[0:00]What is a team ownership mindset and more importantly, how do I go about increasing ownership within a team? I'll be answering these questions and explaining why creating a team ownership mindset makes a massive difference to team performance. If you create better team performance and a more motivated and engaged team, then you as a manager are going to get a lot more people to manage and everything that comes with promotion. I'm going through firstly nine characteristics of a team ownership mindset. Secondly, nine benefits of creating a team ownership mindset. And thirdly, 10 proven ways to create a stronger team ownership mindset. There are lots of steps that we can take as leaders and managers to encourage team members to take ownership. Ultimately, the team members and the team as a whole need to choose to take ownership. You can't force it on others or demand it. As we go through, I'll be sharing with you what I've found works well in encouraging ownership across the team.
[1:10]My name is Jess Coles, and if you're new here, enhance.training shares people management expertise, resources, and courses for you to manage your team with integrity and fairness and get outstanding results. I've included links to additional videos and resources in the description below as well as the video time stamps, so do take a look at these. And if you like this video, please give a thumbs up and subscribe. Let's start off by going through nine characteristics of a team ownership mindset. The biggest and most obvious sign of a team ownership mindset is that everyone in the team wants to do well. They want to do a good job, so they don't let themselves, their colleagues and the team as a whole down. There is more energy, conversations, collaboration and drive within the team. A team ownership mindset is more than team members taking responsibility. Everyone in the team knows and understands what they need to do. They have clear job descriptions and know what they need to deliver and when they need to deliver it. The team members are held accountable to deliver by their manager and by their colleagues. To create accountability, invest in visibility and focus on managing expectations at work. Create reporting, trackers, use whiteboards etc to show everyone how progress is going on an individual project and team basis. Explain as clearly as possible the expectations you have of them. When both responsibility and accountability are present, plus the environment encourages it, team members usually choose to adopt an ownership mindset. An ownership mindset is when the employees in their minds think like owners of the business. They go the extra mile to do the right thing for the business. You know, they take that extra client called just before home time. They take more care not to make mistakes, so they don't waste their time or cause wastage issues for instance. They care about doing the best they can for the business and their team. In contrast, an employee mindset is focused on activity rather than outcomes and about doing that activity for their contracted hours, but not more. An employee mindset is much less worried about the business and much more worried about themselves, even though without a business, they won't have a job. So to recap, key characteristics of a team ownership mindset include, firstly, caring about team performance and hitting targets. Secondly, consistently demonstrating responsibility. Third, having a clear understanding of how their role and what they deliver impacts the team and the business. Fourth, holding themselves and others accountable to deliver outcomes. Fifth, focusing on outcomes much more than activities. Sixth, collaborating so the team hits goals, I a very clear teamwork focus. Seventh, using initiative and being proactive to look for and deliver the best outcomes they can for the business. Eighth, much more likely to want to learn and improve what they do. And the ninth, more energy, enthusiasm, motivation and conversations happening within the workplace. As a manager, it is great to see a team adopting an ownership mindset. Having an ownership mindset in the team makes it a lot easier to hit team targets and have a lot more fun along the way. I know at least nine significant benefits of a team ownership mindset and these are. Firstly, teams perform a lot better when they have a team ownership mindset. Everyone holding team members accountable and those team members wanting to perform leads to better performance. Secondly, the team has higher morale and is more motivated. You know, everyone wants to do well, to do a good job and to make sure they don't let anybody down. Thirdly, you get a lot more collaboration and helping each other. And this in turn increases everyone's efficiency when doing their jobs, which in turn increases overall team performance. Fourth, there is a lot more trust throughout the team and between team members and management. Everyone trusts the other to do their jobs well and support them. Fifth, employee engagement and satisfaction is a lot higher. Each person is more involved in the running of the team, involved in the planning and the decision making and all the different aspects of what the team needs to achieve. Sixth, there is better decision making. If team members get involved and input into decision making process, their detailed knowledge of their areas, greater open discussion, combined with manager trust leads to better decisions at all levels within the team. Seventh, with a better, more enjoyable working atmosphere and team members supporting each other, you get better employee retention. And this leads to lower recruitment costs, less training and getting up to speed time and deeper team relationships, all of which help improve team performance. Eighth, the team is more likely to be adaptable and agile. Your team members are more willing to learn and change to what is needed by the team and the business from them. Team members with a team ownership mindset are more likely to push themselves and learn new skills and deepen existing skills. And ninth, you're more likely to have innovation within the team and from the team. Challenging the status quo, designing new or better processes and using new approaches to common problems are all types of innovation. Team members with a team ownership mindset are much more likely to be looking to make improvements and be more willing to go through the effort of implementing them successfully. The next question to cover, how to create a team ownership mindset in your team. Given the huge benefits you get as a manager and as a business from creating a team ownership mindset, why do so few teams have this mindset? The approach the manager has towards managing is the biggest factor in getting team members to take ownership. In my view, too many managers are expected and told to control, organize and delegate, rather than focusing on setting clear direction, supporting the team and working on creating a positive environment. Managers have too much focus on what the team is doing and not enough on how they impact the team through their behaviors, actions and decisions. Everything a manager does is in the spotlight, and so by managing themselves better, managers create less issues and manage their teams better. Yeah, for instance, if the manager coaches the team members to make decisions up to a certain point, rather than making those decisions as a manager, then the team members would take more ownership of the situations about which they're making decisions. It sounds very easy, yet in practice, it takes a lot of self-awareness and self-control not to make these decisions. You know, in the beginning when the staff member may feel out of their comfort zone and keeps trying to get the manager to make the decision, it's tough to avoid making decisions that we as managers feel very comfortable making. To enable staff members to take ownership, the manager must empower the team member and give them the right level of authority to take ownership. So 10 steps that I've found incredibly useful in creating a team ownership mindset are. Firstly, set crystal clear expectations, second, show the team the how, third, create visibility, fourth, promote psychological safety, fifth, delegate problems as well as tasks, sixth, encourage team level planning, seventh, always follow up, eighth, lead by example, ninth, resolve conflicts quickly, and ten, celebrate successes together. I go into detail on each of these steps in a video on 10 factors to creating team accountability. And there's a link showing on the screen to this video. Enjoy creating an environment that encourages a team ownership mindset and definitely enjoy the benefits you get by doing so. So in summary, how to get your team to take ownership, what is a team ownership mindset and holding team members accountable are all part of the same process of working to create the right environment across the team and then being there to support and encourage team members to develop their skills and confidence in taking ownership of the outcomes they deliver. Creating ownership thinking in your team is 90% within your control as a manager. You can create all the right conditions and then the team members have to choose to take ownership. I have found that when the environment is right, very few team members avoid taking ownership. So to recap, we've been through nine characteristics of a team ownership mindset. And also nine benefits of creating a team ownership mindset. And then we've touched on 10 proven ways to create a team ownership mindset as well. If you have any questions on what a team ownership mindset is, please leave them in the comment section below and I'll get back to you. And don't forget to take a look at the additional videos and resources in the description below too. Thanks very much for watching and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.
