Is Your Team Ready For The New Year?

A new calendar year is an exciting time. It’s a fresh start and a chance to push yourself and your tech team to the next level.  There are many ways to prepare your team for the new year, but goal alignment is one of the most critical steps of the planning process. When you align goals from the organization down to the individual, you will set everyone up for success in the coming months.

Communicate Corporate Goals

In order for team members to push towards company goals, they have to understand just what those goals are. Present the overarching organizational goals to the team, being as clear and accurate as possible. Understanding company goals helps clarify focus and will provide a roadmap for connecting individuals to their place in the organization.

Communicate Team Goals

The next step is to set and communicate team goals for the year.  You may have several, but it helps to set a singular, main goal for the year and it should align with corporate goals. That main team goal should be ambitious – but achievable. It should also be able to be broken down into smaller goals and milestones throughout the year to help keep the group motivated and to track progress.

Set Individual Goals

Finally, break your team goals into individual goals for each team member. As you communicate individual goals, tie it back to the team’s singular goal as well as the overarching organizational goals. This shows people exactly where they fit into the big picture and helps them to see how even some of their most mundane tasks are valuable in moving the needle.

Remember that all goals should be SMART:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

Gather Resources

It’s great to set goals, but as a leader, it is necessary to ensure that everyone has the resources they need to achieve those goals. Identify potential gaps – skill gaps, personnel gaps, knowledge gaps and even gaps in tools and budget dollars and strategize ways to close them. If those gaps cannot be closed, it may be necessary to revisit and re-evaluate the goals. If a goal is impossible to achieve based on resources, it is not worth setting.

Make An Accountability Plan

Schedule regular check-ins – quarterly at a minimum, but ideally monthly- to meet with each team member and track their progress. Prepare for each meeting with metrics, provide feedback and walk away with action plans to help each person understand what they need to focus on.

Are You Looking for Top Tech Talent in 2019?

Working with and leveraging technology is becoming more complex, but it is people who help you achieve your goals. If you are looking to develop stronger technology hiring strategies in 2019 and attract top tech talent to your organization, partner with the strategic recruiters at Talon today. We look forward to helping you achieve your staffing and recruiting goals.