If you have ever heard of emotional sales you will know that almost all marketing campaigns today are based on the emotions that products or services generate, instead of the characteristics of those products or services. The products that actually work and whose customers buy and are in high demand are said to be those that are aimed at healing a "pain" or fulfilling a "wish." And of these two, the need to get out of pain moves more than the desire for something more or better.
This same principle can be applied to a work team. What does your team want? What do you want to achieve? These answers will be much less powerful than these others: What does your team need? What do you need to avoid? The reason is that the former assume that the "status quo" is still an option, and even if you want more of something or improve something, it will not be too bad if the change does not take place right now. On the contrary, in the second group, the “status quo” is supposed to be no longer an option and the need is to escape from it. There is no longer a comfort zone or a comfort zone, the only option is change. And that is much more powerful.
With this scheme you can work the expectations of your work team, identifying what their needs are and what their wishes are:
Step 1: Identify your team's needs
What does your team need? What are the basic points that you must satisfy in order for it to work? It seems too obvious but if there is an individual concern that does not let your team work (or one or more members), you can hardly achieve the collective results. Basic needs such as the economy (we are not talking about the value, but the salary necessary for an individual to support his family or the excessive debts in which he could have been involved), safety conditions at work (without health risks and life), job stability (without fear of losing work at any time) and emotional environment (not feeling undervalued, emotionally hurt, isolated or discriminated against) are basic needs without which it is impossible to build a work project.
Step 2: Identify your group's wishes
How can you enhance the results of your team? How can you improve their interaction, their sense of belonging and identification with the company? Unlike the “emotional environment” that we mention as a basic need, a group desire is the “environment of recognition and appreciation of their work”. Here it does count an individual's desire to feel part of a team where what they do is valued, or to depend on a leader who recognizes their efforts and achievements. The organizational climate that encourages growth and fosters fruitful relationships is also a desire that will strengthen team relationships. The projection of career, that is to say that an individual visualizes that he has possibilities to continue growing, learning and developing in the company, is also a factor that adds up.
Step 3: Put together an action plan to meet the needs
This is essential and I would even tell you that it is urgent. An individual with an unmet basic need becomes not only a troubled employee, but the problems will inevitably carry over into their work environment. How do you think a collaborator whose security conditions are unreliable will react? Or whose feeling of instability overwhelms him from time to time? This person cannot work. He does nothing but think about his problem. Assembling a plan may require help from other sectors of the organization, such as Human Resources or Occupational Safety and Health, but the fundamental thing is to define what actions can be done with this or these collaborators who suffer this need to satisfy it. Put dates, responsible and execute them.
Step 4: Put together an action plan to fulfill your wishes
I know that it may seem utopian, but this “fulfilling desires” is nothing more or less than trying to make the team's expectations regarding improving their career or job position be heard and on track. Building a plan is defining what actions can be done to cover each “desire” of the collaborator. Although some actions will be carried out collaboratively with other areas, there are always some that are viable within the framework of a good leader: for example, the recognition of achievements and efforts, the motivating environment, education and training, growth and professional development. It does not matter if the actions are few, the important thing is that they are systematic, constant and that they become habits both for the organization and for the collaborators.
Step 5: Prioritize the action plan to meet the needs
From what we explained in the beginning, unresolved needs are much more powerful than unfulfilled wishes. In this way, a work team will show much more dissatisfaction if a latent basic need than with a projected desire that can still be achieved in the future. There is a different time frame for both. And in my opinion, the unresolved basic needs nullify many of the abilities and talents of each individual in the group, because it limits his mind thinking about how to solve his basic need, leaving him little space to enjoy and give quality to his work.
Follow these tips to detect needs and desires in your work team and you will improve the work environment and achieve the most outstanding collective results.
