully what is expected of them, through to something more complex.?

Either way, stopping to ask can be the key to generating solutions that will soon have them back on the beat!