Team Inspiration & Motivation after Failure
Failure should be our teacher and not our undertaker. Failure is a delay and not defeat. It’s just a temporary detour rather than a dead end.
Denis Waitley
Hands-up who likes the feeling of missing a deadline? Overspending the budget? Who has looked around the room and seem the deflated faces of the team members that has been battered and bruised by the latest project. How do you and your team recover from that?
According to a KPMG research piece, 70% of organizations within a 12-month time frame face least one project failure. That means the majority of us have experienced some kind of failure in our recent memory.
We can all agree that no one likes to fail. But, sometimes, no matter how brilliant the strategy is and how much effort your team puts in, failures happen. You maybe the best team in the world but circumstances that aren’t always in your control can cause the train to come off the tracks.
Whilst most businesses will perform a post-mortem or retrospective of the project to see where processes can be improved it is rare that any thought is given to the actual people and how we can get them back on track. For me this is vital as it results in low morale, lack of productivity and motivation, which from a business perspective is a disaster.
I want to explain some practical steps that can be taken to get everyones mojo back.
It is everyones responsibility as team member of bringing your team back into the game. We need them that they’re one of the best teams in the world. Whilst there’s plenty to learn from failure and can’t and shouldn’t break you.
Here are eight things you can do to help.
Motivation after a set-back
- Control Emotions
- Give Your Team Members Space to Recover
- Schedule a Meeting & Discuss What Went Wrong
- Don’t Target the Team for Shortcomings
- Revamp the Workplace
- Shift the Mood
- Encourage Self-Development & Collaboration
- Build a Failure Proof Plan & Ask Everyone to Contribute
Control Emotions
This is a hard one. Emotions make us human and I’ve never quite worked out why businesses think they can remove them from the workplace as you can’t subdue what is hardwired into us.
Acknowledgement is a better approach and is the key to dealing with emotions. There is no point ignoring that people are disappointed or angry at the outcome but what shouldn’t happen is for the emotions to dominate. Emotions are contagious. Ever worked with someone who never stops complaining? Is difficult to stay in a good mood when they’re about? So don’t pretend they don’t exist but don’t let them overtake.
Before you take the first step towards inspiring and motivating your team after failure, you need to control your own emotions. A leader’s or project manager’s feelings are way more contagious than those of team members.
“Failure is not the opposite of success; in fact, it’s a huge part of it.”
You need to convince yourself that it’s okay to fail. Most teams do. In fact, you should be willing to fail.
The “I am okay with failing” mindset will help you avoid getting stuck in a negative space.
Do anything you can to move on from the disappointment.
If needed, take a short break. Reach out to and have a discussion with your peers or friend.
Throughout the entire process, make sure that you are not faking it.
Taking charge of your emotions is the first step towards bringing your team back on track. So, make sure you do it right.
Give Your Team Members Space to Recover
“Remember, 99% of the time, what people are going through has nothing to do with you. So, for a moment, take a step back and give them their space.”
Once you are in control of your emotions, you may badly want to be the beacon of positivity for your team. While it’s completely understandable, you need to put yourself in your team members’ shoes.
Project failures often lead to disappointment and negative feelings. Currently, your team might be going through the same. Having a “Let’s move on” talk too early may result in your team members thinking of you as someone who’s uncaring and uncommitted.
Most of your team members may be feeling low, and no matter how badly you want to get your team back on track, it’s advisable to step back and give every single team member the space to recover.
Schedule a Meeting & Discuss What Went Wrong
When the time is right, schedule a meeting and invite every single team member to it. Finally, it’s time to have the “Let’s discuss what went wrong” talk with your team members.
Whether your team missed a serious deadline or didn’t match the consumers’ expectations, you need to find out the reason behind it.
And while doing so, don’t sugar coat anything. Avoid phrases like ‘we sub-optimized,’ ‘let’s look on the brighter side,’ ‘a mistake was made,’ ‘we’re lucky it happened this way.’
While failure is the stepping stone to success, you need to avoid making the same mistake twice. That’s the reason you should go round the table and listen to what every team member has to say on the subject.
Note down everything. Focus on the facts. That’s what good leaders do.
Don’t Target the Team for Shortcomings
Throughout the “Let’s discuss what went wrong” meeting, while your focus should be on finding the root of the problem, you need to make sure that you are not blaming anybody in front of everybody else.
Rather than focusing on who to blame, it’s important to consider what’s to blame.
“Tough times don’t last, but tough teams do.”
And if you want to build a tough team, you need to make sure that the focus is on the entire team rather than a single individual.
If the project failure was just one person’s fault, then schedule a private meeting with the individual. But, while having a one-on-one talk, make sure that you are focusing on the person’s action rather than the character.
Team members make mistakes. That doesn’t mean they made them intentionally. It’s important to understand why the mistake was made so that it can be avoided in the near future.
While addressing the group, even if you are trying to convey the message to a single person, make sure that you don’t frame it in a way that it’s obvious. Don’t single anyone out.
Revamp the Workplace
Now, once you are done with these meetings, you need to take the much-needed steps to cheer your team members. A great way to do this is by ingesting positivity in the work environment.
Note — revamping doesn’t mean redoing your interior design. Instead, you may consider making a few alterations in the schedule or hosting fun or team-building activities.
Shift the Mood
Now, rather than focusing on the past failure, you need to shift the mood towards what’s next.
After a day or two, you need to push your team members to more open-minded and strategic thinking. Also, it’s equally important to discuss how to avoid any potential mistakes in the near future.
Reach out to every single team member personally and have a one-on-one discussion with them. Listen to what they have to say. Make sure that everyone’s filled with energy and has a positive approach.
Use humor to lighten everyone’s mood.
Encourage Self-Development & Collaboration
There may be a world full of reasons behind the project’s failure.
While you may have noted down the most relevant ones, sometimes it’s the individual’s shortcomings as well as performances that may affect the project outcomes.
Hence, as a team leader or project manager, your aim should be to encourage your team members to boost their competencies and acquire new skills.
For that, you can consider investing in self-development programs and invest in learning platforms.
You need to make sure that your team members are open to collaborating with each other. There shouldn’t be any room for team disputes.
Remember — united we stand, divided we fall.
So, to avoid any mistakes in the near future, focus on self-development and collaboration.
Build a Failure Proof Plan & Ask Everyone to Contribute
Now, you know what went wrong and the steps you need to take to avoid any future failures.
Based on what you have noted down and the things you and your team members learned, build a failure-proof strategy comprising your short-term and long-term goals. Also, add in the direction you’d like to take in the near future.
Call a team meeting and strategize the entire plan with every single team member. Review it with the upper management as well as the entire team. Involving them in the planning phase will also boost motivation and increase productivity.
Conclusion
Don’t let failures tamper with your team’s productivity.
Even the best team in the world fails. And it’s okay.
But what’s more important is how you deal with failure and bring your team back on track.
So, if you have faced a setback recently, relax! Just follow the eight steps we’ve mentioned above, and you’ll soon have your entire team ready to roll once again.
