Unless you have disconnected from all media in the past couple of weeks, you’ve at least periodically tuned into some Olympics activity. People get wrapped up in their favorite events and feel that they’ve won a little something personally when their favorite team or individual wins. It’s not just an exciting time, it can be an inspirational time.
How can you use the Olympics frenzy to connect more closely and effectively to your team? I’m confident that if you use an Olympics metaphor to drive people to their goals in the next few weeks that you will be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
Whether you are leading a company, a construction crew, or a group of teen volunteers, the message is the same: Go for the gold!
This is a great way to get engagement. Brainstorm with your staff about a particular goal and how you can work together to “get the gold”. They’ll provide ideas that you might not have thought of. Come up with a plan and put it into action.
Create milestones that connect to Olympic measurements (such as distance, number of laps, etc.) and make sure everyone knows when you’ve successfully achieved these. Do you have a deadline driven by a third party? You can apply these mini targets tied to that time frame.
When you’ve finished your initiative, celebrate the results. You might even want to create awards for some offbeat accomplishments that tie to what you did.
Remember that your staff wants to be engaged. They want to do a good job. They want to feel proud of their accomplishments. A little Olympic spirit may be just the antidote to get through a hot and humid August and feel terrific about what they achieved.
Have a great week!
