Small Wins Are Still Wins

Heey there,

You know the feeling when you suddenly realise
how unappreciative you are about your smaller wins?

It’s so easy to overlook small achievements in pursuit of a major goal.

While it makes sense to keep your eyes on the prize, appreciating your achievements along the way can help you get there quicker.

The same goes for training a team.

In a recent Connecting The Dots EP Fred Linfjärd, a seasoned marketing expert, shared his thoughts on why celebrating even the expected wins can boost morale, motivation, and overall business success.

But first.
Do you know how many years it took to build the Great Wall of China?
I'll let you know at the end of today's course.

🚀 IMPORTANT NOTE:

We'd love to have you on a live event hosted by Growth Tribe where I'll talk about our journey with setting up a content system. 🧑🏻‍💻

Also, we still have a slot open: As you might have seen, we have had to create a 'Wait List' for new clients as we've been fully booked for the foreseeable future.

However, as Saasmic is continuously growing, we now have a few openings. We have some preplanned clients, but if you are part of a mid-market SaaS/tech business and are looking to scale » hit us up.

Why we are not a good fit:
1. If you don't yet have product-market fit,
2. you don't have any marketing activities yet,
3. if you mostly sell to enterprise clients,
4. if you are looking for order takers,
5. if you want to do boring marketing & don't want good laughs,
we are probably not a great fit for you.

However, if you find these insights valuable, the best way to support our work is by inviting your friends to become Dot Connecters and learn more about Connecting The Dots between marketing activities and financial goals.

Topic Of Today

• 🎙 Episode Highlight: The Power of Small Wins

• 📚 Deep Dive: Understanding & Leveraging Small Victories

• 📌 Actionable Advice

• 📚 Homework

• 💡 Pro Tip

📽️Connecting The Dots: Fred Linfjärd📽️

Fred (Director of Growth at Planday) shared an interesting perspective about training teams that might just reshape how you view success in your business.

1. 🎙 An Episode Highlight: Train Your Team On Small Wins
   

In this bit, Fred talks about the importance of celebrating every win, no matter how small. While we all love a big victory, it's those smaller, consistent successes that build momentum and keep the team motivated.

Sometimes a beautifully crafted campaign doesn’t quite hit the mark while a simple, straightforward idea may blow expectations out of the water.

The unpredictable nature of business means you can't always know what will work, but you can always learn from what does.

Like when a “by the book”, polished creative doesn't resonate as much as a simple stock photo. Or when a strategy that seemed too basic ends up being the most effective.

Key Takeaways:

1. The cumulative effect of Small Wins:
Small achievements, when recognised and celebrated, can collectively create a significant impact. They not only boost morale but also foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

2. Unpredictability in Business Outcomes:
Not all well-planned strategies guarantee success. Sometimes, simpler approaches can yield better results. It's essential to remain adaptable and learn from every outcome.

3. Checking Ego at the door:
Success in business requires humility. It's crucial to approach tasks with an open mind, free from preconceived notions. As Fred mentions, having experience and intuition is valuable, but it's equally important to be adaptable and receptive to new insights.

2. 📚 Deep Dive: Understanding & Leveraging Small Victories

The Progress Principle:
Harvard Business Review coins the term: 'Progress Principle'. Making even minor progress in meaningful work can significantly boost motivation, emotions, and perceptions.

The double-edged sword of Progress and setbacks:
While progress can uplift & motivate, setbacks can have a deeply negative impact, often more potent than the positive effects of progress. You should always keep in mind that your team will be more likely to remember or worse dwell on mistakes and setbacks. So keep the morale up by acknowledging achievements.

Minor milestones & their Major impact:
Even small wins, termed as 'minor milestones', can have an outsized positive effect on an employee's inner work life. These seemingly minor achievements can evoke strong positive reactions, so it makes sense to log smaller milestones next to major goals.

The essence of meaningful work:
Work doesn't need to change the world to be meaningful. Even tasks that contribute value to a project or a team member can be perceived as meaningful, and progress in such tasks can positively impact overall efficiency. So even trivial tasks can affect overall business success.

