Miss Meet pays tribute to all the people involved in making the events industry successful.
Walt Disney once said, “Whatever we accomplish belongs to our entire group, a tribute to our combined effort.” This quote resonates with me as an event project manager because my events are not organised in solitude – they are a massive team effort. The team members’ dedication and passion is the driving force that makes events a success.
Passionate team members are an absolute asset to any project. I believe that passion is often an inherent characteristic in people; however, I also feel strongly that, as project lead, you have the responsibility to instil passion in your team.
There are a number of ways in which leaders can instil passion in their teams:
BE POSITIVE
Focus on the positive attributes of team members. The more one focuses on the positive aspects of team members, the more they will believe in themselves. This will drive them to enjoy their work and raise the bar. This, of course, does not mean that you should not point out where team members can improve or have made mistakes. However, these mistakes should be highlighted in a positive way. One should also encourage the team member to come up with a solution rather than showing them how to do something. This will empower them, which will in turn make them ‘own’ their area of work. Pride and passion are then an automatic result.
EMPLOY PEOPLE IN ROLES SUITED TO THEM
Carefully analyse the various positions on the team and ensure you fill the roles with team members who are equipped with the necessary skills. A team member who feels inferior or ill-equipped will ostracise themselves from the team in an effort to cover up their lack of knowledge or expertise.
It is also very important to look at a team’s chemistry. As team leaders, we need to be able to read personality types and try to match team members that will work well together and feed off each other.
ACKNOWLEDGE GOOD WORK
Most people are fuelled by affirmation and acknowledgement. It drives them to perform better and instils passion and pride. Never underestimate the effect of praise and acknowledgement.
When acknowledging team members, be conscious of the fact that people may respond better to certain types of acknowledgement, e.g. some prefer public acknowledgement, others may prefer a private note or email, and some see added responsibility as an acknowledgement of good work.
BE A CONSISTENT AND RELIABLE PROJECT LEAD
Team members understand that events are ever-changing and there are changes and last-minute crises to deal with. However, as the project lead, your approach to the team should always be consistent; e.g you cannot react calmly to a challenge the one day and then panic the next.
Team members should also clearly understand the priorities of a project and be reminded of the brief and objective, so that it is not clouded by individual ideas and minor details.
I want to leave you with these wise words from Steve Jobs: “People with passion can change the world for the better.” So here’s to fantastic teams and their leaders – let’s keep changing the world.
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