Category Archives: Teams

Who is Right?

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“So, you are suggesting I open the team up with a question, instead of just telling them a tried and true new method that worked at my old company?” Simon pushed back.

“What do you think will happen if you don’t get willing cooperation and support for your new idea?” I asked. “I mean, what if another week goes by and nothing changes?”

“I don’t think we have a week,” Simon said.

“Then how can you get things to change?” I continued to press. “When you declare the new way to solve the problem, what happens to the mindset of the team?”

“Well, they are supposed to sit up and listen.”

“But, that is not what is happening,” I replied. “Again, when you make the declaration, what happens to the mindset?”

Simon had to slow down. I broke the pattern of his argument. “When I declare the best way to solve the problem,” he started, slowly. “I communicate to the team there is no other way to solve the problem. I shut down the possibility of alternatives.”

I nodded. “And, when you shut down the possibility of alternatives, what is there to talk about?”

Simon grinned. “I guess the only thing to talk about is, who is right and who is wrong?”

“And, do you really want to have an argument of who is right and who is wrong, or do you want the team to explore the possiblity of a better way to solve the problem?”

Under Deadline Pressure

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“I don’t get any respect,” Simon complained. “I was hired away from my old company because I was promised I would have my own team, run things the way I see fit. But, I get here and all I get is pushback from the team. All my ideas are challenged, sometimes behind my back. It’s almost toxic the way the team agrees with me in public and then goes back to the old way of doing things.”

“So, how do you think you will earn their respect?” I asked.

“Not sure,” he replied. “I had my manager come in and give a little pep talk to the team, including the part about how I was the new manager and they were supposed to do what I say.”

“And, you are telling me that didn’t work?” I smiled.

“It seems to have made things worse,” Simon lamented. “We have a big project that has been stuck for six months and the customer is threatening to cancel the contract and take it to one of our competitors. I know how to fix the bottleneck, but I can’t get the team to implement a new process. The more project pressure, milestone deadlines, the more they fall back on their old methods.”

“So, if you can’t tell them what to do, because that seems not to work, have you tried asking?” I continued to smile.

“You mean get on my knees and beg?” Simon snorted.

“You will have to come up with better questions than a lame request,” I said. “What happens if you open the team up with a question instead of a directive?”

“First of all, it will be time consuming. If I ask about a better way of doing something, they are likely to come up with all kinds of rabbit trails leading in the wrong direction.”

“But, it does open up the possibility of a better way than the old method, no?” I pressed.

“But the time,” Simon pushed back. “It will take a lot of time, time we don’t have.”

“Which would you rather?” I asked. “To spend an appropriate amount of time exploring alternative solutions, or an elongated period of time fighting the pushback to your solution?”

Who is Underperforming?

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“I’m disappointed,” Rosalyn lamented.

“In what?” I asked.

“My team,” she replied. “They always come up short. No matter how hard we try, no matter how many meetings we have, they are always behind schedule. Or if they are on schedule, they have missed a step or a critical piece failed in testing. And, it all comes back on me.”

“As it should,” I pressed. “You are the manager. Ultimately, it is up to you. You control all the variables around your team. You recruited them to play an individual role, and all the individuals to work together as a team. You trained them, you provided the tools. You selected the project, the pace of the project and the standards inside the project. If your team is underperforming in their roles, it is probably because you are underperforming in your role.”

The Real Manager

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“Build the team sounds like a fine idea,” Ethan nodded. “But, just exactly how do I do that?”

“Look, every team member knows who their manager is, just ask them,” I replied. “And, they will respond with a question. They will ask – Do you mean who they tell me my manager is? Or who is my real manager?”

“On my team, they know I am the manager,” Ethan was quick to say.

“Of course they do. The company called a meeting and announced – Ethan is now your manager!”

“Well, yeah, that’s kinda how it went down.”

“But, ask your team – When you get stuck, on a problem that is really tough, not – where do we sweep up the scrap that falls off the machine, but a really tough problem, who do you go to for help?”

“Do you mean?” Ethan looked puzzled. “Do you mean it’s not the company who decides the manager, it’s the team?”

Pick Up the Pace

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“Do you mean, do I like working with my friends?” Ethan asked.

“You are the manager, now,” I nodded. “It’s not a matter of working with your friends. You are the leader now. It is a different role. It’s not that you are a different person, but you are playing a different role. And, in that role, what is your most important objective?”

“To get the work done, I suppose” he replied.

I continued to nod. “To get the work done today? Or to get the work done this year?” I pressed.

“If we don’t get the work done today, my boss is going to yell at me, so that’s important.”

