Category Archives: Teams

Team Problem Solving – Ten Reasons Why?

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Ten reasons to use a team to solve a problem.

  1. To generate fifteen alternative solutions instead of three.
  2. To get more ideas on the way a project could go wrong. Think BP oil spill.
  3. To gain technical insights that the manager doesn’t have. Managers think they know everything. They don’t.
  4. To get Time Span perspectives on solutions from long-term impact to short-term execution.
  5. To gain willing cooperation from the same team that identifies AND executes the solution. If the team does not believe in the solution, their execution will be poor.
  6. To shift the energy from the manager to the team. Without this energy, the solution might not work. If all the energy comes from the manager, you will have a very tired, burnt out manager.
  7. To increase engagement, team spirit, to build cooperation. If you want to build a team, give them a problem to solve.
  8. To keep watchful eyes on the project, engaged watchful eyes, when the manager has to leave for a meeting.
  9. To solve the same problem faster, the next time, even if the manager is not around.
  10. It’s not that I am lazy, but my stress level, as a manager, goes down when I can share the work.

The next topic in our Working Leadership Online program is all about Team Problem Solving. It kicks off on Monday, July 5 (I know some of you will still be celebrating July 4). As is our custom, we are opening (50) Introductory Memberships to the program. If you would like to get on the list, follow this link to FREE Introductory Membership.

Your Introductory Membership makes you a full participant in this highly interactive learning program. Here’s what people say about it.

There’s a lot of valuable information in this course that isn’t easily available elsewhere, and the coaching from Tom in addition to accountability for actually carrying out the assignments makes for a solid learning experience. Keep up the good work. The online format makes the course accessible, and makes it easy to put into practice directly in a work environment. -Erik LaBianca

The option of learning online at my convenience is a great benefit. This program is excellent – I learned many things that I can apply as a manager. -Arlene Breitkreuz

I want to institutionalize this online training as a mandatory part of every manager’s experience in my company. -Derek Bullen

Why not take a minute, now, and sign up here? Working Leadership Introductory Membership

It’s the Manager’s Fault

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Gretchen’s face displayed confusion. “What do managers do to their teams that systematically, over time, disables them from being able to solve even the simplest of problems?” I repeated.

“You’re not thinking this is my fault, are you?” she finally spoke.

I turned my head to the side, still staring at her.

“No way,” she protested.

“Every time a manager provides the solution to a problem, it robs the team of its ability to engage the problem. Over time, the team’s ability to solve problems begins to atrophy. Before long, even the simplest of problems will be brought to the manager for solution finding.

“The team begins to enjoy this new arrangement. With the responsibility for the decision now firmly resting on the manager, so goes the responsibility for the outcome. If the outcome is poor, it’s the manager’s fault. If the outcome creates more problems, it’s the manager’s fault. Your team likes this arrangement.”

Disabling the Team

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“You know, you are right,” I told Gretchen. “Your team, over time, has systematically become incapable of solving problems.”

Gretchen didn’t speak, but began to slowly nod her head.

“How did they get that way? What happened to them?” I asked.

“What do you mean, what happened to them?” Gretchen’s nodding stopped.

“When the people on your team started working here, they were full of questions. They were curious. They experimented. They made mistakes. They learned.”

Gretchen began to nod again.

“But, now, you tell me they act more like zombies. So what happened to them?” I was looking directly at Gretchen, not blinking. Her nod stopped again, so I continued.

“Gretchen, what do managers do to their teams that systematically, over time, disables them from being able to solve even the simplest of problems?”

Dolts and Zombies

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“I know you think your solution is better than anything your team might come up,” I agreed. “Do you think that is really the point?”

Gretchen was resisting. “But, I don’t have time to have a meeting, and besides, I don’t think my team wants to be creative. Sometimes they act like dolts.”

“They act like dolts when you solve a problem like this for them?”

“Well, yeah. I can solve problems like this pretty easy. I have been in the business for six years. I have the experience. But when I tell them what to do, they’re like zombies from the Night of the Living Dead. Some of them walk around like they still don’t know what to do, even though I gave them the solution.”

“Why do you think that is?” I asked.

“Like I said, I just don’t think they care,” Gretchen insisted.

“You are right. They don’t care about your solution.”

This caught Gretchen off-guard. She didn’t expect me to agree so easily. “They don’t care about your solution,” I repeated. “So, who’s solution do they care about?”

“Well, I’m the only one who can solve the problem,” Gretchen tersely replied.

“Indeed?” -TF

Challenge Without Coddling

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Roy was pensive. “You mean, you think, that my team only resists my ideas when I tell them they are wrong?”

I looked at Roy. “I don’t know. What could you do differently to test that?”

“How can you test it, if they really are wrong?” Roy challenged.

“Let’s assume they ARE wrong,” I matched. “In what way can we move them toward your idea without telling them they are wrong?”

“Oh, you want me to coddle them,” Roy pushed back. “I’m sorry, that’s not me.”

