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Managing a team
Editor's Notes
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved.
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved. A manager’s role on the team is making sure the team has everything they need to do their work. Managers usually do not perform the actual tasks themselves. Therefore, their job satisfaction will have to come from seeing others perform the tasks / get the work done. Sometimes this is difficult. One may think that the only important person or role is that of the person doing the actual work. But someone must be in charge and make sure the team has everything they need. Management has an important role even though they are not the ones actually performing the task. A team cannot function efficiently or effectively without a good leader – that is, without a good manager. Therefore, you should take pride in and feel good about the work being accomplished by your team. Before taking the position of manager, you need to be comfortable enabling others to do the actual work and not doing it oneself. Not everyone is comfortable with this thought.
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved. Employees respond much better when managers lead by example rather than dictate with words or actions. The best example of a good manager is Jesus Christ. We, as believers, are given a choice how to act, but are led to act responsibly and love others because we saw Jesus do that for us. Jesus humbled himself and washed His disciples’ feet, showing them His love. If you are not an example of honesty and integrity, how can you expect your employees to show these characteristics? Just as Jesus led by example, I encourage you to lead by example.
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved. The biggest failure of managers is that they do not communicate their expectations and the goals to their team. How is the team supposed to know what is expected of them if they are not told?!? Some managers like to hold information back so they can be “in control.” I have never seen this to be effective. Just as the team needs to understand what is expected, they also need to understand the ramifications of not meeting performance expectations or team goals. For example, if it is important that they be to work at a specific time, then you can tell them that their pay will be docked double for each 10 minutes they are late. Or if the team does not meet their production goal, they will not receive their bonus, etc.
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved. Besides informing the team of the goals, individuals have to understand individual goals and the fact that they will be measured, not only on team goals but on individual achievements as well. It’s usually easier to determine and measure team goals than individual goals. Sometimes, it’s quite easy – such as setting sales goals for salespeople or setting assembly goals for parts assembly. But how do you measure the performance and set goals for the people you have selling coffee at a coffee house? Do you measure how many cups of coffee they sell? That’s hardly fair – how many cups sold depends on many things – most, if not all of which, are out of their control. How many people come in can depend on how well the marketing is doing, the weather, the economy, time of year, etc. None of these are under your employees’ control. The key in this case is to find a behavior or skill that they do control and measure that. Attitude Leadership (are they constantly asking for help or are they the ones suggesting new ways to do things?)
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved. Just as you need to communicate your expectations on a personal and team level, you need to let individuals know how they are doing on a regular basis. For new employees, it is appropriate to sit down and review their performance after being on the team for 3 months. This way, you and the employee can determine whether they are a good fit for the job. Also you can quickly correct any inappropriate behavior before it becomes a problem. For other employees, you should review their performance at least once a year. Communicate to the employee in explicit terms whether or not they are meeting your expectations, what they can do to improve and what they need to do to get promoted. Make sure your explanations are clear – do not use terms that leave your employees wondering whether they are performing or not. If they aren’t, tell them !
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved. Addressing poor performance is never pleasant and is rarely an easy thing to do. But unless the team member’s inappropriate or inadequate behavior is addressed quickly, the rest of the team will Start acting like this employee Get upset, thinking that you are protecting this employee or not being fair by letting this employee ‘get by” performing poorly. Make sure that the employee understands that it is the way THEY are choosing to behave that is the problem. Obviously there are times when an employee needs to be fired immediately – stealing from the company, etc. But sometimes they are just not performing to the level you need them to perform. Or you need them to learn a new skill and they are not doing it willingly. If you clearly explain what is expected or required to be in the position they are in, they will be their choice whether they perform differently or not. Some employees will understand that they need to work harder or learn new skills or be willing to try something. Others won’t respond and will continue to perform in the same way. But approaching it in this manner, they will never be able to come back and say they didn’t know the requirements of the job or be able to say that they did not have an opportunity to change. Telling them that they should look for another job if they don’t want to change is a warning that they will be fired if they don’t change their behavior.
