Helping Your Team Find Meaning & Purpose – Support

If you work for a nonprofit or service organization, it may be easy to help people find the deeper meaning in their work. But what if you work in a bank, a call center, or a software company?

It’s essential to realize that every job provides a service to someone else – if it didn’t, it wouldn’t exist. Keep this in mind as you work with your team members to help them find meaning in their work.

Step 1: Write a Meaningful Mission Statement
Your organization’s mission statement is a good place to start. It should help you identify customers’ needs, the ways in which the organization will meet them, and how success will be measured.

You may not be in a position to change your organization’s mission statement, but you can write a mission and vision statement for your team or department. This statement should define the deeper purpose behind your work.

Step 2: Link Personal Drivers With Team or Organizational Goals

Your next step is to connect your team members’ personal goals to organizational ones. To start, meet one-on-one with each of your team members, and use McClelland’s Human Motivation Theory to help them understand what really drives them.

Next, encourage each team member to reflect on how they can connect their motivations with the goals of the organization. Remember that your role in this process should be that of a facilitator; try not to influence others too much with your own values or beliefs.

Step 3: Uncover Strengths

When you do work that uses your strengths, you slip into a state of flow – you are so engaged with your work that time seems to slip away. You often do your best work in this state. The same is true for members of your team. If you can help them discover their strengths, and the tasks that lead them to slip into a state of flow, you will help them find greater personal satisfaction in their work. Encourage team members to explore their strengths using the StrengthsFinder assessment, which will help them to uncover their top five strengths.

Step 4: Build a Positive Work Environment

A healthy, positive working environment brings out the best in everyone. So, make sure that you’re giving your team the chance to be the best that they can be. For instance, to help people build good work relationships , encourage them to socialize before meetings, or outside work . Give people more autonomy over their work, and provide learning and career development opportunities. Promote values such as integrity, honesty, and humility by praising employees who demonstrate them. When you create a work environment that is uplifting and supportive, it will be easier for your team members to stay connected to the deeper meaning in their work.

Step 5: Use Feedback to Boost Positivity

Positive feedback is a highly effective motivator. It reminds us that our work is noticed, and that it’s making a difference. Provide regular feedback, and share stories from customers or clients that show how your team is making a positive difference. This can be a powerful way to inspire your team members, and to keep them connected with the people that they’re helping.