6 easy Team Improvement Tips

The majority of teams suffer from common dysfunctions that degrade their performance and potential, but there are things you can do to eradicate these and at the same time enhance team performance. These things will also improve your self-confidence and the respect your team members have for you.

I was once called into a large Insurer to take over the management of an IT Technical Services department that was providing extremely poor service and was considered to be generally out of control.

I have seen some really unfortunate teams in my time, but I remember this team as one of the worst. They were a group of individuals with very low morale, all doing their own thing, including slovenly behaviours, constant use of bad language and for all intents and purposes, no common or formalised work practices. Each person selected their own jobs which were usually the easy ones or ones that required interstate travel. (Many staff were away at any one time). As I was under pressure to fix this group as quickly as possible, I did something I had not done before, I called them all together (bringing home the interstates) and told them in no uncertain terms exactly what I, senior management and their customers thought of them - but I concluded by saying that the fault was not theirs, but rather it was due to how they had been managed in the past. Then I promised to improve their job satisfaction and that of their customers. Having precious little time to turn this group around, I undertook the following over six weeks.

1. Mandated Active Listening

The habit of Active Listening is one of the most important things we all need to master. If you learn to do just one thing well, make it this. Active listening takes effort, you need to remind yourself that you are actually listening and focus on that, then you need to provide feedback on what you hear.

Benefits:

You don't miss critical information (which by the way, you always miss when you interrupt).
It increases your knowledge and understanding of new subjects.
It improves problem-solving and decision making.

Means not engaging in unhelpful listening habits:

Not showing respect for the speaker.
Not hearing underlying meaning.
Interrupting.
Not making eye contact.
Focusing too much on details and missing the big picture.
Ignoring what you don't understand.
Only pretending to pay attention.

Practising Active Listening:

Make eye contact while the other person speaks.
Lean toward the other person and nod your head occasionally. Avoid folding your arms as this signals that you are not listening.
Paraphrase what has been said, rather than offering unsolicited advice or opinions. For example, you might start this off by saying, "In other words, what you are saying is...".
Don't interrupt while the other person is speaking. Likewise, do not prepare your reply while the other person speaks; the last thing that he or she says may change the meaning of what has already been saying.
Watch nonverbal behaviour to pick up on any hidden meanings. For example, facial expressions, tone of voice, and other behaviours can sometimes tell you more than words alone.
Shut down your internal dialogue while listening. Avoid daydreaming. It is impossible to attentively listen to someone else and your inner voice at the same time.
Show interest by asking questions to clarify what is said. Ask open-ended questions to encourage the speaker. Avoid closed yes-or-no questions that tend to shut down the conversation.
Avoid abruptly changing the subject; it will appear that you were not listening to the other person.
Be open, neutral, and withhold judgment while listening.
Be patient while you listen. We can listen much faster than others can speak.

2. Improved Communication Skills

Having taught this group how to listen, I then taught them how to communicate as excellent communication is essential for success in every role. Getting the right message to the right person in the right way at the right time is what it is all about.

Before speaking consider:

Practice active listening.
Rehearsing in your head the message you want to tell.
Putting yourself in the other person's shoes, how will they interpret the message?
Is the message clear, concise, and unlikely to be misinterpreted?
If it is misinterpreted, how will you back out?
Often if someone has a difficult thing to say to you, they will disguise it, you need to be on the lookout for this.
Be frank, direct, open, and honest; the other person will pick this up and be reassured by it. It's a matter of not what you have to say but rather how you say it.
Check that your messages have been received by asking the other person to playback to you their understanding of what you have said.
Look directly at the other person that is, into their eyes. To do this and maintain a stare, look just above the bridge of their nose, between their eyes. This allows you to maintain a direct look for as long as you want. To the other person, it appears as if you are looking directly into their eyes. This is an especially effective tactic for negotiations, and when delivering bad news, it gives you the upper hand.

3. Got to know each Team Member

I spent time getting to know each team member, in particular, I was trying to work out their individual strengths so I could pair them with suitable work. I did this by introducing a one-hour weekly Check-In.

The purpose of the Check-In is to create a working relationship that is positive and supportive that provides you with a management tool to develop your team members to their fullest potential.
At your first session, start by describing the purpose of the sessions, such as to discuss:

a. Getting to know each other better.

b. Team building activities.

c. Current projects.

d. Any work issues.

e. Professional development needs.