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved. Addressing poor performance is never pleasant and is rarely an easy thing to do. But unless the team member’s inappropriate or inadequate behavior is addressed quickly, the rest of the team will Start acting like this employee Get upset, thinking that you are protecting this employee or not being fair by letting this employee ‘get by” performing poorly. Make sure that the employee understands that it is the way THEY are choosing to behave that is the problem. Obviously there are times when an employee needs to be fired immediately – stealing from the company, etc. But sometimes they are just not performing to the level you need them to perform. Or you need them to learn a new skill and they are not doing it willingly. If you clearly explain what is expected or required to be in the position they are in, they will be their choice whether they perform differently or not. Some employees will understand that they need to work harder or learn new skills or be willing to try something. Others won’t respond and will continue to perform in the same way. But approaching it in this manner, they will never be able to come back and say they didn’t know the requirements of the job or be able to say that they did not have an opportunity to change. Telling them that they should look for another job if they don’t want to change is a warning that they will be fired if they don’t change their behavior.
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved. Once again, it is important to communicate what the criteria are- this time for getting promoted. Promotions need to be granted based on a set of established criteria and they need to be applied consistently. One of the worst things you can do as a manager is to promote inconsistently and “randomly”. Or promote someone that doesn’t – in the teams’ eyes deserve to be promoted. An example of this is someone who has been with the company a 5 years and people typically get promoted after 2 years. So the manager “feels sorry” for the person and promotes them even though they don’t meet the established set of criteria. That tells the team that they don’t have to improve their skills or work smarter to be promoted – just do the minimum so they don’t get fired and they will eventually get promoted. This is NOT the type of behavior you want to encourage!
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved. Managers can make their employees’ lives miserable by picking on things that just don’t matter. Addressing inappropriate behavior is important, but it is just as important to know what behavior should be addressed and what should be let go. For example, you may not like what a certain employee wears to work because they wear brightly colored shirts and no tie rather than a white shirt and tie. But if the person is neat and clean there is no reason to make what they wear an issue. If the person is responsible for meeting your customers and your customers are offended by his dress, then you need to address the issue. Another example are work hours. Some businesses are run by a time clock and it is very important that workers show up for work on time. In this case, you need to address the issue when an employee is late. However, some businesses are not time clock driven and therefore you can show flexibility for when team members show up for work. For example, when developing a computer software program. Some team members may come to work at 6:00 am and then others show up at 10:00 am. In this case, they are available for afternoon team meetings so why should I care when they come to work as long as they get their work done and the project is completed on time.
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved. While it is appropriate to give negative comments or criticize when something goes wrong, your team also needs positive comments to let them know when they are doing the right thing. They especially need to hear your praises when they have worked especially hard or gotten through a particularly difficult time. Your team is made of people – people like to know when they are doing the right thing or are working hard. Positive comments are re-assuring and help them know you recognize what they are doing and that they are contributing to the good of the company.
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved. Most employees appreciate getting a raise or a higher salary. But sometimes your budget may not allow for this. When that’s happens you need to be creative so that you can reward and motivate your team. Sometimes simple things are the best and most appreciated. For example, if your team has been working many, many extra hours, you can consider letting them go home early one day (and pay them for the whole day) or give them a paid day off. Sometimes people are not motivated by money and they would prefer new or better equipment. (Sometimes equipment is easier to get than money for a raise because it may come out of a different budget or can be obtained easily.) Parents with small children may appreciate being allowed to work flexible works – let them come in late and work later in the evening or come in early and leave early. As long as they are doing their job and your work situation allows for this, allowing flexible work hours often produces great loyalty to the employer. It is important that you let your team know that you (and not just the company) appreciate what they do. In the United States, an easy way to show this is to bring food into the office or take the team to a restaurant and buy them all lunch.
- (c) Copyright SkyView Partners, Corp, 2005. All Rights Reserved. Some team members may thin k it is your job to find them new job opportunities and help their career. While it is appropriate to encourage them to develop and pursue new skills or to offer advise and guidance when they ask, the responsibility for pursuing new opportunities should lie with the employee. This ensures that the employee is truly motivated and desires a new opportunity. It shows that they want to learn and go forward in their career. Letting the employee own their career will show you who your most motivated employees are.