I’m sure you’re aware that the typical New Year’s resolution doesn’t last very long. According to research conducted by Strava, the social network for active people (runners, cyclists, etc.), most people give up on their resolutions in less than two weeks. By analyzing over 30 million activities in January 2018, Strava was able to identify Jan. 12 as the date by which most people had given up on their New Year’s resolution.
Other research on New Year’s resolutions reports that about 60 percent of the population makes a New Year’s resolution but only 8% are successful in achieving them.
We suggest raising these odds by having each member of your team establish a work-related resolution that is directly connected to the team’s 2020 growth goals. We call it the “Team Resolution Challenge.”
Before you discard this Team Resolution Challenge as unnecessary, consider the impact of each team member being highly committed to a new initiative. Also remember that only 8% of people achieve their resolution on their own. If you want results, you’ll need to guide the process. Here’s how it works:
1. Introduce the Concept
Your first step is to meet as a team to review your 2020 team goals and establish the ground rules for the “Team Resolution Challenge.”
- Everyone must participate
- Every team member must identify one activity, that if executed, will have a positive impact in achieving the team’s 2020 growth goals.
- Give everyone 48 hours to submit their activity.
2. Confirm the Commitments
Meet once more to clarify and agree on each resolution.
- The team leader should take the lead and share his or her resolution first.
- Feedback is necessary at this stage to determine IF the resolution is performance-based and how progress will be monitored.
- Encourage team members to submit a personal resolution in addition to their work-related resolution. It’s important that they know you care about them, beyond your business goals.
3. Track the Activities
Think of how you’ll hold each other mutually accountable throughout the year.
- Team meetings are a great place to discuss activity commitments each week.
- Consider a fun, but visible penalty for those who miss an activity (i.e. put a dollar in the jar)
- Spreadsheets are another tool for tracking activities over a time horizon. Consider having team members’ names and activities as the first column and weeks of the year as subsequent columns.
Obviously, for this New Year’s Resolution Team Game to have any chance of success it must be driven by the team leader. This requires a team leader who is goal-focused and committed to the growth of everyone on the team. Once the ground rules outlined above are established, your 2020 team goals will be front and center at every weekly team meeting. When you couple this with individual activities linked to these goals, you’ve got a powerful cocktail for growth.
Matt Oechsli is author of Building a Successful 21st Century Financial Practice: Attracting, Servicing & Retaining Affluent Clients. www.oechsli.com