Then describe the other person in terms of their experience, work achievements, strengths, communication skills, teamwork ability and general acumen.
Then seek to get the other persons view of you by asking the question: “What can I do better to help you?” and “Is there anything I do that you find annoying?”, “I would really like to know”.
Try to exchange background information about yourself and the other person before you talk about anything else, take the time to get to know each other. Try to understand the team members personal situation and out of work stresses and obligations. Use your own situation as an example. Being as frank and honest as you can helps build repour and encourages the other person to do the same. You are building a working relationship here and you want to be able to easily discuss any subject in the future, no matter how contentious.
At subsequent sessions, the team member should be encouraged to share information about his or her career path aspirations and be given guidance, motivation, emotional support, and assistance with problems. If you have a new team or new team member; at the first session, talk about becoming a High-Performance Team and the benefits.
Without a mutually understood agreement to speak freely, the relationship is unlikely to reach its full potential. Commit to honesty. Both parties should be prepared to offer frank feedback as appropriate, even if the feedback is critical. Listen and learn. You especially need to remember that the relationship is not primarily about you. These sessions should reveal team members preferred working styles and as mentioned, professional aspirations. You are their role model, you must lead by example, remembering that your words and actions will create a lasting impression and will be copied.
Be careful of language; for example, never criticise anyone even when the situation warrants it. Instead, I strongly suggest that you tell them that you have an observation to make, albeit negative. The word ‘criticism’ or being perceived as being critical is negative; it turns people off; they stop listening and are unlikely to take on board what you have to say. If for example, you have made the same mistake yourself at some time or exhibited the same poor behaviour that you have ‘observed’ say so, it builds trust and reiterates that we all learn from our mistakes. Language is important. Always try to follow a negative observation with a positive one.
Recognise that team members have individual differences in terms of needs and desires, aim to exploit their strengths. Accept that there will be individual differences between team members, (e.g., some team members require more encouragement, some more autonomy, others firmer standards, and still others more task structure).

4. Got everyone Organized

You can’t help your team if you are not organized - which enables you to work smarter – not harder – so that you get more done in less time. Good time management enables you to get more done in a shorter period of time and it lowers your stress levels.

How to manage your time

Set specific Goals (What needs to be done?)
Make a "To Do" List.
Prioritize your list.
Review your list morning and end of the day.
Plan for tomorrow and use deadlines.
Allow time for distractions.
Group similar tasks together.
Avoid the urge to multitask.
Learn to say no.

Make a To-Do list

To-Do Lists can help you get, and stay, on top of important projects and piles of tasks or decisions.
A To-Do List is a prioritized list of all the tasks you need to carry out. It lists everything that you have to do, with the most important tasks at the top of the list, and the least important tasks at the bottom.
The fastest way is to use a pad and pen to make your list.
It stops you from feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work you must do. It stops you from missing deadlines or forgetting something important, it stops people chasing you to get work done.
This means all your tasks are written down in one place, so you don't forget anything. Prioritizing tasks means placing them in the order you will do them so that you can tell what needs your immediate attention, and what you can leave until later.
A To-Do List is essential if you're going to control your workload. When you don't use them effectively, you become unfocused and unreliable.
When you do use them effectively, you'll be much better organized, and you'll be much more reliable, and you'll experience less stress.
Prioritizing means focussing your time and energy on high-value tasks, meaning you are more productive and more valuable to your team.
Write down all the tasks that you need to complete. If they're large tasks, break them down into smaller steps or sub-tasks. (Ideally, tasks or sub-tasks should take no longer than 1-2 hours to complete.)
Run through these tasks allocating priorities (High, Medium, and Low) based on when the task needs to be completed or when it’s due.
If too many tasks have a high priority, run through the list again and demote the less important ones. Once you have done this, rewrite the list in priority order again.

Forward planning

If your forward planning is not at least one to two months ahead of your team you are in trouble. Forward planning is essential for management success. What your team is doing today should have been planned around one to two months ago.

Team level planning (macro level) is absolutely required if you are going to do forward planning well, as against relying on individual team member plans (micro-level). Individual planning for example does not take resource sharing into account meaning that resource allocations and utilisation are very often over or underutilised and inefficient leading to poor delivery. Relying only on team member plans is wholly inefficient when multiple teams are involved (as is often the case) as inter-team communication, process integration and handoffs are usually informal or at best poorly defined.

In most teams, it is common practice for team members to plan out their activities, usually by way of a To-Do list with prioritised activities and tasks. The best practice is to review this list daily, adding, deleting, finishing and commenting on tasks. Some people because of the way they plan or because of projects use Scheduling software like MS-Project which allows a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to be used (Phases, Activities and Tasks). This method of planning provides for detailed plans, tracking, resource allocation and utilisation and better execution, meaning more activities and tasks are delivered on time. Team members that manage their own teams usually find this method best for controlling their teams work as it is an easy way to see and manage all of the work (a macro view).

