Category Archives: Teams

How Well You Connect

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Ted was beside himself. “Look, I have the best engineer, I have the best mechanic, I have the best designer, I have the best installer. Then why do we get such mediocre production?”

“I don’t know, what do you think?” I asked.

“We just can’t seem to make our numbers,” Ted started. “It’s like we have all the best talent, but just can’t put it all together.”

“So, it’s the putting together part?”

“Well, yeah.” Ted stopped. “You’re right, it’s not the talent part, it’s the putting together part. They don’t sync up, they are all running in a different gear. They don’t relate.”

“So, you just found your constraint? How well you connect is how well you do as a team. Your production will never be as good as your star player. It doesn’t matter how well your star plays. It only matters how well your team plays together.” -TF

In the Ditch

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Phillip’s team looked at each other, across the table, and for the first time saw something different. No more were they simply co-workers, but now interdependent members of a group whose success depended on those connections.

We were talking about changing habits.

“No one succeeds by themselves,” I said. “At least for anything of significance. Sure you can think you are the Lone Ranger and prance around like you are someone important, but to achieve anything of real significance, you need a team. Each of you will, at some point, stumble, make a mistake, misjudge a situation. Each of you will, at some point, become discouraged, or become a Prima Dona, full of yourself.

“And when that happens, you will not recognize it in yourself, soon enough. You need each other to tell you those things, to make each of you better. Without each other, you will end up in ditch somewhere and no one will notice.” -TF

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Our next Leadership Program begins in Fort Lauderdale on February 26. We have one seat available. For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.

Exactly What You Designed

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“They just don’t get it,” protested Kyle. “Why are they so stupid?”

“Why are they so stupid? Or why are you so stupid for expecting them to get it?” I asked. Kyle did not expect my response and I could see him stiffen in the chair. He didn’t know how to react to the challenge, so he countered with a question.

“What do you mean?” he said, stalling for time. I was quiet. The seconds ticked by. Kyle finally broke the silence. “Okay, they are not stupid. I just wish they could be more productive, and solve problems better, work smarter.”

“You have exactly the kind of team you have designed,” I said. Kyle’s face lightened a bit.

“You know, you are probably right,” he replied. “So, how do I make it better? How can I improve the design?”

I waited. “It’s not a matter of improving the design. It’s a matter of improving the designer.”

Getting Engaged in Work

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“I am good at planning. I am good at delegating. I am good at making decisions, but I am not good at this warm and fuzzy stuff,” explained Ellen. We had been talking about her new department. The grapevine said some people were nervous and some might quit if they didn’t like her.

“Look, the point of management is not to win a personality contest, but if you want to get people engaged in their work, you have to get engaged with them.” I stopped to see if Ellen had a pulse. I could see by her body language that this was uncomfortable.

“But, I always thought it best not to get too close to my people. It just seems easier to be objective if I don’t really know too much about them, especially their personal lives,” Ellen continued.

“It seems easier to be objective? Or it just seems easier to be insensitive?” I asked. “The point is not be a huggy bear. The point is to gain willing cooperation from your team members, both together and as individuals.

“Does your company have a mission statement?” Ellen nodded.

“And does your department have its own mission statement?”

“Yes,” Ellen replied.

“Do things work better if the team mission statement supports the company mission statement?”

“Well, of course.”

“Ellen, believe it or not, your team members have their own personal mission statements. For most it is just rattling around in their head. Would things work better if their personal mission statement supports the team mission statement?”

“Well, I suppose, but how do I find that out?”

“That’s what engagement is all about. If you want your team to be engaged in their work, you have to be engaged with them. Meet me here tomorrow. We will talk about how to do that with the most powerful tool you have as a manager.” -TF

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The Intersection

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Cheryl was impatient to get to her meeting. She knew how this get-together would be different. Her behavior would be the first to change. Instead of a one-way interaction, Cheryl planned to ask questions and listen.

“I know listening is important,” she said.

“It is the easiest thing to do and also the most difficult,” I prompted. “Tell me, what will you be listening for?”

“I will be listening for good ideas to solve this Quality Control issue,” Cheryl was quick to answer.

“That’s a good start, but the solution isn’t the hard part. Heck, they know the solution. The hard part is getting the solution executed. That’s where you have been getting push-back.”

Cheryl glanced at the ceiling, then at the table. “You’re right. The resistance has been implementing the inspection program. I will just have to try to understand their position better.”

“Cheryl, it’s more than listening for understanding. Understanding only gets you halfway there. You have to listen for discovery. You have to discover where their position intersects with your position. Only when you find that intersection, that common ground, can you begin a conversation to build the best solution. When you find that common ground, you will begin to build the trust necessary to gain the willing cooperation of your team.”

Cheryl lifted her pen to the paper on the table. She drew a line and wrote “the team.” She drew another line crossing and labeled it “me.” Where the lines intersected, she wrote “the starting place.”

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We are hunkered down waiting for Ernesto to pass. Not too serious, but it was a good shake-out of our preparedness plans. We will be better prepared for the next storm. -TF

Who Has to Change First?

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“So, what are you going to do differently?” I asked. Cheryl had just received some brutally honest feedback from her team. Rather than become defensive, she was taking it to heart, a really tough move for Cheryl.

“As much as I know that I have things figured out,” she said, “that doesn’t seem to hold water around here.” Cheryl was truly struggling. She knew her team needed to make some changes, but she knew she had to make some changes first.

“So, what are you going to do differently?” I repeated.

