Team Troubles

Damaged Dynamics

Crisis & calamities, panic & problems: group meltdowns and team implosions!  When a team fractures and groups splinter, achievement fails. When all parties have become siloed and selfish; critical and complaining; confused and condemned; when they all point fingers, throw stones, and hurl insults; when you see the erosion of spirit, evaporation of morale and disintegration of unity, it naturally spells disaster!

Rebuilding the team and getting back on track can seem impossible! 

Regardless of the complexity, however, the simple fact of the matter is that essentially it comes down to people. 

Sometimes the biggest problems require the simplest solutions.

Quite often the problem is not the actual problem. It can be the way your people view the problem and deal with it. And when working in a team, it is how they deal with each other that can make it better or worse. 

Mo’ People, Mo’ Problems

Regardless of the complexity, however, the simple fact of the matter is that essentially it comes down to people. 

Sometimes the biggest problems require the simplest solutions.

Quite often the problem is not the actual problem. It can often be the way your people view the problem and choose to deal with it. When working in a team, it is how each one deals  with the other that can make it better or worse. 

It really does comes down to people. 

Most people, if not all, want the same thing and will respond to the same things.

In some degree, shape, or form, we want respect, recognition, and reward. Some may thrive on just one, others will need all three. If you know your team well you can tailor your support to their individual needs.

Provide these three Rs and you will get the best from any team. When the team breakdowns, it’s usually because someone within, or perhaps all, feel that they have not been RRR’d! 

Team Time!

To repair the team, face the TEAM!

T – Talk. If there is no communication there is no relationship.

Communication can fix a lot. Communication is the life blood of all relationships. So talk with them. Be sure to talk with them, not to them! Talking to them is dictation; talking with them is discussion.

Seek to understand them. Listen to find where they need support. Use this to draw out rather than drop in. There will be time for that later.  

E – Engage. Use my E⁶  method. Progress through the hierarchy of engagement: set an Example and show Enthusiasm, Encourage constantly and Exhort when necessary, Empower willfully and Extol liberally. Only then can there be exultation!

Engagement is about connection and connection is about unity. The difference between a team and a group is the degree of unity it as and the connection it shows. Engagement between each member starts with your engagement with each member.  Show them what and how, support them and help them feel secure, push when necessary, strengthen individually, and praise when worthy. 

A – Address issues. Agree a plan.

Focus your Action! Find resolutions and seek results.

Deal with specifics. Do not hide from, or bury, difficult issues or problem people. Whether they are elephants in the room or rats on the table, find them down, deal with them, control them. 

Address the things that can be fixed but Accept the things that cannot.

Find solutions together and commit to an agreement to move forward. 

M – Motivate. Recognise, respect and reward.

Know your crew and drives each one: WIIFT? 

Make sure the basics are covered. Make sure they are “fed” (literally, of course, but metaphorically with sufficient information and clear instruction); they feel secure, are accepted and supported.

Only when the basic needs are provided can then they can achieve their potential and work without fear or fury.

(Accomplishment – contribution – : planting without fruit!)

Follow Through

You might need to follow this model many times: depending on the dynamic and damage within the team. You may have to sit with each member independently first before you address the collective. A team is a unit. It has to work as a unit and you have to show it is a unit. 

It might be tempting, and a lot easier, to just sit with one or two – perhaps your favorites, or the ones most malleable – and hope the message gets passed on, but If you only talk privately, then it breeds individuality.

It coddles the independent; singles them out to feel special (for good or bad. If they are a good team player, they can be made to feel superior; if they are a bad one, it can either give them the attention they seek or elicit a response of being picked-on or interpreted as bullying). Treating them as individuals only promotes individuals and encourages independence. Independence is opposite to unity and unity is the glue of the team.

Talking with each independently gives you the insight of the individual but talking with them as a team gives them an understanding of the unit. It sends the message of unity. 

If they only see you talk with them as individuals then they will only see themselves as individuals. What is more, it can breed distrust, and favoritism, and encourages criticism and complaint. These “private powwows” can so easily evolve into back-stabbing sessions! Or at least perceived as such by those who don’t get “your ear”.

On this path, there will be no sense of team; just individuals doing individual things in a group. A “group” is not a “team”. A team is when that group works together and becomes a unit and works in unity. 

While it’s important to talk with individuals to get insights, it’s essential to talk with the team (as a team) to underscore unity! 

This is not a one-meet fix. You might have to do it to gather info, then again to implement a plan.