An important consideration in improving team performance is to ensure that the immediate supervisors of the team members understand the importance of the team's objectives; that may require upper management intervention. Otherwise, based on their own requirements, the team members' supervisors may continue to load the team members down with work responsibilities not related to the team objectives.
Gilbert,
Team objectives should be approved my all required management groups well before a team is assigned. This insures support and relevance to the organization.
Ron Obstfeld
Setting goals for the team, and communicating these goals at the start of each department meeting is proving to be an effective method of improving team performance. By defining targets for retention, and showing on a regular basis how we are trending towards these goals, the team members become more invested, and recognize their contribution to our common goal.I agree with the previous post that in the past faculty have communicated problems rather than solutions at team meetings. Communicating a clear agenda, and directive prior to the meeting, for example, "Be prepared to share your retention improvement ideas with the team", has assisted in switching the focus
Sharon,
Thank you for sharing your experience. This is a good technique for others to try as well.
Ron Obstfeld
I am fairly new to a leadership position in my team, and I am starting to see patterns in which I could be a better leader. I am more highly trained than the other members of the team (hence why I got bumped up to the leadership position).
For many of the projects my team is tasked with, there is only one person capable of accomplishing all the parts or steps of the project, often myself. This has led to me doing the bulk of the work, leaving some of my team members with less to do.
As a result of this class, I'm thinking that although I'm the only one that can do 100% of the project, I ought to break it down into smaller parts and delegate. Not only would this spread the workload, but would make my team members feel more valued and would allow for a much larger diversity of input regarding the project.
I can communicate this by explaining the purpose and goal of a particular project, then explaining to each member what part of the project I feel that they would be very effective at completing. I will talk about how this will be a team effort, and we all will be held accountable for our part, myself included. Each person will have a deadline and clear guidelines for what is expected of them.
Harper,
Good strategy for the short term. You never want to be in the position where you are the only one that can do the work. This is a great opportunity to start a training program for your team members. You should consider a cross-training schedule to ensure each team member has the time and opportunity to learn new tasks. This will make your team more efficient and effective and they will be able to handle a greater volume of work. Good luck!
Ron Obstfeld
I am new to my team as their leader and the team is itself fairly new. I have one team member that continually takes on more than she should. I have asked her to prioritize her projects and to pick the 2 she wants to concentrate on. I was hoping this would start to make her more productive but so far this has not happened. We communicate with email, staff meetings and verbally. Any other suggestions?
As a team leader I make it known that I am a results person. Once you set the goals, parameters and direction of the team I monitor them from a distance. Some times "hovering" over a group will get you results that you don't want. If there is a problem and team members are pointing fingers at each other that's when I let them have the No I in team speech. Results are the main goal. Put your pride aside and lets reach the goal together.
Nancy,
I would suggest she concentrate on one project with frequent feedback/ status meetings with you. Keep doing this until both of you are satisfied that the work is progressing well.
Ron Obstfeld
Jeff,
As long as this approach gives you good results keep doing it. You may need to modify your approach if the team members need more guidance or professional development.
Ron Obstfeld
To improve team performance I would first make sure the team understands the importance of the work at hand and the expected outcomes. Employees and students often lack motivation to do work because the relevance of the work is missing. I believe that a great leader makes the goals clear from the beginning and then periodically checks in to make sure that the team is still focused and motivated by reassuring the outcome.
I've always felt that a Team Leader's role is very important. It's also very important to be a Team Player.Meetings should be that everyone has an opportunity to speak and give their thoughts on ideas and to be able to discuss those ideas with the other Team members.
Judy,
True...but sometimes easier said than done. How would you make sure everyone participates?
Ron Obstfeld
I think is very important to clearly define the team's goals then allows members to presenta proposals of strategies to motivate and better performance. The sense of ownership by the members will be a self-motivation and increased performance.
One thing to prevent is not to allow bringing problems with no proposals to solve them because this could change some members will to participate.
Teams should be united in achieving the goals and success
Gerardo,
Some times people do not have solutions and are looking for input or discussion to help them get on the right track. The team setting may be an opportune time for open discussion.
Ron Obstfeld
My team is very small and with that comes the difficulty in allowing individuality in thier teaching methods but staying on track with the lessons that need to be taught. Vast differences in approach and technique are challenging. I try to applaud the individual effort and at the same time, find ways to introduce new ideas and updates that need to occur.
Janice,
Have you considered having the team cross train. Team members can share their different approaches by training each other? This might help them understand each others approach. It might even change their current methods.
Ron Obstfeld
I think one of the thing would be to select a group to the team bases in their experiience, set of skils and knowledge.
Other would be to make sure each memebr recognizes their role and tresponsibilities.
and create an atmosphere where each member feels comfortable making contributions and also being recognized
I am very open to communication with my team. We meet often for open discussion. When someone gets off topic and not working to par in the team, an acknowledgement of what they have done usually gathers them back on track.
I believe one must first know their team members. By this I mean, learning how they all communicate. Once this is established, you want to create an environment for the team to succeed. Also, make sure it's clear that for a team to succeed everyone needs to be treated respectfully and valued for their individual contributions for the common goal. I would explain how the diversity of the team actually benefits everyone by providing creative solutions to the problem(s) at hand. I believe it is important to improve performance by leading based on trust and loyalty - then you can encourage the team to demonstrate the same. Communication is key - between the leader and team members but also between the team members themselves. Facilitating open-ended discussions with the team is a time to share, active listen, and brainstorm for new ideas/approaches to reach the shared goal(s). This allows me to make my expectations clear for the team and individual contributors. Once the ground rules are established, my hope is the performance will improve. At this point, it is most important to celebrate all the achievements. Appreciating the team as a whole and separately creates an environment for future success, performance, and productivity.
