MORALE VERSUS EXECUTION

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Morale is the capacity of a group of people to hold a common spirit of loyalty and comradeship.  Execution, on the other hand, is the process of reaching an objective as the result of performance.  Morale and execution are the cornerstones of powerful organization.  The importance of morale is often being underrated due to it being difficult to be measured.  Morale is often confused with enthusiasm or situational motivation.  Morale is ingrained and tends to have a lasting quality.  While morale is important, the ability to execute cannot be discounted.  With the proper skills set, good teams should able to execute well.




Beware of poor morale as it is a deal-killer whenever it exists.  A team with outstanding execution ability but with poor morale will function below the normal standards of performance.  While a team with average to low execution skills but with outstanding morale will produce sales result consistently above average.


Execution can be taught to a willing group, but morale cannot.  Morale like reputation, takes time to develop and can be quickly lost.  People like to believe their futures are secure and actions by management that challenge that will degrade morale.  Most people want to work for leaders who care about them and who keep unnecessary changes to a minimum.  People also want to work for companies and managers who appreciate them.  When managers don’t care, they damage team morale.

Since morale is a state of wind, it difficult to measure.  But there are signposts that indicate the validity of them spirit in an organization:
1. 9 times out of 10 accomplish its objective ahead of schedule and with minimum resources
2. Arriving early at meetings and willing to stay late
3. Always be prepared in meetings
4. Always look and act sharp
5. Offering more positive suggestions then negative complaints
6. Quick to help others without requests of reward
7. They are ideal employees, that people can see and feel and people enjoy their company

Morale nudges out execution 9 times out of 10 as the single most important factor.  When we keep morale high, the work experience can be enjoyable.  High-morale teams are much more fun to be around.

John Treace
Management: Morale vs Execution 
Malaysian Business August 1, 2011