“Yes, so that lights a bit of a fire under you,” I said. “I watched you pick up your personal pace, walking the floor a bit more quickly, triple checking the work, encouraging the team with a higher pitch in your voice. If we strapped a blood pressure cuff on you, I bet we would see a small rise.”

“I can feel the stress. It builds in the morning, and by quitting time, I am spent,” Ethan dropped his face.

“There is only one way out of this,” I smiled.

“Yes?” Ethan was all ears.

“You have to get the work done today, but your most important objective is to build the team. If you build the team, they will pick up their personal pace, they will walk the floor a bit more quickly, they will triple check their work and you will not have to raise your voice.”

Who Do You Hang With?

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“Why are you here?” I asked.

Ethan paused, sensing his response could not be casual. He knew I would only ask a more probing question. “I have to provide for my family,” he finally replied.

“But, you could do that with most any job,” I predictably prodded. “Why are you here? At this place? At this time?”

“I don’t know, it just sort of happened. A friend told me I could get a job here and things worked out. I started on the floor seven years ago, was promoted to supervisor, and here I am now, just promoted to manager.”

“Why don’t you leave?” I wanted to know.

Ethan took another pause. “Over time, I got used to working with these people. They’re my best friends. Sometimes, I think I spend more time with them than I do my family. Heck, they are like my family. I have an investment in the other people I work with.”

“You are getting closer,” I suggested. “How does that understanding serve you, as a manager?”

Persuasion

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“So, I should focus on execution?” Roberta asked.

“It takes both. Flawless execution of a bad idea is still a bad idea,” I replied. “But even if you have a good idea, unless the team believes in your idea, you will not get flawless execution.”

“So, it’s persuasion?” she wanted to know.

“The best persuaders are not those with the most powerful ideas,” I nodded. “The best persuaders are those who listen. Listening reveals the path to persuasion. The best salesperson I ever knew was fond of saying – if you will just listen to the customer for three minutes, they will tell what and how they want to buy.”

Bright Ideas, Insufficient

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“I thought my promotion to manager was to become better at directing people to get work done,” Roberta said. “You make it seem like there should be more focus on the team than on me. I thought I had to have the answers, the solutions?”

“You might have answers and your answers may be the most coherent. You might have solutions and your solutions may be the ones that save the day,” I replied. “But, it is not your answers, your solutions, your planning, your bright ideas that make the difference. It’s execution. I am also certain that you have high performance standards, and you would meet those performance standards if you could self-perform each step in the process. Yet, you have come to realize that successful initiatives are seldom accomplished by a single person, it takes a team. It’s not the idea harbored by a single individual, it’s the coordinated execution that transforms a dispirited group into a cohesive team.”

Telling People What to Do

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“So, I may have a better way, but if I don’t get the team behind me, there will be friction in the process?” Roberta wondered out loud.

“Most assuredly,” I replied. “And there is a public persona to a team behind you, which looks high spirited and agreeable, but, there is also a private persona which may be filled with grumbling, victim status or outright mutiny. Behind your back, of course.”

“So, I may not see it coming?” she asked.

“If you are unaware, you will always be blindsided,” I smiled. “So, it’s not enough to get public agreement. You have to draw out the discontent. The real issue is not the better of two methods, the real issue is the position for pushback. Until you acknowledge and listen to the team, its reasoning for the way work gets done, its history of frustration, its valiant attempts to make things better that were ultimately stiffarmed by a policy or a silly rule. You have to tease out the real issue before you can deal with the merits of one method over another. Great managers are seldom known for their efficiency in telling people what to do. Great managers are known for their ability to bring value to the work of the team.”

Object in Motion

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“You make it seem like I got promoted to manager was just happenchance,” Roberta said.

“In many ways, your appointment was just because you were standing in the right place at the right time, call it luck,” I replied. “But, luck alone will not sustain you as a manager. You now have the authority to make decisions and solve problems the way you would have them solved, but that does not mean you have the team behind you.”

Roberta turned pensive. “You mean, I might tell the team to do something in a certain way, or at a certain time, and the team might push back?”

“Most assuredly,” I smiled. “The bane of every manager is that the team almost always pushes back. It’s not necessarily out of malice. Or that the team thinks you are a dolt. Most pushback occurs because the team has its own way, its own methods, it own habits that are difficult to break.”

“So, just because I am the manager does not mean it’s my turn and I get my way?” Roberta asked, not as a question, but a statement of reality.

I answered anyway, nodding. “I think you get the picture. Your way may be the best way, but you are fighting momentum, object in motion stays in motion. It is your role to interrogate current methods, gather new methods and solicit input, so you can guide the team to the best decision. It is cumbersome in the short run, but the only way in the long run. If you force the short game, your term as a manager is already on the rocks.”