The role of managers in supporting progress:
Managers play a pivotal role in fostering progress. By setting a positive environment, staying connected with team activities, and being a resource rather than a micromanager, they can significantly enhance the progress experience for their teams.

The Progress Loop’s impact:
The relationship between inner work life and performance is cyclical. Good performance, driven by consistent progress, enhances inner work life, which in turn drives even better performance, creating a positive feedback loop. So acknowledging wins is not about handing out participation trophies… but rather about creating an environment that supports high focus on each task, and thus builds momentum.

3. 📌 Actionable Advice

Recognise Every Achievement:
Don't wait for monumental successes to acknowledge your team's efforts.
Recognise every win, no matter how small, to boost morale and motivation.

Document Progress:
Create a visual representation of progress, like a progress board or a milestone tracker. This allows the team to see how their small wins are contributing to larger goals.

Feedback is Gold:
Regularly provide constructive feedback.
Celebrate the good and address areas of improvement positively.
This not only acknowledges achievements but also provides direction.

Encourage Reflection:
Set aside time for team members to reflect on their achievements and learnings.
This can be done through weekly round-ups or monthly reflection sessions.

Foster a Positive Environment:
Create a work culture where mistakes are seen as learning opportunities.
This will encourage team members to take risks and innovate,
knowing that they have the support and understanding of the team.

Empower your Team:
Give your team the autonomy to make decisions.
When they feel ownership of their work,
even small achievements feel more significant.

Share Success Stories:
Regularly share success stories, both big and small, within the team. This not only celebrates achievements but also inspires others to aim for similar successes.

Stay Connected:
As a leader or manager, stay connected with your team's activities. Your acknowledgement of their progress can be a significant motivator.

Re-evaluate Goals:
Periodically review and adjust goals. This ensures that they remain relevant and achievable, allowing for consistent progress and small wins.

4. 📚 Homework:

Progress Journal:
Start a daily or weekly progress journal.
Document all the tasks you've accomplished,
no matter how minor they seem.

Reflect on them at the end of the week
to see how they contributed to your larger goals.

Team Recognition:
Dedicate a portion of your team meetings
to acknowledge and celebrate small wins.

Encourage team members to share their achievements and learnings.

Goal Breakdown:
Take a significant goal you're working towards
and break it down into smaller, more manageable tasks.

As you achieve each task, mark it off and celebrate the progress.

Feedback Session:
Organise a monthly feedback session with your team.
Discuss recent achievements, even minor ones,
and gather insights on areas of improvement.

Let your team give feedback on your work too
to see what you can do to raise team efficiency.

Personal Reflection:
Dedicate 15 minutes at the end of your week for personal reflection.

Think about the small wins you've achieved
and how they've impacted your motivation
and overall work performance.

5. 💡 Pro Tip:

Don't wait for the home runs.
Celebrate the base hits, because they add up and drive the game forward.

Remember the Progress Principle:

Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work.

And the more frequently people experience that sense of progress, the more likely they are to be creatively productive in the long run.

Fun fact answer:  
It took over 2,000 years and several different dynasties to finish it.
While they might not have had the best time building the wall, it sure took a lot of incremental effort to finish it.

Isn't that just fun?

Keep learning and growing! 🚀 ❤️

New episodes of Connecting The Dots & Business Companion are coming out regularly, so stay tuned.

Subscribe to our podcast and keep an eye on your inbox for the next edition of our newsletter as well.

LinkedIn posts worth reading this week:

1. 5 birds with 1 stone
How would you: 1. Start building up organic traffic, 2. Make the socials pop off, 3. Source new partners, 4. Produce ads for paid distribution, 5. Get the brand “out there” all at once.

2. Does your content really affect bottom-line revenue?
Sure it does. But which elements of it drive more than others?

3. The quickest way to test marketing campaigns
You could get a marketing/growth program off the ground with events, conferences and communities... but would it make sense?