Teams In Trouble
A key component of leadership is to form a team from a group of individuals that works as one. When it is achieved the result makes even the hardest tasks easy to achieve.
Yet as anyone who supports a sports team will know that even the best teams are short lived unless they are constantly re-energised and re-focused.
Knowing when to intervene, can stop a team degenerating and getting into trouble. Some of the tell tale signs are
Unhappy teams
- No clear sense of direction or place within the company
- Complain that they are not supported or valued
- Constantly asking for pay or benefit increases
- Consider themselves overloaded
- Mistakes and fire fighting are common
- Lack lustre or combative atmosphere emerges
- Attempts to bring in new blood result in incomers picking up the negative mood of the team
- High performers leave
- Sickness and absences increase
- Grievances and disciplinary action may increase
- Alternatively poor performance and behaviour is ignored
- Internal innovation and creativity may at first flourish but become "fad of the month" as they don't resolve the issues.
- Productivity and efficiency drops
- Split or closed teams emerge
Split Team
- An informal "in group" and outsiders forms within the team
- An informal spokesperson assumes the authority of the official leader for the "in group"
- Separate and multiple hidden and explicit agendas emerge
- "No go" areas of business or communication emerge
- Unofficial procedures emerge to work around the "no go" areas.
- Efficiency decreases
- Short term sickness levels increase
- Resignations from the outsiders group increase
- Grievances and disciplinary action for outsiders increase
- A high percentage of new starters leave
- The "in group" may emerge as a new closed group
Closed team.
- Team has its own agenda
- Strong leader who may not be the official senior manager
- New employees find it hard to break in
- A high level of new starters leaving
- New joiners recruited from the insiders contact base only
- Resistance to outsiders opinions or suggestions for change
- Outsiders, even within the company, are seen as the enemy
- Innovation and creativity is faltering or non existent
- Complacency and inability to see warning signs that change is necessary
- Sabotage of new externally introduced initiatives may emerge
