The purpose of this article is to remind leaders of the importance of allowing your teams to experience that feeling of completion as frequently as possible.
We all know that wonderful little buzz we get from ticking things off a list – that little tickle of joy we feel upon completion of a task. Psychologically for teams, an agile approach is important as it allows them to complete things time and time again – giving a never-ending opportunity to receive that little hit of satisfaction.
Never underestimate the power that a sense of completion has – regardless of the size of the task. A good example is perhaps interval training. Challenging yourself to reach ‘that next tree’, or ‘the farthest lamppost’. These small goals allow you to gather confidence and experience multiple ‘high five’ moments, moving you toward your fitness goals and helping you repeatedly do the same thing over and over again.
Applying agile to all your tasks
When I’m road-mapping with clients, we always set our annual goals and then work in monthly sprints. It allows teams to work on the current month tasks and priorities, whilst also understanding what is coming up in the following month. I’d urge you to go even further, and apply the agile approach to every big task you’re facing. Break the task down into small, individual tasks, and allow the feeling of completion to arise over-and-over again.
There’s a tendency – especially in busy, fast-paced businesses – to start a task only to jump to another, perceiving it as more important or urgent. This tendency to jump from fire to fire often leaves a lot of partially completed tasks in its wake, and it’s not great for self-esteem and motivation. By breaking each of your big tasks down, teams can continue to complete multiple tasks across numerous projects at the same time – and still feel a sense of achievement.
Celebrate completion
This is important. Make time to celebrate your completions. Encourage your team to stop and enjoy the completion – even if just for a few moments.
If you help everyone feel this sense of completion – often – you’ll be amazed at the change in productivity and motivation.
Andy.