Tips to keep your team focused and on track in 2026
New year, fresh start. You might have set some resolutions, chosen a word of the year, or be ultra clear about one thing you’d like to change or focus on doing really well.
What’s clear is, if you have set yourself some goals for the year - personally or professionally - you need a plan to keep you on track. A plan will help you measure how far you have come, tell you if you are on track and highlight when you have taken positive steps towards achieving success.
The reason why so many new year’s resolutions fail is a lack of accountability. We set a goal and start out feeling fresh and motivated. Then that motivation slowly wanes and the goal starts to slip away. Unless you have a plan and a friend, partner, colleague or coach to inspire and motivate you, it can be very difficult to achieve a goal on your own.
The same applies in the workplace. In order to be successful and achieve their goals, teams need to know the plan and work together to achieve it. Joining forces in pursuit of a clear goal keeps us honest, on track and accountable for our actions, and motivated to even achieve more beyond this. When managers know how to keep their team on track they have the power to create an engaged, motivated team that will keep delivering for your business.
Feedback sets your team up for success
Feedback is one of the most valuable mechanisms a manager can use to support, develop and steer their team towards their goals. It is the best way to build trust and confidence, and set your team up for future success.
If you don’t feel so confident in your ability to provide effective feedback to your team, don’t worry - it can be trained. Our Exceptional Leadership Makes Sense development programme tackles this very subject in module five: Keep on Track. We take time to reflect on what you see your team achieving and learn how to give feedback with courage and consideration of the other person’s feelings. Not all feedback is positive, but there are positive ways to offer not-so-good feedback. If you’d like to learn more about what we cover in Exceptional Leadership Makes Sense, take a look or book a Tell Me More chat with Sally.
Have you set your team up for success?
Before you give any kind of feedback to your team, one of the most important things you can do as a manager/trainer is reflect on your own performance. Have you done everything you possibly can to support, encourage and develop your team to give them the best possible opportunities at work?
When you train your team, do they enjoy it?
Are you sure they have understood the information you have given them?
After the training, do you notice changes in behaviours or processes aligned to training requirements?
Are your team reaching the required standards set?
If not, it is your role as their leader to offer support or go back and re-train them.
Don’t hide away from guiding your team
Giving feedback requires courage and bravery. You must always be considerate and sensitive in the way you give feedback. Doing this with confidence and conviction builds strong, trusting relationships.
Catch people doing great things
When it comes to your team, do you intentionally catch them doing great things? Noticing your team doing what you want them to do and feeding back on what they have done well is vital. It builds confidence. Build time into your schedule to observe your team and make notes on their performance ready for your next development conversation.
When you receive feedback that you’re doing well, doing the right things, and showing signs of progress, it feels amazing. I’m making changes in my lifestyle right now and my coach is brilliant at spotting the good habits I am creating. This motivates me to keep doing it.
Find ways to improve
To improve, we have to find ways to become even better. Every leader should feel confident providing guidance, hints and tips to help their team members improve and grow. At the core of this is trust - being open and honest always gets the best results.
One way to do this is to ask your team how they approach different tasks or situations. Listen to what they tell you, recognise and compliment the things they do well, and offer best practice tips to help them improve. Explain details they might be missing and demonstrate the way you would like practical tasks done. Learning by doing can be so effective.
My coach is brilliant at this two-way process. She knows my goals and guides me accurately to make progress and get where I need to be.
How to maintain excellent results
Achieving good results is a great feeling, but maintaining them is the only sure way to keep you and your team on track. Put clear measurements in place to help you continually achieve your outcomes. Numbers are a valuable indicator of whether or not you’re on track.
Accountability through coaching
We’ve mentioned the impact of coaching a few times in this post - and it really does work in keeping you accountable and on track, both personally and professionally. Coaching helps you achieve a positive focus, resolve challenges, and progress beyond your current reality. Sally Prescott is a trained, independent coach accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). Find out more about the benefits of coaching and how it could work for you.
Improve your leadership feedback skills
Before you can give effective feedback and impact employee development, every leader needs to feel confident asking for feedback to improve their own performance. This is another important aspect covered on our accessible, affordable and achievable open leadership development programme, which you can read more about here. Follow the links on the page to enquire or book your place.