It can be frustrating running a team. Of course you want to get the best out of your people, whether you are a manager, a teacher or a trainer – but it is often a struggle. You want to keep a good atmosphere but high standards of accuracy and professionalism are important.
In fact, ideally we want a team which performs to ever higher standards, producing solutions and good ideas as well. Is it a dream?
Here are some tips to start the ball rolling in that direction.
Tip 1: Get clarity
Be clear and specific on your expectations. As a manager you must be clear in your expectations so you show the standards you expect. One common mistake is to be too kind and encouraging, or just indirect and vague.
Do you say “I want 100% accuracy when you proofread.” Or do you prefer the kinder version “I’ve noticed a few typos. Can you review the copy.”
Of course in an ideal world the listener has the same high standards as you do and goes for 100% accuracy, however kindly you phrase it. But it doesn’t help to be vague about expectations.
Tip 2: be clear and specific on the problem i.e. the expectation which is not met
The same goes for feedback. Keep it specific, so that the listener is absolutely clear on what needs to improve.
Make sure you specify what is working, not just what is wrong. Praise, like criticism, is more useful when it’s specific so it’s completely clear what to keep doing.
Tip 3: Have a conversation
Here’s what a client, Sue, said to me this month: “I’ve been promoted and it’s not easy managing a bigger team. But my coaching approach is making it easier.” She makes time to talk 1:1 with team-members.
In your 1:1 conversation you may find your team member has much lower standards than you expected. A few words with you might be the catalyst for change, or you might need to work on awareness-raising.
However, you may find your under-performer is extremely aware they are under-performing. They might welcome the opportunity to talk about their frustration, or inability to spot the mistakes when they are rushed, the workload and so on.
Take time to talk 1:1 because this is where you start the solution-focused thinking.
Tip 4: Ask them for ideas
Once the problem has been named, don’t tell them how to solve it. This is where my coaching background is useful. Neuroscience and experience tells me that people don’t learn responsibility and solution-focused thinking from being told, but by discovering for themselves.
Anyway, employees can feel belittled when you tell them, or, perhaps worse, they just learn to rely on you for solutions. Either way there is less buy-in, so the instructions may not be followed with full commitment. Questions like this elicit solutions:
- What could you do?
- What can you do differently to get a better result?
- What could I do to help?
- What do experts do?
- Where could you get some ideas?
- How can you/we measure improvement?
Tip 5: Get commitment to action
Brainstorming without deciding on action can mean nothing changes. So make time to ask:
- So what will you do?
- And when will you start?
- How will you stay motivated?
- How can I help?
Good intentions don’t always last so remember to follow up and keep the momentum moving forward.
More ideas
You can get more ideas on how to deal with under-performance, along with other ideas to get the best out of people, from our 2-day course “Coaching Skills”. Click here for details. If you want to go deeper into coaching and mentoring, you can follow the 2-day course with our ILM Coaching and Mentoring programme starting in the autumn. If you would like to discuss the options please contact me here.
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