7 Critical Questions to Assess Your Team’s Energy

Maybe because I am getting older, I am more aware of my own energy level. In recent years, I have become more guarded in what I give my energy to. It has been easier for me to say “no” to certain things because the energy required is more than I am willing to give.

Are you aware of your own energy level? Of the energy level of your team? Are you wasting energy that isn’t moving your organization forward? Energy is one of the great resources of the team you lead. Do you regularly check the energy level of your team?

It might be time for you to pause, look, and take an energy check-up:

1. Are people on your team eager to communicate with you about their work? A new customer, a new client, a new product, a new sales opportunity? Do you regularly get “interrupted”” with good news?

2. Are your leaders eager for meetings with you or do they dread your meetings? Are they walking into the meetings eager to share news about their people and their work?

3. When you walk around, are people glad to see you coming or do they wonder what they have done wrong?

4. Is there optimism about the future? Is your team talking more about the future or the past? Do they eagerly share ideas about future opportunities and the potential for future growth?

5. Is your team working together formally and informally? There is always more energy when people are working with others. You should hear a “buzz” of conversations as you listen to your team as ideas are generated and problems are solved.

6. Overall, does your team look rested or exhausted? One of the real dangers of the pace of change today is that we are overextending ourselves. More time does not mean more energy. Rest, exercise, and a break from execution can give way to amazing creative energy and new ideas.

7. As a leader of faith, one of the best energy sources is prayer. Is prayer a normal and natural part of the work of your team? Do they individually and collectively pray, asking God to give them insight, wisdom, direction, and favor in the work they do? Do they naturally pray for others on the team?

If your organization’s energy is low, you have some work to do as a leader to refuel your team. A good place to start is in prayer.

“I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit, and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love.” (Eph. 3:16–18 hcsb)

I would value hearing your insights on the energy level of your organization.

Blessings,
Selma