Meeting with Our Team Members
So… we’ve done a lot so far.
You should be proud of all of the work you’ve done! Now you have to follow through on your
promises from the whole team meeting.
It’s really the only way to be a true Leader… you have to meet with your
apprentices AND each of your team members in order to build relationships with
them. We will talk about when and where
to meet, what kinds of questions to ask, what to personal information you
should share with them, and what to expect from them.
You need to start meeting with people as soon as
possible. You just met with your
apprentices while preparing for your whole team meeting, so you have some time
for your team members. You will of
course be paying them to meet with you, so during work hours is
appropriate. If you need to meet with
them before or after work, you will need to be very flexible with their
availability, and understand that it may be difficult for them.
The point in meeting with your team members is to get to
know them, and in order to do that, they have to be willing to talk to
you. It might take a couple of meetings
for people to believe you have good intentions, and start to open up to you. That’s going to have to be OK. One thing you can that may speed things along
a bit is to talk to them outside of work.
Yup… take each of them out for coffee, a walk around the block, whatever
you or they want… as long as it’s doable in the time you have, and it’s not in
an office at work. Offices at work are
places where team members get written up, where they feel intimidated, and
where most of them definitely do not feel relaxed and at home. Since you want, no… need them to talk to you,
and volunteer information about themselves, you are responsible for helping
them feel relaxed and able to do just that.
Exactly how much time you can afford to give them is up to
you, and… you must take this seriously.
We cannot expect to get another person relaxed and involved in an honest
and genuine conversation in 20 minutes.
I would suggest 45 to 60 minutes as a first meeting. Later meetings can probably be shorter, and
we’ll leave that until then.
What? You can’t
afford to do that? You don’t think
that’s a good use of your time? You
haven’t been reading along, or reading the books I’ve suggested, have you? You will need to go back and start reading
from the beginning, at least from here where we start to talk about hiring the
best. Don’t worry… we’ll be here when
you catch up.
For everyone else, let’s move on, shall we?
Your goals here are two fold. First, you need to really get to know these
people. Yes, they are people, just like
you and your peers. Some of them are
just as smart, if not smarter than you.
One or two might just surprise you and have more education than
you. You need to get to know them,
understand their motivation; how they got where they are; and where they want
to go. Fully understanding their goals
and dreams is the only way know how to help them get where they want to
go. You will find it helpful to let them
know about you, and your life, including the good, bad, and ugly. Sharing your struggles and mistakes will help
make a connection, so please don’t get to this point and then fail to be honest
and transparent. These people are not
stupid, or as gullible as you might think.
You need to really, honestly connect with them, and that means sharing
yourself with them.
The other goal of these meetings is to begin developing
Leadership qualities in our team members before we need them, and maybe before
our team members are even thinking about their next role.
This is the great advantage of hiring for qualities rather
than skills. We can pretty easily teach
most any skill, however the qualities that enable us to be Leaders are not so
easily taught. They can be developed,
and only if the person has done, or is ready to do some very difficult personal
work. And isn’t it handy that many of the
qualities that we hire for happen to match up with the qualities of a Leader? Imagine…
So… first off, you may be thinking “Hey Steve… I didn’t get
to hire any of these clowns, and I don’t see Leadership qualities in any of
them”. “And while we’re at it, why do
you always capitalize Leader”?
Well, I’m going to ignore the tone of that last remark,
since the anger behind it is probably not about me. I capitalize Leader to give the word the
respect it deserves, and to, in my mind at least, create a separation between
the title ‘leader’ and a person who is acting like a Leader.
On to your actual issue… I understand that many of us
inherited our teams, and we have to work with the team members we have. If you’ve been reading, you know that I have
worked for some pretty crappy bosses, at some very unhappy workplaces, and
under some unusually poor working conditions.
I don’t think for a second that my experience is unique. A huge percentage of us have worked for years
under managers who have no tools in their Leadership toolbox, and so they
simply follow the example set for them…
They yell, they demean, they threaten, they demand, they lack integrity,
they keep all of the credit and love to place blame, they withhold praise as if
it’s in short supply… I could go on and it just depresses me.
From my varied experiences as a team member, and my long and
mistake filled years as a Leader, I believe the percentage of people who have a
‘great team member’ within them is much larger than most people think. And the idea that they could be a valued team
part of a team, or even a team Leader, was beaten back down inside by the poor
managers they had in the past.
We all have to work with the team members we have. Our job is to treat each and every one of
them with respect, to trust them, to believe in them, and to give them a
chance.
Yes… you with that smirk on your face… go ahead. Go ahead and tell us how you will be taken
advantage of if you start trusting everyone.
Tell us all how you have tried that in the past only to have someone
take advantage of your good nature. You
can leave the room. Your negativity is
crushing me.
For the rest of us, yes… some of your team members will need
to go. If you are to successfully
transform the culture on your team, you need to get rid of the most negative,
the ones who do not really want to work, or be part of a team. You know who they are, and it’s best if you
get them off the team as quickly as you can.
For the majority of your team however, give them a chance,
give them a safe environment, give them 9 times as many positives as negatives,
give them the tools they need to do the job, give them the freedom (as much as
you can in your workplace) to achieve the desired outcome without telling them
how to do it, give them a fair and transparent rewards system, tell them about
your own struggles, share your mistakes, show them you have integrity and walk
your talk every day, ensure that your apprentices are following your example
and expectations are consistent from day to day and shift to shift, allow them
to make mistakes, have their back when they do, and be the person you always
wanted as a Team Leader, and you will find a team full of good people, waiting
to their chance to be great!
Now… literally how do we get there? Well… you have to do everything in this last
paragraph. You have no other choice if
you want to change the culture on your team.
Well… 3 pages is probably about as long as any of you are
willing to read at one time, so we’ll stop here for today. Next up, we’ll talk about training, I think…
there are so many important things to talk about, and I get off topic so
easily.
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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