As always, everyone is in the sweet excitement of entering a new year. I hear it from here and there, see it in photos and videos shared on social media: farewell events to 2023 are organized with dealers, customers, suppliers, or other stakeholders, and employees in almost every big company.
It’s natural.
Isn’t it always like this every December anyway?
How about adding one more activity this year – an activity that I’m sure you will benefit from. Not doing by your own. A small activity with your team… But only your team and you…
A brainstorming that will take a few hours at most…
How about spending some time with your team away from the daily hustle, phones, emails, and answering some questions I’ve listed below?
I did this in some year-end periods during my active management years, and I saw the benefits. I usually organized these meetings in an open conversation format… If you’re really busy and can’t gather everyone for such a purpose, you can also ask via email. However, even if you do so, my suggestion is to meet with your team when providing feedback.
Sometimes, you get very different answers, and sometimes everyone gives the same answer to some questions.
If my managerial life were still ongoing, I would ask my team this month, the following questions :
Let me give you a clue: It’s always good to start with positive questions in such matters. Especially if you’re doing something like this for the first time… Starting positively is important for employees to respond with confidence and without hesitation.
If my managerial life were still ongoing, I would ask my team this month, the following questions :
– What did we do very well as a team within the company in 2023?
– What could we have done better as a team within the company in 2023?
– What did we do better than our competitors in the market?
– What did our competitors do best in 2023?
– What was the most motivating thing for you in 2023?
– What were the most challenging things for you?
– What excites you the most about your expectations for 2024?
– In your opinion, what will be the biggest challenge for our company in 2024?
– What do you think will be the most challenging thing for our team in 2024?
– What will be the most challenging thing for you in 2024?
It’s up to you to shorten or lengthen this list. However, I recommend warning your team not to make their answers too long. You can ask them to answer each question in a maximum of 3 sentences, for example. Otherwise, some may take advantage of the situation and go into confession or blame mode. Then the flavor of this Q&A may be lost, or even if it doesn’t, it may deviate from its purpose.
If you’re not doing this activity in a conversation format, after reading the answers one by one and carefully, you can (actually you should) gather with your team, add your comments, and share all answers in feedback form…
The most interesting thing to me in such year-end evaluations or the thing I was most curious about was how the answers would change from one year to another. Based on the answers from the previous year, if there was no progress in the areas where I was responsible and accountable, I would be upset; where on the other hand if some things had improved, I would be really happy.
Now, Let’s find out the answers from your team…
Good luck!
And I wish you a happy new year…
