Check If This Is An Issue

Reason

Possible Cause

Possible Solution

#1: Everyone is busy working on too many goals. Some of the work is on low level, low impact items. The picture shifts based on who you talk to

Goals are not clearly prioritized into five Key Long-Term SMAART Goals, no more than five Intermediate SMAART Goals and five 90 Day Focus Goals

Sit down with your leadership team and make a list of your most important goals. Separate them into time frames and then vote on the most important three to five that should be tracked at least monthly

#2: Your employees know what to do and how to do it but are not doing it

They do not have their heart in it. The magic is missing

Talk privately with each one of your leadership team members and ask them specific questions about what is needed to motivate the entire company. Share the feedback with your leadership team and start taking action

#3: Everyone is excited, but what they are doing does not seem to be working other than on a very incremental level

They may not have enough experience or the right instincts to think through options and identify the best “how”

Begin training that will develop optimal ways of doing tasks or projects that will be taught by more experienced, more productive employees or begin to coach your individual leaders on options of “how” to do

#4: Major projects never seem to get completed

There are no clear deadlines for milestones and eventual completion

When beginning any project, have whomever is responsible break it into at least five different stages with dates, metrics and a reporting mechanism

#5: The team declares the project or task is done, yet your experience says that you are not to the finish line yet

The clarity of the end result was not established at the beginning of the project

Make sure the team is clear on the project/task expectations and deadlines. Assign a project manager to track progress to ensure the required results

#6: There is “investment” by your people in the business short-term, but no real commitment

There is no long-term (5 year+) vision that shares why it is important to give it their all that is exciting and motivating

Invest two hours with your leadership team to build a vision that is at least five years in the future and use it to help drive excitement, focus and value for everyone

#7: You have great individuals that work in the business, but individually they cannot overcome the obstacles that are in your way for a dramatically better future

They do not understand that as a team, 1+1=5.  This may be due to lack of understanding or unwillingness to “risk” with others

Have an individual discussion and then ask the group to determine how to work more as a team. You will need to share the attributes of a team that performs at a high and sustainable level

#8: Your team is tired and seems to lack motivation.  Yet, you know that they care

There may not be enough recognition and celebration of your successes in reaching milestones

Just like taking a long trip, i.e. going from North Carolina to California, you need to get your people sharing their successes with each other (we always hear about the failures) so they feel, see and hear the progress

#9: Your team has a long-term vision and works very hard on the immediate needs of the business. It feels like there are two separate issues

You do not have a “map” that ties in your immediate day-to-day work with the long-term. They really are perceived and handled as two separate topics, even though they are tied together

Build a written “road map” that ties where you are now to your actual destination. Include upcoming sights, potential detours and the next “city” that you are driving to

#10: You have vision and your team does not OR your leadership team has vision, but the rest of your company does not

There is lack of communication about where you are going

You need to align and communicate with ALL of your company where you are going and why what you are doing now is very important. Make sure they are clear why they are so important to the success of the company