New Year’s resolutions every team should discuss

It can be challenging resuming work mode after the festive excesses, so give yourself a helping hand by discussing your corporate New Year resolutions.

Surveys show a quarter of people who make resolutions have already given up by the end of the first week in January. It’s crucial to have the appropriate goals that your team will aim for throughout the year. Commit to your resolutions and use teamwork and dedication to achieve them.

When you hold your first meeting of the New Year, here are the top five resolutions you and your team should commit to:

1. Share ideas
Create a healthy environment for sharing ideas. If your meetings’ culture has a strict hierarchy, where employees may find it hard to voice their opinions and share ideas with their manager, it’s time for a change. Let employees know you want to hear their ideas and encourage them to collaborate with others, sharing positive knowledge.

They need to know they have the support of the hierarchy, so create a less threatening environment at meetings. Sometimes, team leaders can talk for too long when sharing their ideas, so by the time they ask for input, it feels too late and everything is already organised. Don’t give the impression that the decisions have been made without seeking the team’s input first.

2. Improve communication
The key to running a successful business is through open and effective communication. Your team can fall apart through miscommunication and projects can be less successful. Hold brief weekly meetings to discuss and identify any barriers to communication. Keep them short so they don’t become a chore.

Have a chat with your team, set goals for the week and check on the progress of tasks and projects. Encourage staff to speak out if there are any issues or delays. Encourage everyone to be honest and upfront so every issue is tackled head-on.

3. Use feedback
Always ask and give feedback at meetings, as this is an important motivator that empowers employees and improves team performance. According to a Gallup poll, 67% of employees believe that when managers focus on their strengths, it makes them fully engaged at work.

As a team leader, you must let the workforce know your thoughts on their strengths and weaknesses. Praise them when they work well, but don’t be afraid to let them know any areas that could do with some improvement. An open communication channel and feedback can strengthen the team and produce positive results.

4. Development and training
Reinforce development and training to ensure your team doesn’t only meet goals, it exceeds them. Let your team members know the company is interested in their development and prepared to invest in their future through training. Set up training sessions to help develop their existing skills and learn new ones.

Training programmes increase employees’ engagement, as you’re showing your team that you want to help them professionally, enabling them to achieve long-term goals. This will make them more productive in their everyday work.

5. Keep your promises
Once you’ve established a list of New Year resolutions for your team, keep your side of the bargain by doing what you say you will. Make your own resolution to keep your promises for 2020. Creating the resolutions is relatively easy – it’s sticking to them that’s the difficult part!

Get your team on board, ensure they commit to the goals for the next 12 months and then create an environment that facilitates the developments. Keep on top of things and make sure the daily tasks are being completed efficiently. Then have your weekly team meeting to make sure everything remains on track.

To help you achieve your goals for 2020, continually work on the resolutions – this will help them to become good habits that are incorporated into the daily routine.

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