You

It might be worthwhile to take a closer look at ways to increase your passion for the Shared results of your team, as this can improve your engagement as well as your satisfaction in your work.

Below are a few key questions you can ask yourself paired with a few ideas for possible actions:

Have you lost sight of what your team is striving to achieve?

• Maybe the higher purpose of your team is there, but you just haven’t spend time thinking about it. If that’s the case, consider:
  • How are customers relying on the work of your team – directly or indirectly?
  • How are internal stakeholders relying on the work of your team – directly or indirectly?
  • How is your team contributing to the purpose of your company?
  • Consider the effect if your team ceased to exist – what would the rest of the organization be missing?

Are you well aware what your team is striving to achieve – you just do not find it important?

• If you simply do not find it important you have 3 possible routes forward:
  • Accept it (and find joy and satisfaction in other aspects of your work)
  • Make it more appealing (work with peers or leaders to make shared results more compelling)
  • Leave it (if you simply find your shared results meaningless and un-appealing, maybe it’s time to look elsewhere?)

Your team

If the team members only focus on day-to-day tasks and their basic interactions, this will gradually take over all attention – and the shared passion can easily evaporate.

Another point is that the focus on shared results should develop naturally for most teams over time as demands to the team change, and as new opportunities open up.

Therefore, having frequent talks about “Purpose”, “Shared results” and “Shared Intent” (or what you choose to call it) should appear regularly on any teams meeting agenda.

If you are lacking a format for talking about Shared results consider using this:

“What are we trying to achieve and why?”

• If possible, try to formulate one main definition of the team’s Shared Purpose
• If relevant, supplement the main definition of your purpose with 2-3 supporting statements (outlining “What are we trying to achieve and why”)

Define how success on Shared results looks (the more specific and actionable, the better):

• What does success look like?
• How do we measure that we are successful?
• What more can we do to get continuous feedback?

How is the tasks and responsibilities of each team member/role in the team contributing to the different elements of Shared Purpose?

Once you have a clear and operational definition of your Shared Purpose, good points for recurring ‘maintenance discussions’ on how we measure Share results in the team are:

• What is our current definition of the team’s Shared Results?
• What has changed that could impact how we define our Shared Results?
  • New challenges/demands/opportunities related to customers or other external stakeholders?
  • New opportunities challenges/demands/opportunities coming from technology development and/or competitor initiatives?
  • Looking at our past performance related to our Shared results, does this influence how we look at Shared results going forward?
• What ideas do we have to increase our value for the organization, and how does this impact how we define our Shared results?

As you agree on keeping or changing your definition of Shared results, end by concluding what will be done differently as a consequence of the discussion and/or the changes (be specific about who and what):

• What should we start doing?
• What should we do more?
• What should we do less?
• What should we stop doing?

You

It is a delicate challenge to balance individual interests with the team’s striving for Shared results. Both needs to be in place, but if the individual parts plays too big a role, the team will suffer.

One of the key characteristics of high performing teams is that the wellbeing of the team always has first priority. Period.

If you are even in doubt where your loyalties lie, this is most likely a challenge. But the solution is not downplaying your individual interests, it’s almost always about strengthening the power of Shared results.

Maybe have a look at the challenge “Are your team’s shared results not seen as important?” and see which ideas this will bring. Odds are, that if your team become sharper at focusing on Shared results – it will be much easier to nurture your individual interests – without ever overshadowing or compromising the Shared results.

Your team

If it’s a general challenge for your team that personal interests overshadows Shared results it is most likely a symptom of another challenge.

Start by having a look at the challenge “Are your team’s shared results not seen as important?” and see if any of the concepts here inspire to any action.

If that does not fully address the challenges you experience, have a look at some of the more fundamental drivers of team performance:

• Accountability: Do we challenge and provide feedback to one another
• Commitment: Do we make clear decisions and execute according to plans?

You

It’s a big source of frustration if you are caught in the crossfire between “what’s the right thing to do” and what you are “rewarded to do”.

If you do what’s right you are punished. And if you do what’s rewarded, your sense of purpose is compromised, and your engagement will suffer. You lose both ways.

When KPI’s, Incentives & Bonus schemes grow out of sync with what needs to get done, it should be addressed early on. Even if you risk losing a small bonus, or if the current KPI’s make your results look more flattering that they should, it’s worth bringing up the challenge.

If you do it right, most leaders and most organizations will reward the honesty.

If the challenge you have found is a general issue, consider teaming up with one or two peers, build the case for a change, and bring it forward as a team.

If it’s only related to you personally, you should probably bring it up with your direct leader.

A format for addressing such a challenge is:

• Re-iterate: “What are we trying to achieve and why”
• A: What’s your preferred action/initiative/solution to this?
• B: What’s currently being measured or rewarded?
• What’s the difference between A and B?
• Ideas for a measurement/reward that better matches “What are we trying to achieve and why” (optional)

Your team

Re-visiting the success criteria, KPI’s, incentives and bonus schemes from time to time is a maintenance task for a team – especially if challenges and opportunities are changing.

The foundation for a service check is what’s important for your team, e.g. as expressed in the definition of Shared results in your team (for inspiration see: “What are we trying to achieve and why”).

Based on this, consider the following questions:

• Do the success criteria focus on the most essential factors creating Shared results?
  • Do the criteria promote collaboration and sharing knowledge?
  • Is individual sacrifices to ensure team result rewarded?
  • Is there a balance between short and long term results?
• Do the success criteria motivate the team members in a positive and productive way?
  • Does the criteria balance the need for individual and team effort and results?
  • Does the criteria balance the need for monetary and non-monetary rewards?
  • Does the criteria reward initiative and innovativeness?

When you have assessed your success criteria, make the needed adjustments and implement the revised scheme.

Revisit the scheme from time to time to ensure that you stay in sync with the Shared results culture.