“It’s almost like I have to do everything differently. The worst part is, that I can look at a problem and immediately know what to do. But I am going to have to lead my team through the problem solving process to make any headway with them. It just takes so much time.”

“Cheryl, sometimes you have to slow down before you can go fast?”

“I know,” she replied.

“So, what are you going to do differently?”

“First, I am going to have to listen more and talk less.”

“Good. When is your next team meeting?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Let’s meet about a half hour before and talk about how that meeting is going to be different.” -TF

A Tough Session

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Cheryl was waiting in the conference room when I arrived. I could see that her meeting had some unexpected twists.

“I felt like I had been fed to the wolves,” she started. “You were right, they said the problems with the finished goods were my problems. They said that I was responsible for the 2 percent increase in failure rate.”

I nodded. “So, how did your stomach feel?”

Cheryl looked genuinely pissed, but maintained her composure. “It was upside down. You could have cut the tension with a knife.”

“That’s good,” I said. “When your stomach is upside down, you are almost always talking about a real issue that needs to be out on the table.” Cheryl may have been looking for sympathy. “So, what did you say?”

“I practiced that stupid speech we talked about, so that is what I said. I told them that I needed their help. It felt strange. I didn’t like it. I felt like I was leaving my reputation totally in their hands. I felt like I was losing control.”

“And how did they respond?” I asked. “Did they argue with you?”

“Well, no,” Cheryl replied. “They were mostly silent. Then Hector pulled one of the parts from the reject pile. He pointed out a burr that was in the same place on every part. Sammy spoke up and said they had run short on that same part the week before. Get this. Because they were short, they used the rejected parts to finish the batch.

“They said they would have asked me what to do, but that I had been yelling at them, so they all kept quiet.” Cheryl stopped.

“It was a tough session?”

“It seems I was the problem. Yes, it was a tough session.”

The Invitation

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Just because Cheryl saw the light didn’t mean she knew what to do or what to say. She knew she had sounded like a critical parent and invited the response of a rebellious child.

“And now, you have a whole group of rebellious children?” I followed.

“I suppose so,” lamented Cheryl. “I think I already dug a hole for myself. How do I get out of it?”

“What could you try?” I asked.

“What if I explained the connection between bad incoming parts and the failure rate of our finished goods?”

“So, you think if they understand the logic of the problem, things might be better?”

Cheryl bit her lip on this question. “I think they already understand the logic of the problem. I also believe they think it is my problem and that I have to solve it. And they don’t seem willing to help.”

“As long as they believe you are the critical parent, it will continue to be your problem and yours alone.” I let that sink in. “You have to invite them to willingly become problem solvers. You have to invite them to willingly become accountable for the solution.

“I don’t know what to do. When I got here, the failure rate was 18 percent. Now, the failure rate is 20 percent. I need the team’s help. But, I don’t know what to say.” Cheryl was disappointed in her setback, but determined to make some headway.

“Tell them just what you told me,” I responded. “Get your team together and give them that same short speech.

When I got here two months ago, the failure rate on finished goods was 18 percent. I have tried some things, but the failure rate has increased to 20 percent. If we are going to solve this thing, I need your help. I need your ideas. I need your follow-through. I cannot do this myself.

“Then call a meeting for 9:00a tomorrow. Ask each team member to come prepared to talk about ideas that may improve the failure rate. Let’s see what happens.” -TF

The Tour Begins on Saturday

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He will not be there.

There comes a time when every team loses its star player. On your teams, it happens. In your company it happens.

I know the lump in the throat when, from across your desk, your star player tells you she is leaving. Moving to Iowa. Retiring. Changing careers.

We cannot stop her, in fact, we wish her well. But, our hearts tell us life will never be the same.

Still, life goes on. Veteran managers know the clouds will go away, the birds will sing and the sun will shine again. Life goes on.

Long time readers of Management Skills Blog know of my keen interest in cycling. Each year, July turns its attention to the lessons learned in the Tour De France. Some readers may find a new appreciation for the sport. Even without Lance Armstrong.

There will be new names, just like new names in your own company when a star player leaves. Of course, they are not really new, just faces you never paid attention to before.

There will be favorites this year. On the stage with Lance in 2005 were Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich. But there are a host of other players you will meet over the next few weeks.

My interest in this sport is the quiet teamwork required to post a win. It is not entirely visible. You might think the winner would emerge only from individual effort and the tactic would be to just “go fast.” Not the case.

My fascination is in the management lessons. Coaching, teamwork, tactics, communication, support, fitness, self-talk, discipline. We’ll have some fun over the next few weeks. The Prologue starts on Saturday, July 1. -TF

Eric’s Feelings

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“Breaking the large group into smaller groups seems like a good idea,” said Rosa. We were talking about getting her department engaged in team problem solving. “I can see how that makes the contributions more anonymous.”

“It makes a huge difference. It allows the team to do something that it could never do before,” I said. Rosa’s eyes grew larger.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Well, you know, Eric, your team’s eager beaver? When Eric has an idea, he is a little sensitive to the group’s response. Let’s say that one part of Eric’s idea has a creative spark, but the rest of the idea needs to be discarded. As long as it is Eric’s idea, the team has to tap-dance around, be politically correct and tactful. But if the ideas are flip charted from a small group, somewhat anonymous, whose ideas are they now?”

“Well, now they are the group’s ideas,” responded Rosa.

“So, if the ideas belong to the team, the team can now rip out that little creative spark, junk the rest of the idea, bolt the spark onto the back end of another idea, reverse engineer the logic and no one’s feelings get hurt.

“When it was Eric’s idea, the team couldn’t do that.” -TF