Engaging your employees in your vision is critical to your success. Engagement breeds motivation, loyalty, commitment.

But often, it’s the Chairman of the Board or the CEO providing death by Powerpoint to the team in dry, statistical terms and wondering why there are glazed eyes.

Your vision has to live. It has to be inspiring. There needs to be an element of reward – whether that’s monetary or congratulatory, for everyone involved.

Bringing your vision, strategy and goals to life

Here are 7 tips to help breathe life into your vision, strategy and goals.

  1. Set the scene.Explain how the strategy will benefit the business and your clients. Talk about what’s at stake if things don’t change.
  2. Be clear on the end goal and how to get there. Change is threatening. You need to bring your team on the journey with you, and reassure them that it’s worth the effort. Paint that end-goal in bright colours and have them feeling that the new pathway is an adventure they can’t wait to embark on.
  3. Use simple language. Talk in simple practical terms about what changes the new vision, and your goals, are going mean to their day-to-day roles. Use simple diagrams to demonstrate how processes interact and build the end goal.
  4. Break it down. There’s your big, bold vision and then there are the steps on the way. The short-term goals leading to longer term goals. Remove the daunting aspects from your vision, by breaking it down into easily understood and achievable pieces of work. But demonstrate how the small pieces build to the large vision.
  5. Consult. Your team members all have a brain, they have a range of skills and many of them will have been with you for a while. Ask their opinions. Ask for feedback. Ask if they can think of more efficient ways to reach the goals.
  6. Update. Hold regular meetings to update your team on what progress has been achieved. Goals, by necessity, need to be flexible. Markets change and competitors can throw a spanner in the works. Keep everyone informed and focussed on the success of your business.
  7. Celebrate wins. If you are able, you should set in place a series of rewards or bonuses for every leg of the journey. Something your team members can strive to achieve. But regardless of the financial incentives, every major goal should be celebrated by the whole team together. Whether that’s a trip away to do a team bonding exercise, or a dinner (don’t forget partners, they’ve had to deal with your employees working hard to meet your goals), or just chocolates for everyone at their desk – it’s important to recognise and reward what your team has helped you achieve.