How to Process and Overcome Team Failure in a Business

Businesses will sometimes fail. No matter the size or purpose of your company, employees may sometimes fall short of their daily objectives. On a larger level, 20% of small businesses will fail during their first two years of operations. When a failure in business does happen, employees and employers should treat the situation as a learning experience.

In certain circumstances, entire business teams fail to accomplish group objectives. Group failure isn’t a dead end; it’s only a chance to learn and to improve. When business teams treat these moments as opportunities to improve their processes and communication, one-time failures can contribute to long-term success.

How & Why Business Teams Can Fail

Business teams may fail because they lack the information, tools, or motivation necessary to complete a task. Employees and supervisors should take time to assess the situation to understand what went wrong and identify steps for future success.

 

Teams that routinely assess their performance will be more likely to succeed regularly. This assessment process doesn’t need to take all day; rather, your team only needs to discuss whether you were equipped with the tools and the workforce necessary to complete your assignments. If not, you should identify and pursue resources that could have prevented failure.

 

Ultimately, businesses can fail for a variety of reasons. These can include:

 

• Insufficient employees to accomplish large tasks;

• Inadequate resources allocated to a team;

• Missed group deadlines;

• Lack of motivation among employees;

• Unclear project roles among team members;

• Incomplete training for employees performing specialized project roles;

• Poor team leadership to drive a business toward success.

 

These roadblocks and others can lead teams toward failure. Fortunately, teams that learn from their failures can quickly see a shift toward success.

Overcoming Failure as a Business

The best businesses understand that failure doesn’t need to be permanent. Business teams that overcome misteps first diagnose their issues, and then take concrete steps toward preventing future missteps.

 

Reference the following tips and strategies below for more information on how you can help your team avoid failure in the future.

Establishing Clear Scheduling

No matter its potential, your business can fail simply because of a lack of clear scheduling. You can save time by using scheduling and shift management tools that identify where and when employees should work.

 

Whether you’re an employer, manager, or team member tasked with scheduling, you can register employee PTO and obtain digital signatures whenever necessary. Fellow employees can clock in, clock out, and track their own time. Appropriate schedule management helps employees at all levels understand their roles within a team environment.

Allocating Sufficient Resources

No matter the purpose or size of a business, corporate teams are more likely to thrive when equipped with the tools they need to succeed. Sometimes, the tools you need are simple. These items can include a desk, computer, writing materials, and a stable internet connection. Other times, resources might be more specialized, depending on the tasks you’ve been assigned.

 

Your team can more easily attain success when you’ve been equipped with the right tools. Perhaps more importantly, you’ll feel valued and respected by your employer when equipped with resources that make the jobs easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable.

Training Employees

Even a day or two of employee training can go a long way toward educating your workforce. In some circumstances, employees might perform their role incorrectly if they’re not fully trained, which can derail your entire team in their pursuit of success.

 

As an employee, you are often trained before you begin a new job. However, many employers do not offer any sort of refresher training to help you continually polish your skills and adapt to changing environments.

 

As processes change, technology evolves and company leadership develops, you can grow out of touch with corporate best practices. Before this occurs, employers should offer ongoing training courses to help you and other team members stay up to date on company standards.

Identifying Employee Roles

When team members do not clearly understand their roles, and how their tasks benefit the entire team, failure can result. If your team is serious about success, you should first identify each team member’s role. Whether you’re identified as a leader or a specialist, your role is critical to overall team success.

 

Many successful project managers first establish team roles before beginning any new project. This step will help you identify team leaders and offer each team member a clear understanding of their main tasks.

 

Once you outline team roles, all team members can operate correctly without accidentally completing tasks assigned to another employee. With a clear understanding of your role within a team, you will fulfill tasks efficiently, helping your business meet deadlines while avoiding extra hours.

Motivating Team Members

Another way that you can help your business overcome failure is by better motivating team members. Employees who feel motivated will often operate with higher productivity, and can even help to motivate coworkers.

 

Consider the following team motivation methods:

 

• Rewards for individual employees based on performance and output;

• Team meetings where leaders recognize employees who operate above expectations;

• Individual meetings between team leaders and team members, where members are recognized for their performance and any concerns are heard;

• Improved PTO for individuals who accomplish project objectives ahead of deadlines;

• Smaller weekly goals that are easily accomplished and instill confidence;

• Bright workspaces that foster a unified, collaborative environment;

• Gamified processes that transform routine project steps into a challenge with potential rewards.

 

You can try a variety of different incentives when it comes to employee motivation. Some team members are motivated simply by the nature of their work; others prefer motivating factors like weekly goals, reward-based feedback, or the potential for company growth. No matter which options you choose, make sure that motivation methods help encourage your employees or coworkers toward growth.