It’s not enough to invite people to the party, you need to ask them to dance!
As managers and leaders, we depend on our teams to function well.
- Sometimes systems or habits are in place that can hinder this.
- Sometimes there can be conflict within teams or low morale which can also have a negative effect on your team’s performance.
- Sometimes teams and individuals do not take responsibility for there performance or actions.
It can be very easy to finger point or attempt to enforce a better team culture without first understanding why the problems have occurred… and then as the leader, make a plan to identify, understand and provide a solution.
No accountability
An example of this:
At a team meeting you all discuss a change that’s needed. You all agree on the change, but then nothing happens.
As a result:
• Time is wasted
• Problems continue to happen
• Frustrations appear
• Morale is lowered
• Managers start to micromanage
How to manage this malfunction
- Assign one-person the responsibility for making sure every decision is acted on. It’s too easy for the team to assume someone else will take responsibility.
- Don’t play the blame game – we are all in this together
- When a decision is made follow these steps
- Action – Steps – assign responsibility – ascertain individual commitment to getting this done – set a time frame and review.
Don’t be afraid to change tactic or course if it’s not working, just don’t throw your initial required change in the bin. As Sat-navs do – reroute! As long as you get to your destination in the end.
- Get regular status updates
- Encourage direct and honest conversations with anyone that isn’t committing to the change
- Find out if they need any more support
- Are they on track to succeed, if not, why not and resolve
Above all be tenacious – no excuses!
If you feel someone isn’t embracing the change or seems reluctant, you may need to have a 1-2-1 meeting to establish the issues.
I heard an interesting quote the other week which really rings true I’m sure for most of our teams and practices.It’s not enough to invite people to the party, you need to ask them to dance!