How can you help your team find meaning and purpose?

A not so obvious way to help team members align around one’s purpose is to demonstrate it with a hands-on example like a community engagement activity vs a team building event throwing axes or top golf. At @Wish for Wheels, we exist to empower well-being in children, families and communities. We do this through a hands-on, fun, connecting experience building bikes with employees then they give the bikes to under-resourced 7 & 8 year old children one-on-one by fitting their helmet and seat then teaching them to ride the bike. It’s a purely magical experience and demonstrates a company’s commitment to their purpose, community and perhaps most importantly, to their employees that they truly believe in all!

An effective technique to link the team's work to organisation strategy is the use of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) at team level. The organisation may express its high-level strategy as OKRs or some other sort of measurable goals. At team level, define OKRs that fit the services and remit of the team and clearly support the organisation's goals. Of course, working with the whole team to collaboratively define the OKRs will bring superior alignment and buy-in within the team.

Finding meaning and purpose within your work can significantly change employee outcomes and business growth. In the past few weeks, my knowledge and insights on this have tripled as a part of my coursework for my Masters in I/O Psychology degree. There are dozens of activities and proven studies like - Team retreats - Performance reviews - Purpose Mapping and so many other tools that you can use to identify what matters most to your team ( their intrinsic and extrinsic needs ) to offer them a development plan with goals that truly matter to them! This work is key to the success of small and large companies alike!

Discovering meaning and purpose within one's job can drastically alter employee outcomes and business advancement. Over the past few weeks, my understanding and insights in this area have expanded threefold through my coursework for my Masters in I/O Psychology degree. Numerous activities and validated studies, such as team retreats, performance evaluations, and purpose mapping, exist to uncover what holds significance for your team, encompassing their intrinsic and extrinsic needs. These tools enable the formulation of personalized development plans with meaningful goals. Such efforts are crucial for the success of both small and large companies!

Aligning team goals with the organizational mission is crucial, particularly in IT and product development where every task contributes to a larger vision. Think of it like a puzzle: each piece (team task) is essential to complete the overall picture (mission). As a project manager, I often use customer success stories to illustrate how our tech solutions directly impact users. This not only boosts team morale but also reinforces the purpose behind our daily tasks. Remember, a team aligned with the mission is like a well-oiled machine, operating efficiently towards shared objectives.

As a leader, when you can find the thread that connects the company's priorities, the team's work to be done, and the individual's values and goal's, magic happens. It's all about helping to uncover their emotional connection with desired outcomes, then acting as a support system for the person to explore, experiment, and grow. Having led hundreds of people and consistently activated high performing teams, I have witnessed the repeated positive impact on everything. Not only do you build trust within the team, but you also grow their confidence and collaborative muscles, preparing them to evolve into great leaders who create great teams themselves.

Team-level Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) empower the team. The point of Key Results is to provide measures of value that evidence success or learning without prescribing the specific tasks. This empowers the team not just to perform the work but also to design solutions and take ownership of their internal ways of working. The team leader becomes the facilitator and coach of the team rather than the task manager.

When you, as a leader, can link what the company wants, what the team needs to do, and what each person cares about, something special happens. It's about helping people find a strong emotional connection to what they want to achieve, and then supporting them as they try new things and learn. I've led hundreds of people and seen how this approach consistently helps teams do really well. It's not just about building trust among the team, but also boosting their confidence and ability to work together. This helps them become strong leaders who can build great teams themselves.

Empowering a team is like giving each member a key to unlock their potential. In IT and systems implementation, where innovation and agility are paramount, this approach is especially effective. Granting autonomy and encouraging experimentation fosters a culture of ownership and creativity. I've seen this firsthand: when team members are trusted to make decisions, they often devise ingenious solutions. Celebrating both successes and failures is crucial too – it's like applauding an experiment for its learning value, regardless of the outcome. Providing resources and support is akin to equipping a team with the best tools for the job, ensuring they can build and innovate effectively.

At work it takes time to get to know the teammates. In many occasions I noticed that colleagues do not know much about their colleagues, just work basics. For me the rule number one is get to know your teammate. This can only be achieved to give sufficient times to spend outside of work. The best way to do it bringing teammates together in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects. People can be themselves when there is no money or competition involved. Volunteering creates an atmosphere where there are no masks and due to the nature of it, raw emotions involve. When CSR projects become more regular, teams get to know each better and channel focus on the real purpose of being a better team, always...

