Have you thought about the definition of a team?
A group of individuals that work towards the same goal. It seems simple right? However, running a team or being part of one is often critical and sometimes complex.
Why? We all have different personalities, motivations, skills, and our ability to perform, contribute to improve outcomes and add value is what makes us unique.
When building a team, your main goal is to build a productive team who are aligned to your company values, and who work well together. In some roles and companies, teamwork is not so essential and in some other companies, it can make or break the team.
Team dynamics are not always easy; you can sometimes face ‘situations’ or ‘problems’ that can affect the flow of your team or your peace of mind.
There’s certainly a difference between a situation and a problem. The key is being able to recognise them!
Situations are likely easy to solve or handle, things such as roster discrepancies, availability, clock in and outs on time, office space management, and cleaning. Those are things that you can tackle efficiently and sometimes it’s a training issue. By quickly handling the matter with feedback, you can prevent it from getting worse.
On the other hand, problems could be the result of situations left unhandled over time, or have a more sinister root cause.
As Managers, it is important that you do not place the majority of your attention on problematic staff, and to make sure you place more of your attention on those who are helping the most.
One of the “management rules” we teach in our Performance Hiring Training is that you will get more of what you reward and ‘attention to your team members’ in many instances is more valuable than financial incentives for your team.
It is not uncommon for good team members leave because they don’t feel valued, irrespective of how well paid they are.
And if you think about 98% of problems in business, it can usually be traced back to a hiring decision, a people matter; something someone did.
One of the major factors for why loyal, productive team members resign (sometimes even unconsciously) is because of sometimes “hidden” but very destructive individuals who are spreading hidden toxicity in the team, creating tension between coworkers can causing minor issues to flare up and be blown out of proportion.
Some of these individuals have an entitled attitude, they gossip, produce not much, they appear to be busy but are in fact doing nothing and wasting others’ time.
You continue to invest in these individuals and the result is more wasted time and resources.
This is a major problem! One that you should tackle ASAP.
OUR RECOMMENDATION FOR YOU
Be aware of problems and situations that can affect your team!
1. Make sure you know who you are bringing into your team, as every hiring will have major consequences for your team culture. Performia can show you how to do this exactly so you are never in mystery when it comes to people!
2. Dig deep to the source of problems and don’t only “listen”. Avoid generalised comments.
3. Make sure you acknowledge and place attention on your high contributing team members. They are the ones helping you and deserve the most of your attention!
Everything starts with how your team is built.
Savvy businesses know that the hiring strategy is the most important strategy they need to get right in their business. The tools and processes to find and hire the right people.
Learning about how to spot candidates who are not going to add value to your business and be a potential trouble source before you hire them is the best solution to all of your problems.