Does Your Team Understand Workplace Purpose?
One of the most basic elements of building a successful organization is the ability to rally the people around a workplace purpose. Have you considered lately how that is working in your team or department?
Setting the Stage
The development stages of the organization are simpler. There are fewer people, less moving parts, it is easier to watch over the entire operation.
Across the months, years, or decades things start to shift a little. More people join, more problems have become apparent and more rules and policies are put in place. Without careful and purposeful intention, things often start to get lost in the shuffle.
Often larger work groups and teams are doing tasks or following guidelines that they either don’t understand, or worse, they misunderstand.
The big picture with strategy is out there. It may be in the publicized mission statement, unfortunately from the strategy room to the front-line things get lost in the translation.
Department managers sometimes become confused about the true strategy, the why of the business. They respond to measurement, metrics, and performance criteria, but their response lacks the understanding of purpose.
As time moves forward some disorganization may occur. The purpose is confusing, the front-line works towards metrics, but they often do not understand why. Managers insist somewhat blindly that this work, their work, is part of the strategy, however, they too suffer from understanding why.
Workplace Purpose
When groups of people and teams are employed to create work, provide a service, and do great things it is very important that they understand the purpose.
Understanding workplace purpose is everyone’s responsibility, yet it often doesn’t exist.
In the best organizations everyone leads at some level. Otherwise, you have a bureaucratic conundrum.
-DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
