You’re leading a team that’s struggling to meet performance targets. How can you turn things around?

1 Assess the situation

The first step is to understand what's causing the performance gap. Is it a lack of skills, resources, or clarity? Is it a mismatch between expectations and reality? Is it a problem with communication, collaboration, or feedback? Or is it something else? To find out, you need to gather data from multiple sources, such as team members, customers, stakeholders, and metrics. You also need to ask for honest and constructive feedback from your team and yourself. Be open to hearing different perspectives and opinions, and avoid jumping to conclusions or blaming anyone.

2 Set SMART goals

The second step is to set clear and realistic goals for your team. Goals are essential for motivating and directing your team's efforts. But they need to be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. SMART goals help you and your team to define what success looks like, how to track progress, and how to celebrate achievements. They also help you to align your team's goals with the organization's vision and mission. To set SMART goals, you need to involve your team in the process, and make sure they understand and agree with them.

3 Provide support and resources

The third step is to provide the necessary support and resources for your team to achieve their goals. Support can include coaching, mentoring, training, feedback, recognition, and encouragement. Resources can include tools, equipment, information, budget, and time. Providing support and resources shows that you care about your team and their success, and that you trust them to do their best. It also helps them to overcome challenges, learn new skills, and improve their performance. To provide support and resources, you need to identify your team's needs, prioritize them, and allocate them accordingly.

4 Empower and delegate

The fourth step is to empower and delegate tasks and responsibilities to your team. Empowering and delegating means giving your team the authority, autonomy, and accountability to make decisions, solve problems, and take actions. Empowering and delegating boosts your team's motivation, confidence, and ownership of their work. It also frees up your time and energy to focus on more strategic and value-adding activities. To empower and delegate, you need to assess your team's strengths, weaknesses, and preferences, and assign tasks and responsibilities accordingly. You also need to communicate clearly, set boundaries, and monitor results.

5 Communicate and collaborate

The fifth step is to communicate and collaborate effectively with your team. Communication and collaboration are vital for building trust, rapport, and teamwork among your team members. They also help you to share information, ideas, feedback, and solutions, and to coordinate actions and outcomes. Communication and collaboration can take various forms, such as meetings, emails, chats, calls, or platforms. To communicate and collaborate effectively, you need to choose the appropriate mode, frequency, and tone, and to listen actively, ask questions, and acknowledge contributions.

6 Review and reward

The sixth and final step is to review and reward your team's performance. Reviewing and rewarding means evaluating your team's results, processes, and behaviors, and providing feedback and recognition. Reviewing and rewarding helps you and your team to measure progress, identify gaps, and celebrate successes. It also helps you to reinforce what works, correct what doesn't, and motivate your team to keep improving. To review and reward, you need to use objective and relevant criteria, provide timely and specific feedback, and recognize and appreciate your team's efforts and achievements.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?