“Why is it important to get your team involved in problem solving?” I asked.
Carl had been promoted to manager six months ago, after two years with the company as a supervisor. Stress cracks had begun to show.
“Well, some decisions, I have to make. Between me and my boss, I am still accountable for the productivity of my team,” he replied.
“I understand. But why is it important to get your team involved in problem solving?” I repeated.
“Well, I would get them involved if I thought it would help, but I have to tell you, sometimes the things they come up with are way off base,” Carl continued to resist.
“So?”
“So, it wastes a lot of time. And you know how busy we are around here. Time is precious.”
“Short-term time is precious,” I agreed. “And team problem solving eats time for breakfast. In the short term, it might appear that little is accomplished. So, think about this. What is the long term impact of team problem solving?”
This post is very interesting. Team based problem solving is one of the most important team building exercises, regardless of whether your team is small or large! One of my favourite ways to increase team performance is to do what I term “acute capacity challenges“. These have the effect of forcing the team to work together for a short period to accomplish stretch goals. This allows you to build capacity and team performance without a large time commitment – it’s also a bit of fun for your employees!