Team Management – the Less Stressful Way

It’s your dream team. Everything is in place, all they need is a little bit more tweaking and they’ll be perfect. Then it happens. Somebody hands in their notice and leaves.

And it’s not just the loss of one individual. It’s the strain on the others as they try to make up the shortage. Recruitment takes time. Get by that and it’s followed by even more stress as the newbie takes up more resources in the training phase.

Even when it’s all done, you know the adjustments will keep them below peak performance for several months. That’s the period when other team members begin complaining about the extra work load and start to look around at other jobs.

Control is easy. You just use the good old disciplinary process. Fine tuning a team is harder with many more plates to juggle. People are just plain unpredictable, or are they?

Recent research by Gallup Consulting reveals a pretty convincing case for active engagement of employees, claiming that engaged employees are –
1. More profitable
2. More customer focused
3. Safer
4. More likely to withstand temptations to leave

Very good, but doesn't it all end up with you needing to provide more benefits for little extra return?

The only thing necessary in order for employees to feel engaged and connected is that the organization effectively empowers the individual.

Empowered employees will have:
1. Information
2. Resources
3. Measures/goals
4. Boundaries
5. Counter-measures
6. Rewards (not always monetary)

Working from that, it becomes obvious that business aims and strategies need to be communicated to the individual in an effective manner. All employees need to know where they fit into the plan.

Once the individual is identified within the plan, it will be necessary to provide resources. An effective method is to document all processes. This will identify an employee role and the tools available.

Now you are ready to tell the employee what is required and how to achieve it, that is, to set expectations and goals.

If you’ve documented the processes boundaries and limits will already be defined, as will counter measures.

You now have a team equipped to tackle the job at hand, each member knowing what to do, how to do it and who or what to turn to in the event of the unexpected.

Complicated?

Not really. You know where your organization is going and how it’s going to get there. Tell your employees and get them to buy in to the plan.

Document the method and the steps (processes). Allow your employees access to that and you have a knowledgebase, a structure for them to follow. This is your plan.

The strategy can apply equally well to highly qualified professionals as well as clerks and laborers, but it must apply to the whole employment structure. In a team environment, there is little so counterproductive as individuals or small groups who feel disenfranchised.

The effect here is to lead your people rather than drive them. The end result is that commitment to the business plan combined with peer pressure will promote employee support when you most need it.

An additional bonus comes when someone does leave the team. With the job so well documented, on-boarding a new member becomes so much easier.

Sources –
http://www.wyrickenterprises.com
http://www.gallupconsulting.com/content/?ci=52

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