Getting us out of this year’s negativity!
By Declan Noone
2020 has been a year focused on survival, in all its varying guises. This year has consumed our emotional and intellectual energy and resources. The impact of lockdowns on our own mental health, and the question of sustainability of businesses is significant and further drains our depleted emotional reserves.
Let’s change this negative dynamic!
Now is the time, as we race towards the conclusion of 2020, for each of us to take the time both individually and as a team to not just take stock of what has past but to create a vision for ourselves for 2021. We need to move beyond the survival stasis we are now in, with all the negativity that surrounds that. The fear, anxiety, risk aversion and catastrophic thinking. We acknowledge that this year has been very difficult, but we recognise what strengths we used to succeed in moving forward in 2020. Those can be individual, collective or organisational strengths.
What is needed to snap yourself and your team out of this survival stasis is to create a vision statement for the next 12 months. This exercise is about creating a vision, the highest goal you wish to achieve on a personal, team or business level. It is critical at times like this that we connect what we are doing with a sense of purpose and meaning. This is critical to our physiological wellbeing and our capacity to grow, as well as, navigate the obstacles that will inevitably appear as you strive to achieve your vision. Just as critically, a vision provides clarity in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world as to what direction you, the team and the business is heading.
Try it now!
This is a simple 5 step process that you can complete as an individual or as part of a team.
Step 1:
Refelect on the past 9 months and write down your top 3 positive highlights that occurred.
Step 2:
Think about the future and complete the following using your own words –
“ I will be most proud of myself/ the team in 12 months when ……………………….. “
The idea is encourage the individual to dive into what in their work brings them pride. That strong positive emotion that impacts our motivation, drive, desire for success and self-value. This statement gives permission to the individual to dream of what tomorrow could be without limitations. You are providing a psychological safe space for an individual and a group to share their hopes and expectations for themselves and the group. This statement can also provide you with insights into key objectives that you, or the team want to attain over the forthcoming 12 months.
If working as part of a team, have each individual place their completed statement up on a wall (real or virtual) so that everyone can see it. Seek to identify commonalities, explore through inquiry the reasons why people have placed certain items in their statements. Doing so provides insights into their current mindset but also their desire to strive to achieve in the next 12 months.
Use a respectful and collaborative process of dialogue to fuse the various statements together as one for the teams vision statement. This is not about removing each individuals statement but rather aligning around the commonalities and acknowledging the differing motivational factors of each individual.
What you have now created is a powerful and creative thought process within the team, while also creating a shared understanding of each person’s hopes and expectations, along with a collective alignment for the next 12 months.
So place the agreed vision statement front and centre. Either on the way or on the screen. Then ….
Step 3:
Ask the following question –
“looking at our vision statement, what small changes can we make to help us get there?”
Allow each individual to make a number of suggestions on post its, virtual whiteboard, etc.
Go around to each person, allow them to share one idea before moving on to the next in sequence. Continue doing so until all suggestions are exhausted.
Group suggestions into categories such as: processes, sales, marketing, support, decision making, etc. Whatever patterns you feel are present and allow you to generate categories.
These are short term goals that when you integrate them into your plan will help generate momentum while also empowering team members to take ownership and drive each suggestion to its natural conclusion.
Step 4:
Ask the following question –
“looking at our vision statement, what BOLD changes can we make to help us get there?”
Allow each individual to make a number of suggestions on post its, virtual whiteboard, etc.
Go around to each person, allow them to share one idea before moving on to the next in sequence. Continue doing so until all suggestions are exhausted.
Group suggestions into categories such as before in Step 2.
We ask for BOLD changes because we want to encourage team members to be creative and highlight solutions that previously would not have been communicated. By asking for BOLD we are giving permission to all present to share their knowledge with us in a way that will help the team.
It is then necessary to examine the suggestions and identify what is within the teams control and what is not. With limited resources there is not point in spending time on areas where there may be ability to influence change either directly or indirectly. Consequently, focus on what is within the teams capacity to control/influence.
Step 5:
You now have a:
- Vision Statement
- Series of short term actions required to move forward.
- Singular or series of bold/big actions required to achieve the vision statement.
Continue to develop a plan of action designed to support achieving the vision statement.
It should include: resources required, who is responsible for completion, start and completion dates, etc.
Complete it with the team and publish it internally.
Every month the team should have a team meeting to discuss and confirm progress to date.
At Serrano 99 we run a series of Positive Self-Development Programmes, one of them is Positive Team-Building where finding a vision is one of the core elements of the course. Talk to us if you need help for a more detailed process.
