Mindbeat’s head of client and product development, Jessica Bellwood discusses a medal-winning strategy for keeping performance high and teams focused through to the end of the year and beyond.
As the leaves turn and the days get shorter, organisations are turning their attention to the final three months of the business calendar and how, in particular, teams are set up to achieve year-end goals and surpass financial or performance-based targets.
It’s a challenge often made harder by hybrid working arrangements and 24/7 digital connectedness, which have introduced more workplace distractions than ever before.
Countless teams will underperform and businesses will suffer this quarter due to our inability to focus on a single task for the time required to get the job done properly.
According to one recent poll of 1,600 employees and managers, more than 60% admitted that they rarely do even two hours of focused work each day without distraction.
So how do you keep your teams focused and year-end objectives firmly in the cross-hairs?
As an athletics fan, I’m excited about next year’s Paris Olympics. But I already know that the long-distance running medals will go to those athletes who set a steady pace for themselves from the off, conserve their energy for when it’s most needed, and then give it their all to finish on the podium.
In business, the last quarter is your sprint finish. So, to be in with a chance of winning Gold you need to understand at what pace your team has been running, how much energy they have left in the tank and then find a way to tap into those reserves for a strong finish.
Prioritise for a greater payoff
Start by bringing your team together to review priorities so that distractions don’t creep in.
Then, help them to agree on the best use of their available energy. Who needs to be directly involved and whose time could be better spent in a more supportive or administrative role? How will you measure success on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to ensure your team stays on track?
Making the last quarter count is all about ruthless prioritisation so that you remove roadblocks to team productivity and invest time and energy only in those tasks with the greatest payoffs.
Measures to encourage focus
You can’t expect every member of your team to have the same laser-like focus as an Olympic athlete. But you can help them shut out everyday distractions so that they feel more in control and less overwhelmed by what’s left to achieve in the year.
As neuroscientific research shows, the key to achieving huge team goals is to have the right skill sets in place to execute collective action, while optimising individual focus, task control and working memory capacity.
One way to encourage focused work is to put it on the calendar. Empower teams to block out certain days or times of the week for focused work.
During these hours, no one (including you as team leader) is allowed to schedule meetings or interrupt workflow.
Notifications are turned off, phones are put away and unrelated emails go unanswered.
Say ‘no’ well and discourage multitasking
Our brilliant Mindbeat coaches talk a lot about learning to say ‘no’ well and avoiding ‘switch-tasking’ (or multitasking as I’ve always known it).
Encouraging staff to say ‘no’ well is about normalising a workplace culture in which employees understand their priorities and feel able to express themselves if they’re feeling overwhelmed or can’t move outside of their prioritised lanes.
Avoiding ‘switch-tasking’ is about everyone’s collective understanding that spinning plates at work makes you less productive and reduces the amount of working memory available for the one task that could really matter.
Instead of giving it their all, if your team is juggling requests and flitting between meetings, emails and the task you’ve asked them to prioritise, they’ll only provide a fraction of their aptitude for something that could make all the difference between end-of-year success or under-performance.
For many businesses, the last quarter of the calendar is the most important one as success or failure will shape the outlook for the year ahead.
By formalising individual focus and team priorities while having the right support in place, not only will you make the last quarter count, but you’ll also set yourself up for success of Olympic proportions in 2024 and beyond.
Talk to Mindbeat about how our network of expert coaches can help your teams remain focused and prioritise success.