Hard-Earned Lessons In Leading A Dysfunctional Team
From resisting the urge to
micromanage to making yourself replaceable, it's often the most trying times
that teach us the biggest lessons.
My most brutal adventure at work was
also most brag-worthy.
I was in charge of turning around a
team that was highly talented but consistently, and mysteriously,
underperforming. High turnover rates and missed deadlines were problems we
tried to address with different leaders over a span of three years. At the end
of 36 months of trial and error, I was offered the opportunity to take a fresh
perspective on this puzzle.
Among others, my challenge, however,
was that this department operated outside my area of expertise: I led business
designers and product managers, and this was a team of quality assurance
experts. I was their interim manager for nearly two years. It was a bumpy ride
and the root-causes for their low performance is a topic for another story. But
I learned approximately ten thousand lessons in leadership; here's seven of
them:
This team’s responsibilities had a
steep learning curve. I had no time to become a master of their domain. So, I
had no option but to resist my urge to micromanage their tasks. Instead, I had
to shift my focus to managing their dreams, their careers, and their future.
The result: I graduated from being a task-master to a leader.
Often, your employees spend more
time at work than away from it. Make it worth their while to show up each day
and give it their best shot. Work hard to help them trace the lines between
their actions and the impact on your organization. Don’t use the size of your
organization, or the lack of data as excuses for your inability to do so.
Establish disciplined routines for
informal conversations with individuals on your team. At these discussions,
don’t launch into an interrogation with closed questions such as: "Why is
___ delayed?" Instead, try open-ended queries, like: "How are
things?"
More important than the nature of
your questions, however, is to set a predictable cadence and pick the right
ambiance. Even the sidewalk is a better option than a conference room—which sets
a stodgy tone to the dialogue. The habit of talking frequently and casually
takes the anxiety out of scheduling "the talk" with "the
boss" when trouble is brewing or has boiled over.
A GPS needs to know where you are
and where you want to go before it can give you directions. In a similar vein,
before you unveil designs for another individual’s work-life, you must plot
their starting point, and their desired destination.
Your aim should be to thoughtfully
and incrementally build an individual’s confidence in her ability to succeed at
tasks seemingly out of her reach. Her growing bank of confidence will give her
a foundation upon which to tackle bigger feats. Also, yes, you need to design
multiple career pathways for your team. Everyone won’t be able to, or want to,
tread the same route.
When things went awry, I couldn’t
jump in at the first sign of distress and save the day. I had to switch from
being the "problem-solver" to the "problem-preemptor."
Additionally, I had to lean on the
team to design the checks and balances. These included: triggers for
interventions, budgeting time and resources to conduct peer reviews, and
celebrate the near-misses, and continuously fine-tune the warning system. My
role was to ensure compliance and reward their improvements in the quality of
outputs and productivity.
Leaders have to walk the thin line
that separates being vulnerable from seeming weak. Too much self-deprecation
unnerves your team. A focus solely on wins encourages your crew to cover-up
their weaknesses. The latter scenario creates blind spots because you can’t fix
or manage the problems that you can’t see.
Carve out equal amounts of time to
discuss wins and losses. You have the option to adjust this allocation based on
the size of the victory. The bigger the success, the more time you can carve
out to discuss the mistakes and recoveries along the way.
I was an interim leader, so from the
start it was my goal to find my replacement. While incidental in this scenario,
I now approach all my leadership positions with this mindset. Invest in your
team's training to quickly ramp up their competence and confidence. There is no
substitute for a team that you can trust, that has the courage and the chops to
spar with tough problems, especially in your absence.
Try one or all of these seven rules
of engaging your team and watch them do extraordinary things. And when in
doubt: talk less, listen more, and act generously.
By Natasha Awasthi
http://www.fastcompany.com/3048201/hit-the-ground-running/7-hard-earned-lessons-in-leading-a-dysfunctional-team?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-daily-newsletter&position=6&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=07112015
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