Building healthy competition within your organisation is a certain way to foster innovation, improve efficiency and enhance the overall productivity of the organisation. When you pit employees against each other, the resultant engagement is higher and propels the company faster.
However, there is a thin line between healthy competition and cut-throat rivalry. With a little care, you should be able to promote healthy, team-lead competition.
#1 Hire The Right People
You need to pick people with the right attitude. Every position will have tens of applicants, each qualified. But your choice has to be the person with the right competitive streak; someone who will put the team first.
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#2 Establish Shared Goals
It is a good thing to challenge employees, but it should be done in the spirit of a ‘team first’ approach.
Establish concrete common goals that must be achieved. Conduct monthly meetings to praise and reward those employees who have shown exemplary performance.
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#3 Honour Individuality
Although nurturing shared goals, you do not want to undermine individuality. You should learn to value personal goals as well. A different approach will encourage intellectual diversity and therefore innovation. Recognize these thinkers and give them the environment to thrive.
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#4 Facilitate Feedback
Keep channels of communication and feedback open. Look for employees who can handle and even look forward to constructive criticism.
At the same time, as an organisation, you should be willing to receive feedback from your employees as well. A sign of a good manager is one who can listen to feedback, demonstrate the collaborative spirit and cultivate better employees.
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#5 Create A Culture Of Ownership
Encourage employees to think like an owner and let them believe the company is theirs. When they bring their personal touch to their actions, the ideas can be revolutionary. There is no limiting ‘project only’ thinking. The ideas can extend beyond the scope of daily work and embrace other areas for improvement too.
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#6 Have Fun
Lastly, never forget to have fun! Encourage team sports and activities outside of work. These team-building exercises will help foster a spirit of collaboration and bring employees closer.
It is a great idea to encourage competition, but ensure it is friendly and doesn’t turn into fierce rivalry. Keep these points in mind and you can use this team spirit and collaboration to drive your business even further.
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