 Have you ever asked yourself… How can I keep my Sales Leader on this hot streak? How can I ensure my Project Manager keeps this good form? How can I build a team of winners? Recent studies shows that the Winner Effect may actually be real, and this blog aims to show you how it can be utilised for business productivity and performance! The Research – The Winner Effect: Biologists studying professionals in sport had noticed that an individual winning a game was more likely to win its next one. Such a finding raised the possibility that the mere act of winning contributes to further wins. Testosterone prepares the human for competition, but it is what happens next that drives the winner effect. After the game is over, the winning individual or team emerges with even higher levels of testosterone, the loser with lower levels. The winner enters the next round of competition with elevated testosterone levels, and this gives him or her an edge that increases its chances of winning yet again. Does testosterone power the winner effect in humans? Winning athletes experience a post-game spike in testosterone, suggesting that winning and losing streaks are a real thing caused by testosterone levels! A further study on the performance of a group of stock traders brought up an even more intriguing finding. The leading indicator for successful traders was their testosterone levels in the morning. The higher their testosterone levels, the better their performance!  (You can check out the full research in The Hour Between Dog And Wolf – John Coates) What has this got to do with my business and team? Wouldn't you love to tap into the Winner Effect to improve your team’s performance and productivity? Wouldn't you love to help create a hot streak for your sales team? Wouldn't you love to increase the hot hand of your Project Manager? Although the Winner Effect research has been focused on Athletes, by using some creativity you can make it apply to your team. Consider using competitions or games in the morning that are designed to give each employee a small win before they start their official working day. This simple activity will boost their testosterone levels and get them ready for the next win. An important win. A business win. Now when I say ‘consider using competitions or games in the morning’, I don’t mean for everyone to get their Nike gear on and start lifting and doing sprints!  Before you implement any games or competitions you need to ensure that you have the time, budget and dedication to make it a success. When coming up with games to create winners, you need to ask yourself and consider the following: 1. Consider having a point system that will ensure that every employee will get at least a small win 2. Is the game easy to implement? 3. Consider having a mid to long term sustainable game that includes a point system, leader board and several prizes 4. Will it be non-work related or will you link it into your employees work? E.g Product Knowledge Challenge 5. Is this game or competition inclusive for all of your employees? 6. Do I want to drive individual or team competition? (Another influence on testosterone levels and winning is rivalry, think John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg) 7. What other improvements or behaviours do I want to encourage? 8. What is the tone and theme to my game? How can I make it engaging? But won’t this take up time? If the original research wasn't enough to convince you that small wins for each employee could create the office Jessica Ennis than maybe this will… Research suggests that the rise of testosterone levels can last for years. This means, you can keep your team on a winning streak or have that all important winning mentality for a sustained period of time. If that wasn't good enough news, it has also been suggested that increased hormone levels can be communicated to other people. Think back to this year’s world cup, think about how Brazil performed with Neymar and how they fell so dramatically short without him. Why is that relevant for you? Every business has a top performer, whether that’s in the Sales team or Finance function. If you can keep your top performer in the Winner Effect zone than you will also raise the whole team and experience an upward climb of confidence! So yes, it may take time to think of an effective game (although there are many books for office games out there now!) but the rewards should shine through – think of the time given as an investment to your team and business.  So in answer to the original questions… How can I keep my Sales Leader on this hot streak? How can I ensure my Project Manager keep this good form? How can I build a team of winners? Use games, healthy rivalry and competition to help your employees obtain at least one ‘win’ and therefore increasing their testosterone levels. This is what will increase their chance in ‘winning’ their next client meeting, project deadline or customer service award.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AUTHORHi, I'm Chantelle Jones 
Categories
All
|