One of my favorite exercises is to ask members to describe the attributes of a great team. From there, I ask them to describe the behaviors that enable those attributes. Finally, I ask them what behaviors they commit to doing. Ultimately, what happens is they see where they can take more personal responsibility to behave the way they must to create a great team. By doing this as a group, they invite teamwork and shared accountability for success. It is a very powerful and proven exercise.

Connecting takes time. You have to actively invest in it, particularly in distributed teams that don’t have a lot of casual interaction. It’s easy for it all to become work, work, work. Everyone has a role to play. As an employee we have to make sure we are proactively sharing information people need about us and our work. If you’re struggling with something you HAVE to tell people - they can’t read your mind. As a manager we need to find the ways that we can connect comfortably and authentically with our team. As a leader we need to role model making this invest in our relationships at work.

I've learned that it's crucial to get your team to bond with each other. This means making sure they feel like they belong and are part of a community. How do you do that? Well, it's about giving them chances to work together, talk openly, and share their thoughts and ideas. You've got to create an environment where they trust each other, respect one another, and understand each other's feelings. Another important thing is to value their strengths, appreciate what makes each person unique, and help them when things get tough. And don't forget to encourage your team to have a good time together, hang out, and celebrate achievements. These things help create a strong and supportive team, which is super important for success in business.

This is the most powerful of them all. An employee whose personal purpose is not aligned with that of the Organisation's will not give their best. In a worse case senerio, they will be working at cross purpose with the organisation.

In my experience as a successful businessman for the past five years, I've found that it's crucial to connect what your team does at work with what they care about personally. How do you do this? Well, start by asking your team what's important to them, what keeps them motivated, and what makes them happy. Then, help them find projects or tasks that match their interests, strengths, and goals. It's also important to support your team in balancing their work and personal life. Encouraging them to pursue their ambitions, both in their careers and personal lives, is key. When people feel that their work aligns with what matters to them personally, they tend to be more motivated and satisfied, which is great for both the team and the business.

Helping your team find meaning, purpose, and alignment with personal values involves fostering an environment that encourages open communication, setting clear goals that resonate with individual values, and connecting those goals to the broader purpose of the team or organization. Encourage discussions about personal values and how they intersect with the team's mission, ensuring tasks and projects allow for autonomy and contribution toward a shared vision. Regular check-ins, feedback sessions, and recognition of accomplishments that tie back to these values can also reinforce their importance within the team dynamic.

I had a team choose a cause to support. We then created lists of work that needed to be done. Each person had an opportunity to select their preferred "job." These were selected based on interests, skill strengths, or personal development goals. By having each person find a place they were excited to contribute, the team's overall impact was exponentially better, and everything felt excited by the outcomes. We had fun AND made a difference.

I've found it important to encourage my team to make a positive impact. I motivate them to use their skills for causes they care about, whether through volunteering, donating, or supporting important issues. Recognizing their efforts and achievements in creating a positive social or environmental impact is crucial. When your team feels empowered to make a difference, it boosts their sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Regular reflection and review are key in nurturing a culture of purpose within a team. In my experience as a project manager across various sectors, I've found that inviting team members to share their stories and insights about their work's meaning significantly enhances team cohesion and motivation. For instance, in a marketing project, we held bi-weekly meetings where team members shared how their tasks tied into their personal and professional growth. This practice not only celebrated our progress but also highlighted challenges, fostering a supportive environment. Actively seeking feedback and being willing to adapt strategies based on team needs are crucial.

According to Shirzad Chamine, a team needs the following in addition to purpose to be effective: 1. Earned Trust 2. Healthy Conflict 3. Mutual Accountabilty

In fostering team purpose, it's essential to integrate core values and beliefs into daily practices. As a project manager with diverse experience, I've learned that aligning team efforts with overarching principles not only boosts morale but also enhances productivity. One approach is to regularly connect project goals with individual passions and the company's mission. For example, in a recent IT project, we aligned our technical objectives with the company's commitment to innovation, allowing team members to see their work as a contribution to cutting-edge advancements. By nurturing an environment where every task is seen as part of a larger purpose, team members find deeper meaning in their roles, driving them towards excellence.