Four Questions to Ask Yourself When You Notice Problems on Your Team

Every manager faces it--those times when your team is not behaving like a well-oiled machine and you finally have to step in to do something about it--or him, or her, or the situation. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Is this a short term problem? In some cases, an individual may start behaving in a less than effective way, but only for a short time. This can be due to personal issues of all kinds, or a short term health issue, etc. If the person is usually cooperative, and you know of extenuating circumstances, you might try to be extra gracious during that window of time when their normal patience and kindness is not as evident (i.e. while their husband/son is deployed, while they get elderly parents into assisted living, while their child is ill, etc.)

Do you need to involve others? A manager needs to be observant and a good listener, so he/she can consider whether a problem is happening with more than one member of the team. For example, if you start having several people coming to you individually about the same individual, you may need to ask each person the same set of questions, write down notes, and see if there are any consistencies with the complaints. In other cases, you may not need to involve anyone else, but instead prepare to meet with the person based on your own observation.

Is it time to step in? Although sometimes you can wait (see first point), often it is better to deal with problems in their early stages. Approach the offending team member with questions, privately. Draw them out to find out what may be motivating their recent behavior. This is easier if you've already established regular meeting times with this individual so an issue can be addressed as part of the normal course of reviewing their work, for example. Keeping "short accounts" can protect situations from becoming very harsh and more difficult to work around.

Am I the problem? Do some self-examination to assess if you are going through a difficult time and taking it out on your team. Get the help you need for everyone's sake.

Ask yourself these questions when facing a team problem so you can take the appropriate steps to mitigate it quickly.

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Make Their Job a Little Easier

A simple tip today...pick one or two employees on your team and ask them this simple question: "What would make your job easier today?" Then, as quickly as possible, try to act on that suggestion if it can be reasonably applied. If not, suggest an alternative that will help improve that employee's day.

For example, let's say one of your support staff has to drop off the outgoing mail at the post office each day after she leaves work. Is it possible to hire a courier, or erect a secure mailbox at which she can put the outgoing mail instead?

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In Esther 8, some excitement occurs in the story of Esther. It is at this point that the king makes a decision to "approve" Esther's request that her people, the Jews, be saved from destruction. Isn't that great?

Yes, but...

What if the king's scribes didn't respond quickly to write the edict? (v. 9)

What if people didn't know all the individual languages, to be able to write in that language, for all the various provinces? (v. 9)

What if the "sealing" of the edict hadn't happened properly, to affirm the authority of the command? (v. 10)

What if the person who "wrote in the name of the king" didn't accurately portray what the king wanted? (v. 10)

What if the mounted couriers didn't speed to deliver the news? (They didn't have email or Facebook back then.) (vv. 10, 14)

For that matter, what if those who took care of the horses did a sloppy job, resulting in sluggish, overweight horses that couldn't gallop? (It is noted that these horses were of prime pedigree.) (v. 10)

What if a specific date (the thirteenth day of the twelfth month) hadn't been specifically chosen? (v. 12)

What if copies weren't quickly made (they didn't have copiers) so all provinces could get the same message? (v. 13)

The Jews would have died.

Do you see how important good administration, training, and teamwork is?

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There is No "I" in TEAM, or Is There?

There is a well-known quip that there is no "I" in team. After all, team is spelled  TEAM. One catalog for team building materials uses TEAM to mean "Together Everyone Achieves More." Ain't that special?

In real life though, quips, mugs and posters don't automatically lead to a team working the way a couple of employees of a local firm described their team to me, as running "like a machine." It takes time, effort, and understanding to truly relate as a team. Because of that, yes, there is an "I" in team, because teamwork starts with YOU.

Teams are only as good as the individuals that make them up. Yes, the whole is greater than the parts, but if the parts are defective, the team will be affected. (Hey, that sounds like another quip! "Parts Defective Means Teams Affected." Where's my button machine?)

So, the place to start with team building is you. Here's an assessment to help you determine what type of a team player you really are.

• Do I enjoy working with other people? (Some personalities would rather be in a corner doing tasks all day.)
• When I meet with other team members, do I contribute to the conversation? (Or do you sit and say nothing?)
• When I share my ideas, do I limit my words so others can contribute too?
• Do I want people to carry out my idea in exactly the way I envision it?
• Am I willing to ask questions to learn from others with a different expertise that I  have?
• If I'm naturally a take-charge person, do I encourage those less inclined to exercise leadership skills too?
• Do I feel I am more experienced than the others on my team and they should listen to me most of the time?
• Do I note what is going on with others by truly listening, acknowledging events like birthdays or accomplishments?
• Am I quick (but not insincere) in giving thanks an praise to others in the way they would most enjoy?
• Do people come to me to ask for help? Am I approachable?

If you are really brave, after answering these questions, give them to your coworkers to answer anonymously on your behalf. Do the answers match up? Be prepared to make changes without defensiveness if something surprising is revealed to you. In the long run, that will be for your good and the good of the team.

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Peanut Butter and Honey

As I write this, I am sitting in my favorite writing spot, a coffee shop on the banks of the river in my city. Today I decided to have a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and banana. There is leftover peanut butter, so I decided to add a little honey to it, stir it together, and finish it up just as it is.  Yum!

You can't see the honey in the container. But you can taste it. It's that little bit of extra sweetness that brings the peanut butter to "treat" level.

That "honey" is the same thing you will find in a workplace culture that has the undeniable, indefinable feeling of "this is a great place to work." Where does that culture come from?

Taking care of your employees.

Your people are your teammates. One organization I know refers to their folks as team members more than as employees. That language elevates the dignity of every position, whatever the title they hold.

It may seem to be common sense that you should take care of your teammates, but it's amazing how many companies lose sight of common sense, particularly the larger they get. It becomes more about policies, procedures, rules, standards, etc. I'm all for fairness, for consistency, for smart business practices. But above that, these are people we work with.

Do you know anything about their personal life? You don't have to know their life story, but are you aware of any dimension beyond their work.

Do you know of a hobby or talent or passion that is lying untapped? Can you work it out so they can shine with that skill in some task in your workplace?

Are they distracted by a personal problem?

When is their birthday? The anniversary of their hire date?

Have you ever said "thank you" sincerely? (Not just the typical "thanks" at the end of every email.)

Do you go out to lunch with a variety of co-workers rather than the same group of peers?

Do you gossip or complain rather than uplift people to others?

Do you ever initiate casual conversation to build relationships rather than just talk about work projects? (For conversation starters, follow me on Twitter. Every day at 2:30EST I provide info about what unique holiday it is and it can prompt interesting discussions with your coworkers.)

If the peanut butter is your organization, the honey are these extra but invaluable things that you do to be sensitive to the feelings of those around you. Believe me, you will get far more cooperation by adding a little sincere honey to your surroundings by being thoughtful rather than being demanding, pushy, and overly direct. Maybe, in part, that's where the saying "You catch more flies with honey..." came from.

Application: What one suggestion above can you begin to implement to build better relationships with your coworkers?

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