So you’ve got a plan for transition, and all the right people on board. Now what? It’s time to get things done, but who does what? And by when?
Similar to setting goals in a strategic planning session, you’ve got to reverse-engineer your transition so it can be broken down into attainable steps, each of which is reached by setting up goals and knocking them down. Clarity across your entire team comes when each person knows what he or she is responsible for, when it’s due, how to do it and why it’s important to make this happen.
To gain clarity, follow these steps.
1. Set crystal-clear expectations. Things that get measured get done. If you’ve identified what your organization should look like financially personnel-wise and operationally after your transition, it’s time to execute with everyone on board. Take one task at a time and assign a single owner and a “by when” date. But allow team members some say and the opportunity to challenge whether they are the right person for that responsibility. This may seem like an exhausting process, but why allow for assumptions to spread? If every major component of the transition is not accounted for and committed to by a single owner, things will fall through the cracks and, as the leader, you’ll have nobody to blame but yourself.
2. Establish accountability. Throughout this time of movement and uncertainty, it’s critical to focus on the things you can control. Now that each action needed for a successful transition is accounted for and committed to, you must set a positive accountability standard. As a leader, you provide a service to your people when you hold them accountable. This might seem counterintuitive, but think about it: If I don’t expect greatness from employees and will accept nothing less, they are much less likely to deliver greatness.
If team members are underperforming, ask how you can help them get back on track. Continue to seek their affirmation of the task when you assign it. As an employee, it’s hard to hide when you have agreed to a specific task and do not deliver.
The majority of your time and energy should be spent with people who are keeping their commitments. When the standard is one of achievement and accountability, low performers stick out like a sore thumb and will often see themselves out.
3. Solve issues. As your transition progresses, issues will continue to surface, but that’s no cause for panic. Allow yourself and you team to build a list of these challenges, struggles and opportunities. Then spend regular time solving them. Some may simply require a decision by leadership or communication to clear up a misunderstanding, while others will be solved by assigning actions to team members (with single ownership for each task, of course).
The more clarity you create, the fewer assumptions, rumors and inactivity you will experience. In times of significant change, a clear path for employees to follow is worth its weight it gold.
If your team is in transition, take control of it by calling us today at 844.336.SHOC or send us a message.