“I don’t want you to coddle them. I want you to challenge them, with the same energy you are showing me, now. In what way can we challenge their thinking without telling them they are wrong?”

What Do You Look For?

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“I understand that it would be helpful to know about Julio’s value system,” Nelson pushed back. “But what am I supposed to ask him. Are you honest?”

“My guess is that he would say, yes. Yes and no questions seldom give us much information that’s really useful. And remember, this would be most helpful if it’s about the work he is doing.”

Nelson was still puzzled. “I am supposed to ask him how he values the work?”

“He won’t understand the question if you ask it that way. Try these questions.

  • Before we ship this product to the customer, what is the most important thing we have to remember?
  • When the customer receives this product, what is the most important thing they look for?
  • When we show up at the customer’s location, what do you think the customer expects from us?
  • Before we leave a customer location, what is the most important thing we have to remember?
  • When you look around at your team mates, thinking about their work, what do you find most helpful to you?
  • What do you look for in a new person joining the team?

“All these questions will give you insight into Julio’s value system related to the work.” -TF

Discretionary Decisions

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“Do you, as the Manager, sit with your team and talk about the decisions they have to make as they collect this data?” I asked.

“Well, we go over how to fill out the information on the form. We have training every month on changes to the form or changes in the way it is processed,” Arlene replied.

“Have you ever had a team member follow all the instructions, complete every box on the form, but at the end of the day, there were problems?”

Arlene started laughing, nodding her head. “Oh, yes!” she blurted. “We had this one guy, we had to let him go, finally. And it was difficult, because he did everything he was supposed to, but he was such a mess, disorganized. It was all last minute with him. I mean, he would get the filings in just under the wire, but the underwriter, who had to approve the paperwork was always kicking it back. In the end, the customer would not be approved and they would be mad at us. But remember, all we do is the paperwork, we don’t approve the underwriting.”

“That’s not true,” I countered. “You could tell the difference between poor performance and good performance with this guy. As his manager, when did you know you had a problem?”

“Oh, it was the first week. You could just tell,” Arlene explained.

“And, how long did it take before your company terminated him?”

Arlene hesitated, “Eighteen months. But we had to give him a chance. We had to make sure he had the proper training and that he didn’t just get a batch of problem customers.”

“He didn’t fail because of the training,” I replied. “And customers are always problem customers, so that’s not it. And he did not fail because you didn’t tell him what to do, the prescribed duties. He failed in the discretionary part, the decisions he had to make as he approached the work. These are the decisions that managers never talk about with their team. And it is these decisions that make the difference between success or failure.” -TF

Essence of Accountability

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The past couple of weeks, we have been looking at teams and accountability, some great comments.

Don writes:

Team responsibility is a nonsensical theory developed by academics that have never functioned in the work place. No one is ever responsible for the ultimate outcome of the group or the damage done to the company. Every major crash in American business can be tracked to every level of management claiming they were never informed of a problem by their “team”. Group rule equals wasted time in the form of unproductive meetings, unrealistic goal setting and the pushing of responsibility to the lowest level. If American businesses doesn’t wake up, this team business format will be called the predecessor to economic depression.

Colleen writes:

I work for an internet marketing company with team members all around the U.S. We’ve never even met in person, know very little about each other, but somehow we accomplish a lot together. I guess it’s about the quarterbacking, huh. Just a matter of doing the task you’re assigned and letting the quarterback do the coordinating.

The essence of accountability. The manager is to be held accountable for the performance of the team. This simple concept is a game changer. -TF

Not a Group

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“At first, this group dynamics stuff looked interesting, you know, everyone together under a team incentive bonus. It sounded exciting in the seminar, but in real life, this is painful,” Naomi explained. “The worst part, is we’re not getting any work done.”

“So, who is accountable?” I asked.

“I think everyone has to take a small part of the responsibility for the team not cooperating,” Naomi replied.

“No, I don’t mean who is responsible for the mess. I mean, who is accountable for the goal?” I insisted.

“The goal? We’re not even talking about the goal. We are just talking about cooperating better together, as a team.”

“Perhaps, that’s the problem,” I suggested. “You are spending so much time trying to cooperate as a group, that you forgot, we are trying to get some work done around here.

“Is it possible,” I continued, “that you have been misdirected to think more about shared fate and group dynamics than you have about your team. A team is not a group. A group may be bound together by shared fate, but a team is bound together by a goal. Stop thinking about group dynamics and start thinking about the goal. That’s why we are here in the first place.” -TF

Resentment

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“Well, the bonus was designed to promote teamwork. At the end of the year, if they made their team goal, everyone would get the same amount of incentive from the pool,” Naomi explained.

“And?” I prompted.

“And, it turns out that some team members feel like they are doing all the work and that other team members are not contributing at the same level. A little resentment. And it goes both ways, the others say they are doing their best, but circumstances are preventing the team from reaching their goal.”

“And, what is your role, as the manager?”

“My role? I am trying to stay out of it. The consultant said to let the team work it out. This group dynamics stuff, you know.”

“And how is that approach working for you, as a manager?” -TF