The headlines and blogging about the Social Security Administration abusing budget dollars for a posh team building event while nearly 10% of the national workforce is struggling to obtain work really made us say, “Whoa Momma!”. 

It wasn’t just the AssHat of the Week award that prompted us to reflect on occasions when team building is simply not the right intervention for organization and/or talent development.  Our list is below.  We know it is incomplete.

1. Not all team members are included – Consider an example of ten team members:  one formal team leader, one admin, three technicians, one IT professional and four people whose roles are not clear about sales and customer service.  Out of the first three team building sessions, the admin and one of the four without a clear role simply are not present - ever.

2. One team member really needs to be cut out of the organization – We’ve all probably seen something like this in our experience.  Here’s this one person who is continuously choosing not to perform.  Rather than legally and ethically cutting that one person out of the organization, the formal team leader gives the person one more chance; and one more chance.  The latest last chance to turn around is by having everyone participate in team building.  Can we say low morale?

3. The formal leader is about to be re-assigned – The leader knows that in approximately 30-60 days she will be given a different assignment and the team roster will change.  Most of us are familiar with the four stages of team development.  We recognize that even if one team member changes the team will need to revert to the first stage called “forming”.  The timing is just not right to do team building.

4. One (or more) participant (s) really needs professional assistance – Last summer we were facilitating a session when one of the participants prompted us to raise our eyebrows.  With all sincerity, the participant whispered – in a just too loud voice – “Make sure he’s taken his medicine.”  The person to whom the participant was referring was suffering from a form of depression.  Consider the challenge of team building with a sociopath, a person with a particular phobia, a person suffering with bi-polar depression, and two people who feed off each other by demonstrating passive-aggressive behavior.  Team building probably isn’t the right intervention.

Our turn to whisper:  Check your knowledge about abnormal psychology by taking this quiz.

5. The right participants are not selected – Over and over again, we need to ask, “Who is the team?”  Sometimes thirty people may be invited, in a good intention to be inclusive, when the team that needs to be developed actually consists of eleven people.  The head-turning news that the Social Security Administration sent 700 managers and their spouses to the Arizona Biltmore at a cost of nearly $750K catches everyone’s eye because we cannot resist asking, “This is a team?  700 people?  Really?”

And speaking of numbers and headlines, we reflect on our own blog offering:  Five Occasions When Team Building is Misguided. There’s gotta be more than five.

Do you have a suggestion for a topic for an upcoming Virtual Tea Party?

We want to hear it!  Sure, we’ve got some topics already in our pipeline.  Yet, our goal is to make these sessions fit the needs of our audience. 

Leave us a comment, please.  Of course we are continuing to seek input from surveys that we send to our mailing list.  And we want to expand how we get suggestions for topics.  What better way to do that than via our blog?

What topics would you like to see?

Defining the 9 “Must-Have” Skills for Supervisors and Team Leaders

So, what are the nine “must-have” skills for supervisors and team leaders?

We get asked this question frequently.  And of course, we delight in answering it.  In this post we won’t focus on what makes something a skill.  (We do believe that leaders should develop unconscious competence in each of the skills descrirbed below.)  We will simply list and briefly define the nine skills.

Planning Work

The ability to analyze, organize and prioritize tasks and/or assignments for subordinate team members.

NOTE:  Many first-time or first level leaders make the mistake of continuing to do the work that the team members should be doing.  Why does the leader make this mistake?  Often, because they are good at doing the work.

Delegating

The ability to challenge and grow subordinate team members for competence, and subsequently confidence, in completing broad assignments that obtain results.

NOTE:  Many supervisors exhibit a behavior called micromanaging rather than demonstrate the skill of delegating because they focus on task completeion rather than the results that come from providing broad assignments.

Informal Coaching

The ability to have informal conversations about changing, sustaining and/or improving workplace performance and behaviors.

The most skilled leaders consistently do three things:

1)  Deliver positive contacts,

2) Set clear expectations,

3) Provide ongoing coaching via a three-part loop:  Instruction > Observation > Feedback.

Formal Disciplining

The ability to ethically and legally deliver disciplinary action that obtains winning performance when an employee chooses not to perform (for any number of reasons or excuses).

NOTE:  It is not the process of building a case against an employee so that the employer can win in court; rather it is the ability to formally - and effectively - manage a process that emphasizes how the employee can be successful at work.  Many confuse discipline with punishment.

Motivating Employees

The ability to keep employees engaged, energized and inspired to do the best they can to exceed expectations.

NOTE:  At a bare-bones minimum, an effective team leader must know the difference between “why” people don’t perform and what individuals “need” in order to be successful at work.

Fulfilling Dynamic Changing Jobs

The ability to recognize and respond with solutions when jobs within an organization change due to technology, industry needs, customer expectations, financial constraints, business growth and/or organizational change.

NOTE:  More than recruiting for an open position, this skill requires the supervisor to see ever-changing solutions for getting work done at the job level.

Measuring Work

The ability to use metrics and standards to monitor and analyze results for an individual or team.

NOTE:  Often inexperienced leads don’t truly understand the difference between expectations, goals and standards.  Plus, it may be challenging to cascade down how a department or unit measure breaks down to individual performance.

Documenting

The ability to concisely record in a written fashion (without emotional connotation) the facts of a particular circumstance, especially as it pertains to employee performance.

NOTE:  In particular, this documentation must be prepared to withstand scrutiny should it end up in court.

Scripting

The ability to handle difficult or sensitive conversations with employees and/or customers.

NOTE:  This does not refer to memorizing exact words for having a difficult conversation but it does mean being prepared with an opening script, a central message and a closing script. 

Most importantly, it means that the lead has the ability to handle the difficult dialogue that inevitably occurs in a tough situation.

Strategic and tactical leadership skills - sharpen both edges!  TM

Use a combination of leadership training and/or executive coaching to define, practice and hone these skills for growth!  Practice is really where these tactical leadership skills are sharpened.