Time for some new blood?

Whether you are building a team from scratch or adding a new team member there will be some challenges to getting everyone to work well together so that they give the very best service to your customers.

Bruce Tuckman developed the forming, storming, norming, performing model in 1965. He believed that all of the phases are necessary and inevitable for a team to grow, face up to challenges, tackle problems, find solutions, plan work, and deliver results.

I’ve seen the stages play out in lots of different environments and while the stages are most clearly seen when everyone in the team is new, I've observed the changes that have taken place with the addition of just one new individual.

I was working as a project manager implementing a new HR system for an IT company and while I was there they recruited a new HR director (the role had been vacant for some time) when she first started all of her team (seven people) went out of their way to get her up to speed with all of the projects and processes – FORMING.

In the STORMING stage, as she asked for an increased number of reports and meetings which felt like micromanaging, some team members began to get disgruntled and one member of the team resigned.

Once the HR director had a firm grasp of the situation and what changes and improvements needed to be made, there was a team meeting to establish roles and responsibilities – NORMING.

Once everyone was clear about their roles the team started PERFORMING well.

Any changes come with challenges, people are not designed to like change. Here are some tips to help you go through the process as smoothly as possible:

Forming Stage

The team has just been introduced and everyone is overly polite and pleasant.

During this stage, you should discuss:

• Member’s skills, background and interests

• Project goals

• Timeline

• Ground rules

• Individual roles

Team members need to develop relationships and understand what part each person plays, allow time for this and don’t get too hung up on deadlines.

Storming stage

Being in a team is like being in a relationship. At first, you may think someone is perfect. but then you discover that they aren’t. Once you’re aware of their flaws, you will either learn to accept the imperfections or the relationship will end quickly.

In the storming stage, personalities may clash. Team members might disagree over how to complete a task, or believe that they are better qualified to lead.

Remember that disagreements are normal. It is important to recognise conflicts and address them early on. As part of your ground rules, you should have something around respectful challenges.

Norming Stage

During the norming stage, people start to notice and appreciate their team members’ strengths. The team starts to settle into a flow. Everyone is contributing and working together as a unit.

Storming sometimes overlaps with norming. As new tasks arise, there may still be a few conflicts. Continue to address any conflicts that arise quickly and remember to reinforce and demonstrate positive behaviour.

Performing Stage

At the performing stage, team members are confident, motivated and have a clear understanding of their role within the team. they can work without supervision. Everyone is progressing to achieve the same goal.

The fourth stage is the one that all groups strive to reach but some do not make it.  Normally it is because they fail to overcome conflict and can’t work together. This is why it is so important to address issues as they arise.

Let us know what you'll be doing to get your team through the forming, storming, norming stages so that you can reach the performing stage with ease.

What is keeping you up at night?

I don’t’ know about you, but if I haven't had a good nights sleep, it affects my whole day!

Especially at the moment while I’m training for next months London Marathon.

Not being rested affects my speed and endurance

And my mood

For the entire day!

How much worse is it when your business is keeping you awake and then you have to spend the day dealing with business challenges whilst exhausted?

Like my client Claire who was drowning under the weight of trying to do ALL THE THINGS.

She had a never-ending list of tasks that were required to take her business to the next level, however, they never got touched because she only had the capacity to focus on delivering to her current clients.

Every time that she sat down to relax (or sleep), all she could think about was the list of things that she hadn’t achieved.

And so her business started to feel like an anchor, rather than a sailboat.

Have you ever felt like that?

When that legacy-building, freedom-giving business you dreamt of feels so very far away.

After taking Claire through our unique systems and processes, we were able to establish achievable objectives and goals for her business growth. We hired a team member and a contractor to increase her capacity and give her peace of mind so that she could sleep peacefully and have the energy need to build her business.

She was able to make small steps every day to move forward and within a month, was able to launch a new service to her customers.

The first step was having fierce clarity on her business and personal objectives, so that she knew what to focus on, but more importantly what to say 'No' to.

I share more on getting unstuck in this LinkedIn live.

Are you the leader that you want to be?

Are you struggling to retain your top performers?

There is a lot of data which shows that a major reason for team members leaving an organisation is because they didn’t like or rate their boss.

“People leave managers, not companies”

Marcus Buckingham

Employees are not always honest during their exit interview because no one wants to burn bridges and some industries are extremely close knit. But you only need to look at the reviews on websites like Glassdoor to see that there are internal management and cultural issues that are not being addressed which have led to disgruntled staff voting with their feet.

