3 tips for communicating the results, rules and rewards

Imagine you are a leader. You are gathering the team to focus on the road ahead. People are motivated and enjoy being in the team. They are volunteers, not victims. They have already done a lot of work on clarifying the picture of perfection. People have also made clear contracts about their individual contributions towards achieving the goals. Here are three themes you can cover when communicating with your team. The messages may appear blunt - but they will enable people to refocus before ‘entering the arena’.

* You can communicate the results.

Describe the results the team are aiming to achieve - this is the ‘What’. You can also give the reasons - the ‘Why’. Great orators provide the call to action by painting pictures of the goal. They say things like: “We are going to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade...We are going to do it - not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” Good leaders are authentic, however, so it is vital to be yourself. Paint these pictures in your own way. Try completing the following sentence.

The things I can do to communicate the results are:

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* You can communicate the rules.

Describe the ‘rules’ that people must follow to deliver the results - this is the ‘How’. For example: “These are the Dos and Don’ts for reaching the goals. Do take responsibility, make clear contracts, be customer focused and deliver the goods. Never walk past a quality problem.” Every team has rules - spoken or unspoken - so bring these out into the open. Explain the reasons for following the rules. Do two things once you have outlined these guidelines: a) reward the behaviour you want repeated; b) never ignore it if somebody breaks the rules.

One key point. You are saying that ‘these are the rules around here’. You are not saying these are right or wrong - just that these are the rules for tackling this particular project. For example, a football manager may say: “I do not play players who smoke.” One player may say: “So are you saying that we must not smoke?” The manager will reply: “No, you can smoke if you want – but you won’t play for the club again. It is your choice.”

Bearing in mind the ‘project’ you want to tackle, try completing the following sentence.

The things I can do to communicate the rules are:

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* You can communicate the rewards.

Describe the pluses of reaching the goals - for the company, the customers and the colleagues. Dare to outline the possible minuses. You want responsible people who choose to opt-in—so be straight. Ernest Shackleton took this approach when advertising in The Times for people to accompany him to the South Pole. He declared there would be: “no pay, terrible conditions and little likelihood of return.” He received hundreds of applications. Try completing the following sentence.

The things I can do to communicate the rewards are:

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Good leaders communicate the results, rules and rewards. You can describe these to show the road ahead - but sometimes you can do so much earlier, such as when people apply to join the team. They then know what they are signing-up for. People also know the guidelines they can follow to help the team to achieve success.