In my work with leaders and teams, I often find that there is a lack of clarity around purpose. This can be overall purpose of the team, or more specifically around purpose of an individual’s contribution to the team or a lack of connection between a team’s purpose and a company mission statement.
I find that many teams seem to be on autopilot around their purpose, caught up in doing tasks but not thinking about how those tasks fit into a larger picture and how they impact other parts of the organization. While we hear about the pace of change, and tasks and priorities seem to change quickly for teams, I don’t often hear about teams re-examining purpose, stakeholders and impact in the face of these changes.
Why is clarity of purpose important? According to Gallup research, one of the top 5 causes of burnout for employees is unclear communication from manager. If leaders are unclear of messaging, or unable to communicate clearly to others, the chances of burnout increase. Gallup further says: “Employees are significantly less likely to be burned out when they can connect their work to their company’s mission or purpose in a way that makes their job feel important.” Gallup’s Perspective on Employee Burnout: Causes and Cures 2020
As a leader or an individual contributor, getting clarity is critical to staying engaged and focused. If there is something you are not clear on – ask about it today. Work with your team to ensure that they are clear on what you expect and how it ties to the bigger picture for your organization.
Aligning around a common purpose is critical for employee engagement and to reduce the chances of burnout. If you aren’t sure where to start to drive more clarity of purpose for your team, here are some questions for you to ask the team and spend some time discussing.
- What’s the difference this team is intended to make to (the business, patient care, society etc)?
- Who would care, if this team didn’t exist?
- What important and desirable things wouldn’t happen, without this team?
- What undesirable things would happen, without this team?
- What key things wouldn’t happen in other parts of the organization/community without this team?
- How does being in this team give your work meaning?
As a leader, you could lead a discussion on your team. Ask them to describe the purpose of the team and see what kind of answers you get. As a member of a team, bring it up with your leader in a 1:1 meeting – how would the leader describe team purpose? – and is it in alignment with what you thought? If you find you only have vague answers to the question – what is our purpose as a team? – you may want to spend more time in your team meetings on this topic or bring someone in who can facilitate that conversation with you.
What do you think? Does your team have clarity of purpose? Connect with me on LinkedIn and let me know. www.linkedin.com/in/ridgelinenikkievans
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