As amazing as your organisational culture may be, your team will mainly have a relationship with their direct line manger and if they aren’t embodying the values of your business, they will demotivate excellent staff and cause them to leave, which will increase the hiring cost to your business.

I remember restructuring an IT department and being told by at least four individuals that if a particular person was successful in getting the manager post they would leave. Turned out that that person had been in a management position before and was moved to another position after numerous complaints were received.

However, no one had shared that information with the person, so they applied for the role. Luckily, when we interviewed I could see why they weren’t the ideal and made sure to give them feedback and put them on the leadership training programme to help them to develop the skills needed.

Now the staff in that particular organisation were able to share their issues with me because they had built a relationship with me and knew I could be trusted with their concerns, but if they didn’t have that confidence they would have just looked for another role and resigned.

Like Sophie who couldn’t understand why the staff turnover in Billy’s team was higher than all of her other managers. She would meet with all of the teams regularly and had an open-door policy for all of her staff, but when team members would leave they would give their reason for leaving as more money or a shorter commute.

It wasn’t until Billy was out sick and Sophie stepped in to support his team that she found out that he was micromanaging his team believing that it was the only way to make sure that everything got done.

When Sophie asked for the risk assessments no one knew where they were because Billy completed them, when she asked the team to print out the sales reports again no one knew how.

Each person had something that they were responsible for but no knowledge sharing had taken place, so sharing the load or covering for sickness was generally done by Billy.

No wonder why the highly intelligent staff that Sophie hired weren’t lasting long in Billy’s team, their progress was being stifled.

It’s important that individuals within your business feel empowered to share how they are feeling and are confident that you will take action to rectify any issues, but to find out you need to take time to meet individually and …

1.     Ask if they think their job is meaningful

2.     Ask what could be done to improve the organisational culture

3.     Ask if they feel valued at work

4.     Ask if they have the equipment to enable them to do their job effectively

5.     Ask about their work-life balance, and what could be done to improve it

6.     Ask what they think about remote working (if it would be a viable option)

7.     Ask if they would recommend a friend join your business 

Now take these responses and use them to create a people plan for your business. If you need some help pulling this together, contact us to schedule a call

Is Your Management Style Killing Your Business?

My client Greg was feeling totally overwhelmed with running his business; ensuring the quality of his products, managing his staff, keeping his clients happy, keeping up with the invoicing, admin, marketing and all the other essential things.

So when I sat down with him to make a plan to lighten his load, so that he could scale his business I thought he’d need a hiring plan, then he told me there were four office based staff as well as his manufacturing team!

When we discussed what his team actually did, it transpired that he’d hired people with the right skills (admin, marketing, fulfilment) but didn’t trust them to deliver to his exacting standard, so everything went through him!

Greg was the funnel that slowed everything up!

So after looking the structure and responsibilities of those on his team. I spent some 1-2-1 with his team to get their ideas on improving the business and I got a ton!! They were insightful, detailed and his team were more than ready to implement them.

Then I asked why these ideas hadn’t been shared with Greg and I was told, “as far as he is concerned, the only good ideas are his own”.

“Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say!”

— Andy Stanley

Greg and I talked at length about how he could empower his staff but still be confident that the outcome would be of a high standard.

Using our Leading for Growth systems and processes, we set objectives and had his team create project plans, so that progress could be tracked and reviewed at every stage.

Greg was able to get some time back to focus on business build activities and fun family time and his team were able to work to their full potential.

A total win/win!

Staff are an investment of time and resource. It’s so vital that you ensure that your team are challenged and there is value for you to have that person in your team. It’s a mutual transaction. I personally believe that anyone who works with me should be better at the end than at the start.

How are you bettering your team and your business?

Learning and developing in a role is a key reason why people stay with an employer, so is having autonomy. Build a team that can grow with you.

Grab our FREE guide to Hiring to make sure you hire the right person with the right skills at the right time.

Are your team members achieving their full potential?

“Does your daughter use proper cutlery at home?” my daughters preschool teacher pulled me aside to ask. “No, she has plastic cutlery”. The teacher handed me a child-sized set of metal cutlery and said let her practice with these at home.

Oh, the shame!

I’d been holding back my daughter’s development and I never even realised it! I’d love to tell you that this was the only time, but there have been other instances when my children have come home with new life skills that I hadn’t realised they were ready to develop.

