The goal of a manager is to develop a successful and efficient team based on shared enthusiasm, collaboration, and general happiness. When I picture this goal, I can imagine the workspace, but more than that, I can see the smiles, hear the laughter, and feel the camaraderie and excitement.

When you are around this kind of team, you notice that they have a buzz, an energy that draws people in. Just being around this team is invigorating. The group's energy creates a powerful environment as others emulate how that team interacts and works.  

As with most things worth doing, developing this team is a lot of work. The work is worth it. Enthusiasm and excitement are multipliers, and once added, these ingredients trigger exponential growth. The returns are high, so this end goal should always be on your mind as you lead your organization and work with your staff. 

What does it take? Well, it takes a lot, and articles throughout this site will help you, but we are starting at the beginning. The first step towards the ultimate team is transparency on how they fit into the organization. Feeling important is a crucial component of the confidence needed for your folks to be ready to innovate, collaborate, and generate positive energy. To this end, we will first talk about your team's purpose.

Purpose

Everyone on the team needs to understand how they fit into the larger enterprise.

This purpose is the overarching view of how your organization contributes to the company objectives and strategy. Folks need to know that they, and their group, are important and key players in the company's success.

What is the value of communicating purpose?

1. When employees understand how they contribute to the success of the business they have pride in their work and themselves.

2. When people understand why the company has hired them, they work with increased confidence and bring better solutions because they understand the need the role was created to fill.

This purpose is your employer's reason for you to come to work. (note that I said - your EMPLOYER'S reason. We will talk later about individual motivation. You must have a firm grasp of the purpose to communicate it clearly to your employees. You need to be able to answer the question: Why are you and the folks that work for you part of the company? Understanding the purpose is vital for individual goals, so that employees can develop in a way that aligns with the business, and it brings an understanding which will influence how folks go about solving problems.  

How can you get a clear understanding of your organization's purpose?

1. Evaluate your job description, if documented, or the job requisition under which you applied.

2. Look at the job descriptions or requisitions for your direct reports.

3. Talk to your boss and get clarity on their expectations.

4. Look at the enterprise's mission and strategy.

After you have gathered the information, you need to put it all together, into a concise message.

Communicate the purpose

Let's assume you have done the work and have a firm grasp of the purpose. The next step is to communicate the message to your team. To frame your message, pretend that you are speaking with someone not at your organization and not in your field. Writing your communication with an outsider in mind will ensure that your message is clear, devoid of corporate jargon or acronyms, simple and direct. Once you have framed your message, you should communicate it in person or at a virtual meeting. Presenting your purpose in in a meeting provides a forum for people to ask questions.

In your purpose meeting explain

1. How the larger group is essential to the the business

2. How every role contributes to the group's success, including your own

Your employees want to know how they fit and how their work is essential. In addition, all employees must understand how their colleagues contribute. They are part of a team, and presenting the purpose in terms of the collective roles of the entire group builds the groundwork for collaboration and respect. Do not forget to include how YOU contribute. We have all heard, "I don't know what my boss does," and this sentiment stems from the fact that folks often don't have visibility. As the manager, you have a vital role in the organization, be transparent about what you do, and again, do not use corporate jargon. There is nothing worse than hearing a manager say, "I focus on strategy and thinking outside the box." A vague message makes it sound like you don't do much. A better response would be, "I design our projects to align with corporate strategic goals and present metrics that show our team contribution and value." You work for the company AND your employees. Be sure the description of your contribution touches on that fact while being clear and specific.

Once you have had your meeting be sure to publish documentation so people can refer to the material. The documentation should reside where it is easily accessible by all. When we get busy we tend to start focusing on task completion, putting larger objectives out of mind, and miss the forest for the trees. In your communications regularly refer back to the team purpose to help the team keep the larger objectives in mind.

Now barring a significant corporate change in direction, like an enterprise re-org or acquisition, your purpose should not change, so this document should be static. If the purpose does change, you need to start over in terms of definition and communication.

Once you have aligned your team to the group's high level purpose in the enterprise, you need to provide even more clarity in terms of roles and expectations. It is time to dig deeper into how you provide transparency into "what good looks like" for each position and level.