It’s the final quarter of the year, and it’s easy to get caught up in the daily to-do list. You know the feeling: show up, do your job, go home, repeat. At Engineering Solutions, we believe our success as a small business is possible because each individual on our team is striving for improvement every single day. The only way to constantly improve is with intentional effort to bring us together and focus on our goals.
With a dozen team members spread across three office locations, we face some interesting circumstances when it comes to rallying together. Below, check out five simple ways we build rapport and stay on top of our game no matter how busy work gets toward the end of the year.
– Road mapping goals: You can’t help a team member reach their goals if you don’t know what their goals are. At the beginning of the year, each team member completed a personal “road map” about what they’d like to improve at work. They also identified 2-3 team members who would check in regularly on these goals. As a team, we regroup and reflect on our road maps once a quarter. This helps us stay on track and stay informed about what everyone is focusing on personally.
– The power of a post-it note: Some of the biggest encouragement comes from small actions. Whether it’s a quick email to commend someone on a job well done or a post-it note with positive messages left on a coworker’s desk, taking 5 minutes out of your day to motivate another team member can make an impression that lasts much longer.
– Make it personal: We try to see the big picture for our team members by getting to know each other beyond the office. This fall, we held a family day at a local orchard for team members to gather with their families and spend an afternoon picking apples and having fun. By spending time together away from our desks, we not only get to know each other better but we also get refreshed and ready to tackle our goals back at work.
– Team meetings – yes really: In a world that’s gone digital with more people working remotely than ever before, it’s important to us to meet face-to-face regularly, especially when our team is spread out in three different locations. We have an all-team meeting every quarter to discuss major projects, important business updates, and upcoming events. This is another checkpoint for us to talk about goals as a group and as individuals to ensure we stay on the same page and keep moving forward. Weekly team updates helps fill the void between the meetings.
– Giving back to a good cause: One of our Core Values is community, and nothing brings a team together like giving back to a good cause. Whether it’s hands-on help with a local charity like the Building Goodness Foundation or fundraising for The Children’s Tumor Foundation through our recently founded “Happy Hour with a Cause” events with clients, supporting a good cause brings our team together, gives us perspective, and re-centers us around what matters most.
No matter the industry or size of your company, these simple tips can be applied in a variety of ways to suit your team. Remember, at the end of the day, it’s all about finding ways to bring people together to reach our goals, because together, we can achieve so much more.