The same applies to your teams, getting your team to take on increased responsibility and ownership for the outcomes that you require means that you need to open up opportunities for your team members to develop like my client Alice who was struggling to focus on building her business because she was caught up trying to get the day to day things completed.

Her company mobile phone would not stop ringing, as her managers referred any difficult customers to her rather than dealing with them themselves, this meant that the majority of her customers had her number and would just call to speak with Alice rather than talk to the manager for their relevant store.

At first, I thought that the manager's job descriptions would need updating but all the things they were supposed to be doing were written in there, they’d just never been required to deliver. So, we updated the manager's objectives. delivered our signature Management Fundamentals course and implemented regular peer coaching sessions so that the managers could learn from each other.

Alice also changed her mobile number so that customers could only contact their relevant store or head office. It made all the difference, the manager’s stepped up and Alice was able to focus on developing new products and opening new stores. 

If you are struggling to get your team to take ownership, try the following:

1. Encourage your team to focus on the outcome rather than the method. Give your team the freedom to try new things and  implement changes, so long as the desired outcome can be achieved.

2. Ask questions rather than giving a solution. Try coaching your team members through the problem, so that they can work out the best resolution and build their confidence.

3. Provide training to support. Make sure your team members are building the skills that they need to be successful.

4. Create process manuals (with your team) so their reference tool isn’t you. It's important that the key processes that happen in your business are documented, so that you can train your new team members and existing teams members have a reference tool.

Let us know which changes you’ll be implementing to empower your team in the comments and grab our FREE guide to Hiring to make sure you hire the right person.

Is it weak to ask for help?

When you have a business challenge is your first thought, ‘How can I fix it?’ or ‘Who can help me fix it?’

I’ll bet you generally go into the solve-it mode, I used to do that too…and being totally transparent sometimes I still do!

As an entrepreneur, it can be difficult to release the reins and allow others to work on your ‘business baby’. You’ve put so much into building up your business you want everything to be perfect.

Both in my corporate and entrepreneurial life, I have struggled with delegating the time consuming administrative and technical tasks to others, as I was SURE they couldn’t do it as well and/or as quickly as me, and if I was going to have to teach them and then check it afterwards, I may as well have done it myself!

But I wasn’t doing myself any favours, I was busy being busy, my business wasn’t growing as quickly as it should have been because I was trying to do ALL THE THINGS, and my team wasn’t learning or developing.

The whole idea of recruiting and building a team is to free you up to do the high-value stuff, like speaking with potential clients and delivering excellence to your paying clients, it should also mean that you can go on holiday WITHOUT your laptop, iPad and iPhone, take the afternoon off to relax in the spa, or go to your children’s school play without worrying about what’s happening in the office.

When I’ve broken down the reason why most business owners lack trust in their team, it’s because they fear they’ll get things wrong, that they’ll change the winning formula that has gotten them this far.

Like my client Alice, who was struggling to focus on building her business because she was caught up trying to get the day-to-day things completed.

Her company mobile phone would not stop ringing, as her managers referred any difficult customers to her rather than dealing with them themselves.

This meant that the majority of her customers had her number and would just call, rather than talk to the manager for the relevant store (even though they’d be seeing them face to face regularly). The head office line hardly rang, so Alice’s assistant wasn’t inundated with calls. Alice felt trapped.

After spending some time with Alice it became apparent that her caring and maternal nature had meant that her managers didn’t even attempt to solve tricky problems, they just called Alice for the answer.

My first suggestion was to change her mobile number and remove it from all the business literature. Each store and store manager had a telephone number and there was a number for head office too.

We delivered our signature management training programme to the managers and their deputies, created a peer coaching group and created a crib sheet for the managers to be sure they understood the policies and processes so that they took ownership for managing issues and didn’t need to disrupt Alice, except for emergencies.

A month after the phone was disconnected Alice said “I feel like a weight has been lifted, I don’t know why I didn’t do that sooner, thank you”

Delegating is always a major subject in our Management and Leadership Coaching Programmes, so I thought I’d share a few tips to help:

Play to your strengths

Know what you are good at and stick to it. When you started your business you were a team of one and had to get everything done (sales, products, accounts, marketing, logistics). Now you can buy in support, either through outsourced providers (accountants, VA, social media, contractors) or employees.