The same needs to apply to the team’s work. What you need for forward planning is a Team Master Plan of the entire teams’ work activities, that is all work being undertaken by all team members expressed in one place. Every team needs to plan out all of its activities, to know what its priorities are and how its resources can best be used. Scheduling software is perfect for this as it is designed to handle different types of work by different owners.

A Team Master Plan is simply a high-level Project Schedule in the form of a Gantt Chart. It needs to show just enough information about the teams work activities to allow for the planning, prioritising and monitoring of all work. The team should regularly (weekly) review the Team Master Plan, reviewing priorities, resource allocations, ownership, due dates and deliverables. A best practice Team Master Plan has a WBS consisting of a top-level of Project Names, Operations activities, Production Support and Maintenance by way of example. The next level is Activities which lists Deliverables. Tasks are not shown on the Team Master Plan, these are only shown on detailed plans (Tasks, Resources) managed by each team member or their team.

Lack of a Team Master Plan means:

The whole of teams work activities cannot be seen. (What you can’t see you can’t manage.)
Team member level planning only exists.
Poor resource usage.
Multiple competing priorities.
Poor delivery rates.
Team efforts are not concentrated on the priorities.

5. Delegated like a Professional

Teams are comprised of individuals who have different skills, knowledge, and abilities, and who are at various stages of their careers. When you allocate tasks to them, some will find them challenging, and they may need support. Others may be experienced and maybe looking for opportunities to stretch their skills. Either way, as a manager, it's your responsibility to grow and develop your team.

Your ability to effectively delegate and develop your team members will directly affect your success as a manager. People are also attracted to managers who challenge them and put them in situations where they can professionally learn and grow.

When delegating

Avoid saying, “I’ll just do it myself”. Your work will begin to pile up and make you less efficient. Successful managers know delegating increases productivity
When you delegate correctly, not only do you motivate others, but you also make them feel involved, contribute to their professional development, and utilise your team’s skills.
When team members get the chance to challenge their skills, their loyalty and productivity increase.
When a business or manager uses delegation to develop their workforce, they are better placed to know who has the practical competencies to take on essential duties.
In addition, collaborating as a team on a project allows for ideas being shared, for people to have a voice and for team ideas to grow. Finally, delegation in the workplace can be an essential tool and skill to get things done quickly.

Explain your reasons for delegating a task by answering these questions:

Why is the task required?
Who are the task stakeholders?
What is the deliverable?
How will the deliverable be used?
What’s in it for them?

6. Managed Poor Performance

There comes a time when you need to remove a team member for poor performance known as ‘Managing people out’. This is a difficult thing to do, in fact, it is an unpleasant thing to do, but it is something you need to be prepared for.

When you do need to remove a team member, I have found this is made easier due to the person concerned often recognising that they are not keeping up with or performing like their colleagues. Sometimes they may be having trouble adapting to a changing environment. Very often, it is a relief for these people when they are removed from their current situation as it relieves anxiety and stress. But it is not always a relief, in fact, it can be a shock.

Approach - Do you want to become a professional?

This is a useful technique for managing people out by asking them if they want to become a professional and describing what that entails so they can make an informed decision. If they say Yes, give them a second chance, document the discussion, and copy them and Human Resources. If it doesn’t work out, you may need to provide them with one final opportunity else you have what you need to terminate their employment.

Being a professional means:

Having a professional attitude. Being upwardly supportive. Not participating in secret or negative conversations. Arriving at work on time and staying until the day’s work is complete. Putting in extra time when required.
Demonstrating professional maturity. Producing quality work. Acknowledging mistakes without shifting blame. Owning up to issues and presenting solutions. Being predictive about problems, acting before they occur to avoid them.
Managing time and workspace. Maintaining a diary for appointments and deadlines, regularly checking to stay on schedule with meetings and tasks. Using smart email management techniques. Organising your workspace so that it’s clean.
Practising leadership skills. Making presentations, chairing the CAB, being a business liaison contact, joining a professional society. Being up to date with industry changes by attending seminars and reading professional publications.
Communicating professionally. Being aware of body language, eye contact and your handshake. Speaking clearly and matching the tone and speed of your voice to match the other persons. Practising active listening.

You can decide on your definition of professional standards and use that to manage someone out. But it gives you specific criteria against which you can assess the person and explain your reasoning for letting them go.

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Management and TeamsRussell Futcher16 August 20218 easy tips on how to make your Team succeed, 6 easy team improvement tipsComment