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You and your team had invested time and resources to build a product or service, but it failed to achieve its goal in the marketplace. Disappointments are normal in the business world. There are times when your business fails to break even, but how you go about it is what matters most. For example, losing a contract to a competitor, losing a major client over issues associated with bad products, experiencing back-to-back poor sales, or return of a huge number of damaged products, abrupt termination of the contract, and so on can demoralize a leader and his team. 
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The idea of getting demoralized after a business failure is not strange, but if not handled carefully can affect your business negatively. This is why a post-business failure strategy is very important. Having such a strategy in place can help you navigate the troubled waters of business failure. In this article, we shall look at how to motivate a demoralized team after a business failure.

  • Take A Break 

The first step towards addressing your team after a business failure is to take a break. This is because when faced with an immediate business failure, emotions might be high at the moment and it will be counter-productive to address issues right there and then. Addressing business failure immediately might lead to poor communication and hurtful statement made on impulse. However, when the break is taken, you have the opportunity to cool off, internalize the problem properly and think out the next step to take. Therefore, when faced with an immediate major business failure, tell your team to take a break and reconvene for a general meeting at a scheduled time. This allows everyone to steam off heats of emotions and get their acts together. You can ask everyone to take a walk, a coffee break,k or simply close for the day and go home to rest.

  • Appreciate Team Members

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Showing appreciation or acknowledging your team amid a bad time can go a long way in boosting their morale. Therefore, rather than using swear words and heaping detestable words on them; remind them how useful they are to the growth of the company. Remind them how outstanding they have been in previous projects, and they can only get better if they remain committed.  

  • Avoid Blame Games

The next step towards motivating your already demoralized team is by avoiding blame games. When there are blame games either thrown at an individual or group it produces counter-productive effects. For example, blame games can further increase the tension in the room, further deplete the energy level of the team, and can lead to denial, less cooperation, and animosity. At worst, when a team member or group is blamed, it reduces their confidence.
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However, this does not mean that there should be a complete denial of what happened, rather errors should be pointed out brilliantly and weak spots should be addressed adequately. When blames are not traded, there is calmness and increased confidence, which creates the right environment for addressing problems.

  • Look At Errors Together

Get everyone talking about what went wrong. Ask them what they think was responsible for the failure. When you do this, you easily get everyone involved in spotting the problems. Ensure that the discussion is robust and that everyone is contributing to spotting the weak spots together. Ensure that the process is calm and that the discussion is devoid of blame games. Professionally point out errors and those responsible. Aside from this, you might receive expert opinions from team members.

  • Get Everyone Involved In The Solution Process 

Lastly, ensure that everyone is involved in proffering solutions. Avoid shoving instructions down the throat of your team. This process is best done as a brainstorming session.  Featured Image Source: Hubspot Blog
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This article was first published on 17th May 2022

nnaemeka-emmanuel

Nnaemeka is an academic scholar with a degree in History and International Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a creative writer, content creator, storyteller, and social analyst.

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