The Team Approach:
My life and career have taught me the team approach is more proactive and is usually needed before the individual one can be affective. The team approach is suitable when you realize that the whole team could benefit from individual improvement. The steps to this turn around are quite simple. They come in three phases. The first is something you will do as leader and that’s to identify the goals and values of the organization. The second involves identifying who each person is. And the final phase brings everyone together, creating a common ground, a true bond amongst the team… truly creating a real team.
The Team-Proactive Approach:
1. Identify the Goals and Values of the Organization.
The result of identifying the goal of the organization and its values is two-fold. One provides clear perspective on your part of what is expected. The other benefit is a map for the team to follow together in order to achieve a common goal. People love being a part of something bigger than them selves. Many times it is discovered that this step alone, once communicated effectively to the team, will take care of the problem on the team.
Your Values-
Purpose-
Mission-
Vision-
Creed-
2. Identify Who Each Person Really Is
The value of seeking to understand who a person really is and why they’re behaving the way they are (what motivates them and what they deem important) rather than deciding you know what a person is feeling or thinking, brings about some incredible results. This phase involves talking with the team member, getting into their perception of the situation and understanding their goals. More times than not it has been discovered that they didn’t understand what was required of them, not that they were unwilling to do it.
Person listed above _____________________
Personality Type-
Creative or Structured-
Their goals-
Considering these factors, possible perception from their perspective-
Do they TRULY understand what’s expected of them?
How do you know?
Are they frustrated? What unmet need might that reveal?
My experience has taught me that difficulty on a team is usually the result of only one of two variables. Either the person doesn’t understand what’s expected of them or they have an unmet need of some sort and they’re frustrated. Remember, frustration manifests itself in many ways, which we’ll talk more about during the session, but the bottom line is that it is always the expression of an unmet need.
Does the person on your team that you deem most difficult remind you of a tank? You know, they move through the facility, running over anything that gets in their way. People cower; even hide in the face of dealing with them. This person simply needs a lot of space and a sense of being in control of something of their own. _________________________
Maybe your trouble comes from one that is like an island. When things aren’t going the best they retreat into them selves. They don’t communicate and sometimes can’t even be found. To this person getting along is more important than anything. They need a strong sense of team. They’re typically the first one to avoid the tank. There is actually a way to allow the tank and the island to compliment each other quite well. _____________________________
If your difficult person seems negative or shares with others the gloom and doom she sees ahead you may have a whiner on your hands. This one wants to be noticed. Providing a way for her to get noticed in a positive way creates an environment for her to get more of the same and her behavior changes accordingly.
___________________________
Do you have a perfectionist on your team who it seems no one can please? This person needs some anonymity. They work best on projects that are theirs alone or ones where the team they lead understands their behavior. ___________________________
You might have the gossiper, the complainer, the quitter, the yes-man or any other myriad of ‘types’ that will cover in the session. The good news is that they can be understood and are probably your highest producing possibilities. They just need to know what is expected of them and be worked with in the way they respond to best.
Gossiper-Identify need-
Complainer-Identify need-
Quitter-Identify need-
Yes-man-Identify need-
3. Team Building and Bonding
This one can appear the most daunting when in reality it’s the easiest and most fun. There are millions of personality combinations on this planet and people love to learn about them. We do three things to bring about that learning process.
We educate all on the differences between us so those differences can be recognized and appreciated rather than rebuked.
We celebrate the differences by praising one another often in stand-up meetings and throughout the day.
We have regular opportunities for ‘winning’ as a team and point out ahead of time how certain personalities provide the best leadership depending on what the goal is. We create contests. Contests among our locations, contests between us and other businesses of our type, we even create contest with business unlike us, but that are in sales, marketing or service. The team can then get behind that person. The person is appreciated and the team appreciates them.
Be sure to remember how crucial it is to include the whole team when goal setting. The procedure for turning your most difficult person into your most productive is based on one simple principle.
It’s much easier to get someone to do what they want to do than it is to get them to do what you want them to do. Really, it’s that simple.
I want to see someone turned productive—-
1. Have I taken responsibility for the Group Approach?
2. Values, Purpose, Mission, Vision, Creed
3. Do I know who they really are, their goals, their perception of what’s happening, their understanding of what’s expected and what could leave them frustrated?
4. Have I taught the team to understand each other’s differences?
5. Do I set it up for team to celebrate differences?
6. Do we have opportunities for winning so team is bonded?
7. Do I practice mirroring rather than projection?
8. When I communicate do I use power talking or powerless talking?
I’ve been in business leadership since 1985. And we are a tight-knit team, focused on helping each other attain our goals. We’ve helped thousands of others build strong teams. I am convinced what we’ve done will help you too. Call us with any questions at 419-991-1223