Team Building

By Stuart Crawford

Do you ever stop to think how successful a hockey team would be if they did not celebrate each and every goal they score? Or any sports team every time they put a point up on the board?  You would sit in the stands and wonder what was up if they didn`t.

Hockey teams celebrate all goals.  It doesn`t matter if they are losing– they still celebrate each and every time they put the puck in the back of the net.

So why do businesses seem to ignore the small goals?  In small business computer consulting, leaders seem to over look when staff achieves the smallest of victories and they even sometimes brush over the big achievements in their business.

These are the same businesses that I talk with when they are struggling, when morale in the workplace is low or when they are on a losing streak with clients leaving.

In hockey, when teams are having a difficult time winning games, they still celebrate every goal scored from every player on the team.  The same should happen in your business.  I worked with a company once who lost a few good clients from several reasons and most of them were not service-related, just a turn in the economy and few of their clients decided to merge with other businesses and their services were no longer retained.  They lost four clients however they also won three new ones in the same time period.

When discussing what was happening with the business, the executive was so focused on the business that they lost, that he failed to realize that they just scored three goals and if this was a hockey game they would have lost 4 – 3 that night.

Do you think all the Stanley Cup dynasties haven’t lost a few games 4 – 3 in the season?  When the focus on the negative is allowed to continue, one 4 – 3 loss will become 2 and then 3 and before you know it you have some major challenges.

Leaders in any organization need to celebrate all the goals they score and all the victories they win.  This includes when a member of your team achieves a new certification or skill and when you win a new client.  Celebrations need to be done as a team.

You can queue up all your little victories for one big monthly gathering; however, recognition also needs to happen right away.

It can be done by posting it on your internal website, an email to your team or a special entry in your company newsletter and then have a monthly celebration with your entire team.  Take an early Friday afternoon and have a company function where everyone is made aware of every achievement.

When clients are involved in your wins, it is very important that you invite them to celebrate in your win as a company.  Remember, they were reason for your win.  If you win an award in your industry it was because they allowed you to use their name for this victory.  Including them is a good move for your ongoing client relations.

The minimal dollar investment in having a celebration of your victories will turn into increased employee loyalty, especially in this world of hard to find skilled team members.  Increased loyalty from employees and clients will eventually turn into additional revenues for your company.

It is also OK to celebrate in private, if you are sales professional or a technician in an IT consulting company and do something that you are proud of accomplishing; it is perfectly acceptable to celebrate your wins with yourself.  This self-acknowledgement will lead to an increase in your personal confidence because you know that you have what it takes.

When you celebrate all the goals you score, every point your team achieves, you will be on your way to winning the Stanley Cup of your own world.

Stuart Crawford is a business leader in the Calgary, Alberta small business computer consulting marketplace.  Stuart works with small business consulting companies across North America to ensure that they become successful.  He can be reached at http://www.youfactor.ca  Stuart also manages the Canadian Small Business Show at http://www.canadiansmallbusinessshow.com

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Tags: achievements, celebrate, celebration, certification, goals, morale, streak, team, win