After 25 years as an HR professional, I know that successful companies have to constantly be on the lookout for improvements. Encouraging team growth ensures long-term success. Traditionally, employers measure individual performance. Measuring team growth can be much more complicated but a worthwhile venture nonetheless.
- Establish specific team goals that focus employee work. These goals should be measurable, attainable and realistic, as well as time-constrained. Then, instruct team members to devise their own goals and align them to the team’s goals. For example, aspire to develop one new product or locate a new target customer each year. Challenge employees to think of new ways of meeting these goals. You may need to hire additional employees with expertise in advanced technology.
- Define actions that help team members attain the team’s goals. This may involve analyzing team processes to identify production problems. Using quality management techniques such as Six Sigma, team members can identify causes and effects. This helps them propose alternative procedures to improve processes that minimize product errors and waste.
- Create status reports that document team output. For example, create a spreadsheet that list team goals and monthly milestones. Alternatively, create a presentation with graphs and charts to visually show progress. Use methods that make it easy to see results so that appropriate action can be taken if progress is hot being made.
- Conduct interviews with team members to get input about team progress. Measuring team growth involves more than tallying numbers. Building relationships and fostering collaboration lead to team growth and achievement.
- Create surveys to measure job satisfaction, aptitude and quality. Tracking progress involves monitoring results on a regular basis. For example, conduct an annual survey to measure employee attitudes towards policies, procedures and management. Use the results to monitor leadership growth.
- Hold meetings to review performance results. Conducting brainstorming activities that allow the team to address deficiencies. By fostering cooperation, you can produce innovative solutions that lead to explosive growth. For example, build concept maps by writing words, drawing circles and lines and connecting lines to illustrate thoughts and ideas.
- Review scorecards, production levels and other data to measure team growth. After you implement changes, note the improvements and adapt procedures if no success results occur. Acknowledge success by distributing rewards and recognition. These initiatives typically spur additional growth because team members feel valued and empowered. To enable ongoing growth that ensures long-term profitability, the team has to build on success.
