Tell The Story of Contribution
Workers around the world report in studies that the primary reason they remain engaged in their jobs is that they feel their work is making a meaningful contribution.
Conversely, employees who feel that the work they do has no value and is making no meaningful contribution are more likely to suffer from depression, which can lead to disengagement and even illness and addiction.
Telling your employees how their work matters is a worthwhile thing to do for this reason alone – it will make them happier people!
And here are three more benefits to crafting and telling your Team Value Story™:
1) Your Team Value Story™ helps you identify the true measurements of success for your team’s work.
2) It is marketing for your team. It is how other departments and Senior Management will come to see your importance in the company.
3) When you tell your Team Value Story™, you are seen as someone with a strategic vision and a good grasp on the bigger picture – important qualities of a leader.
What is a ‘Contribution’?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines contribution as the giving or supplying of something that plays a significant part in making something happen.
Every person wants to be a contribution. This is one thing that you can just know about people. You don’t need to know specifics about how or what they want to contribute, or how much of a contribution they are making. You can just look at any person and know that they want to make a difference in life.
Your team's contribution is what they are giving or supplying that helps make something happen. And when that something can happen, your organization gains a measurable result.
Follow the steps below to create your Team Value Story™ using your own words.
Your Team Value Story™ Step-by-Step
Use this guide to create your own version of this Team Value Story™ example:
"My team creates software for other employees, so that they can do their work faster. When employees can do their work faster, the company produces more products and revenue."
1. “MY TEAM…” WHAT does your team create, solve, generate, update…?
EXAMPLES: Develops Software, Solves Issues, Creates Sales Collateral, Audits Accounts Receivable, Produces Corporate Videos, Creates Consumer Products
2. “FOR” WHOM – Who uses what your team generates?
EXAMPLES: Customers, Employees, Partners, Vendors, Shareholders, Senior Leadership, Consumers, Communities
3. “SO THAT THEY CAN” – What is made possible for them by your work?
EXAMPLES: be delighted by using our apps, complete their work more efficiently, pay us more conveniently, make more informed strategic decisions
4. WHEN [insert #2] CAN [insert #3], THE COMPANY GAINS —–. Put 2 and 3 together and add what your organization gains as a result.
EXAMPLES:
- When customers can pay us conveniently, our collection rate increases.
- When Senior Leadership can make more informed decisions, our company grows.
- When users are delighted by our apps, our repeat visits increase.
Your Final Team Value Story™
To put it all together, the four elements of your Team Value Story™ are:
- What is generated by your team
- Who uses it, who are you producing this for
- When they use it, what is made possible for them
- When [insert #2], can [insert #3], what does your organization gain as a result?
My team ________[1]___________ for _______[2]__________, so that they can _________[3]_________. When ______[2]___________ can ________[3]______, our company ____________[4]______________.
Excellent Work!
Now that you have your Team Value Story™, start telling it often! Keep repeating it to your team, work it into conversation with your peers in other departments, add it to the beginning of your presentations, tell your boss, tell the CEO when you meet them and they ask you… ‘Now, what do you do here?’
This is the way to become a clear champion for your team, add meaning to your team’s work, and to be seen as a strategic leader.
A Bourke Action Guide™, 2021 © Bourke Coaching