Perhaps you have already asked yourself the above question in relation to the budget requests for 2021. Since the coronavirus outbreak, you have been very busy keeping the business open.
This is understandable given the widespread panic surrounding COVID-19 and the effort it took to get things like working from home properly organized. Your manager accepted this for this year, and after resolving the initial problems, you, like many organizations, went into "standby mode" when it came to proactive improvement or innovation.
Waiting for better times, while the pressure to perform again has slowly been ramped up. This creates an image of entire teams sitting with their manager like the proverbial "frogs in a pan," while the fire underneath is slowly getting hotter. The energetic interaction in your team is no longer what it used to be. How long can this situation continue?
Your management or board has probably accepted that, due to the circumstances, your main activity this year has been to "keep the shop running." But after the adjustment period and with the plans and budgets for 2021 approaching, the first signs are already appearing that it is time to deliver and improve as usual again, and you can sense that too.
How will you motivate your people and give them the confidence to broaden their horizons again?
Let's take a closer look at the image below.
As stated above, since the coronavirus outbreak, your organization has (perhaps understandably) focused largely on the short term.
This involves a fixation on problems and therefore less on opportunities. As a result, in many cases people have become closed to positive changes, as we have experienced in our change processes this year. Your team is unconsciously (more than before) holding back change by responding more negatively to the expectations and activities that go with it.
As a manager, this makes it (even) more difficult to rise above the situation, and as a result, change processes are postponed or halted. Innovation comes to a standstill because the motivation for it is temporarily lacking within the group.
‘Break out of this vicious circle before the 2021 budget request!’
To escape this impasse, it is important to distance yourself from the prevailing group mentality and, above all, to step out of it yourself.
For example, start by coaching your people on personal, concrete, and achievable (small) goals as an example. This personalizes the deliverables and helps your people get back into a positive mindset, especially when working together.
Listen carefully to the resistance and embrace it where possible. Bring movement into the existing fear and resistance by continuing to propose mainly positive actions. Talk to your people daily about the results and share successes with the group.
This approach, which may initially feel like micromanagement, has proven to be highly effective in our projects and "opens the windows" in your team. It can unleash a new positive energy that is focused on getting things done.
TranstieProfs has organized a Masterclass in Inspirational Innovation specifically for this topic. This will help you realize your plans for the coming year! Please contact us for more information!
Author: Dennis Daalhuizen – owner of TransitieProfs
