Training Our Team Members
While you are doing everything that we’ve been talking about
so far, you start training. Yes… even
more on your plate. That’s why you make
the big money, right? ; )
Some of it will be retraining, and that’s OK. It’s OK if they tell you they already know
how to do that… show them your expectations.
Tell them that you have very high standards, and you know they are
capable of meeting them. Raising the
standards of quality, efficiency, and service on the team is part of moving
towards a high functioning team. Tell
them all of this… remember our belief in transparency, and how this will build
trust. Talk to them.
And remember, you are training people… these people are just
like you. They do not respond well to
being talked down to any more than you do.
They do not appreciate being spoken to as if they were children any more
than you do. They want to be shown at
least one; maybe two ways of achieving the outcome needed, and then allowed to
work out which method is best for them.
We have to allow them to make mistakes, and see if there is yet an even
better way to get to the desired outcome.
If you are not ready to do this, you are not quite ready to be a Leader.
There are doubtless people on your team who have not been
properly trained to do their job in the most efficient way (at least the most
efficient you are aware of), or given high enough expectations (and the support
to meet them), or given the chance to ask questions, or been allowed to
practice the correct method, or the chance to alter the task to allow them to
do it faster/better/easier. You will
talk to each and every team member about his or her job. No one knows more about the tasks of a role
than the person who has been doing those tasks.
Again, some of you are not quite ready to trust that this is
the case… that your team members are not just out to take advantage of
you. That they are just waiting for the
opportunity to make you look like a fool.
You might believe that his kind of thinking is natural, and no one
really trusts other people to perform well.
Your thinking would be wrong! Do you believe that your boss should trust
you? Are you deserving of trust? I’m guessing most of you will answer yes… yes,
you think you are deserving of trust.
And yet you don’t believe that the people who work for you are deserving
of your trust? Hmmm… How would you
define that kind of thinking? Does the
word arrogant fit? No? Then how do you justify and rationalize the
view that you are deserving and the people who work for you are not?
All right then! Let’s
move on shall we?
You don’t have to trust everyone with everything at once. After all, they have been taught that they
should not be thinking for themselves, and have not been allowed to do what
they think is best. Start by asking
questions and gathering information. Ask
your current team members the questions we learned to ask in my series on
hiring (which starts here). Ask them
what they would do differently if they were in charge? What would they change if they owned the
company? What would they like to see
changed about their job? Do they have
all of the tools they need to achieve the desired results?
Make sure each and every team member knows why their
particular job is important in the big scheme of things. Over the years I have found so many team
members had no idea that the job they did was important. It might sound silly to you… that you would
be paying someone to do a job that was unnecessary, and yet no one had ever
told these team members that they were an important part of the team. Make sure you say these words out loud… “You
are an important part of the team, and I am invested in your success!”
You may not get the picture perfect reaction to your
openness, honesty, and transparency, and that’s OK. You cannot take any of their reaction
personally. Remember that your team members are probably expecting you to find
a way to lower their pay, or their benefits if they get any, reduce their hours,
or put more on their plates while giving them nothing in return. That is the way it is in too many workplaces… Is that how it has been in your workplace? It’s your job to show them, not just tell
them, but also show them over time, that this is different. You are listening to them. You will make sure they have the tools they
need. You will allow them to try new
things, and expect that some of the time it will come to naught. You will have their back when they make a
mistake. In time, they will begin to
trust you. It is then that you will
begin to have real influence over them.
This is a process. It
takes an investment from you. You have to give more time and energy than you
are used to. For many of us transparency
and honesty do not come naturally at work.
You will have to follow up closely with your apprentices and keep
everyone on the same page. If it is at
all possible, work a variety of shifts, to be working alongside your
apprentices as often as you can. Speak
to the team members who almost exclusively work with your apprentices, and see
if they are getting the same message that you are giving. If not, fix it right then and there, and then
schedule time for follow up talks with your apprentices. They need more help (as opposed to you scolding
them).
There is a key here… even though we are extending trust, and
allowing things to change, we still have a business to run. People will do what you inspect, not what you
expect. That means A LOT of follow up
(at least at first). You will set that
expectation up front with the entire team… you will be allowing AND
inspecting. We still have department, region, and company
KPI to meet. You will do your part, and
it won’t take long for them to start believing you. They have to do their part, and you need to
make sure they do, by checking that our standards/quality/quantity expectations
are being met. Part of your job is to
hold them accountable, as it is their job to hold you accountable for keeping
your word.
Next time, we’ll talk about building trust by giving away
responsibility. Don’t worry… we’ll talk about the right way to do it.
Oh… and if you like my
blog, please ‘like’ my Facebook page. The button is just up there at the
top right. I dare you to click it!
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