Get the right support in and give them the autonomy to deliver. Getting support doesn’t mean that you have to lock yourself into a full-time permanent contract. If you are concerned that your business might experience a downturn (or you know the support you need is seasonal), you can hire casual staff or offer a contract on a fixed-term and/or part-time basis.

Take the time to train your team

Have you ever said, “By the time I teach them how to do it, I could have done it myself!” Ten years ago this would have definitely been me, but by the time I’d had to complete that task three or four times, I was wishing that I had trained someone, ANYONE else in my team to do it.

As annoying as it sounds, you have to invest time to free up time, whether it is setting up a system, process or training an individual and this is the same thing I say to clients who are too busy to find time the hire the staff they need – it’s chicken and egg! A fully trained and empowered employee means more freedom for you.

Train your team and have them document the process and keep it up to date, then whenever you have a new joiner or promote a team member you have a process manual ready!

Block out your time

It is really easy to get distracted by the admin needed to run a business even with an administrator or VA on staff, so block your time for specific tasks.

I do write down my Must-Dos for each day and the time that I am dedicating to them. Then at the allocated time I close down my emails and put my phone on airplane mode so that I keep focused.

I use a variation of the Pomodoro method. Instead of working for 25-minute sprints with a 5-minute break, I work for an hour or 90 minutes and then take a longer break.

This helps me to focus on a particular project as I find that it can take a while to get into the zone and once I get there it can be difficult to stop (and I like to complete tasks in one hit if I can).

Change your location

When I first started my business, I worked from home and would spend the first couple of hours in the day, cleaning and tidying before I started working and then would be carrying out other chores too. Have you ever popped into the supermarket to come out two hours later?

It didn’t take long to realise that being at home wasn’t helping my focus and so I found a co-working space to work from. The change of location was just what I needed, there were no dirty dishes or laundry to distract me but lots of businesses to connect with.

Once you have a team (working alongside you or remotely) it can be easy to be constantly distracted with their tasks and challenges. I used to struggle when I overheard a conversation that I wanted to chip in on; my ears would switch on and the focus on my task would go flying out of the window.

If you are constantly being interrupted by your team asking for your help (for outcomes that they are capable of delivering) or you can’t resist ‘offering’ assistance and keeping all the real decision making for yourself, it’s time for you to find somewhere else to work from at least one day a week, to give you and your team some space to be great.

The saying that, what you don’t know can’t hurt you, was definitely true in this circumstance. If there is truly an emergency your team will get in touch, don’t worry it will be fine.

Try these tips and you’ll get the help you need to take your business to the next level.

Need help hiring the help you need or developing the leadership skills you or your team need, schedule a call to see how we can help you.

What's on your bucket list?

Last week I turned 45 and inspired by a fellow entrepreneur, I wrote a list of 50 things that I want to do before I turn 50!

Do you have a bucket list?

On it are things like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and perfecting my French but top of my list was running the Iconic London Marathon and yesterday I found out that I got a spot for this year!

Which is Fab!

But SCARY

26.2 miles IN.ONE.GO!

I’m still slightly in disbelief

But i’m fully aware of the work that is ahead of me - the runs, strength work, yoga and nutrition. Because I’ve already been preparing; I ran a half marathon on January 1st and have two more booked in the Spring.

This reminds me of the work that I do with my clients to start or build their team. 

We form the strategy, the structure, the job descriptions, adverts, interview questions and tests - then we finally select the perfect team member and after the excitement of securing the candidate…

My client gets nervous, they start thinking of all the things that they need to get set up to give the person the very best chance of success - how to get them to hit the ground running.

But then they remember that we planned for this, that they’ve already started and they have a plan. That by using our proven methodologies they are sorted.

Like my client Catherine who is a super busy creative, needing more time to be creative and less doing the administrative stuff. So we used our hiring framework to find her the best Operations Assistant and we had a strategy session to help her to step into her true CEO role, so that she could set her new team member up for success. Now she’s been able to focus on creating new lines and building her brand.

If you are planning to build or grow your team, schedule a FREE 20 minute call to discuss how we can help you, using our the Team Strategy Call

Mental Health is Wealth

I woke up and cried every day for over a month when I was working corporately, there wasn’t a particular issue so I put it down to hormones as I was pregnant at the time, but when it happened again after I returned from maternity leave, I knew something had to change and I had to address why the thought of work drove me to tears. For me, it was a sign that it was time to make my side hustle my full-time business.

As its World Mental Health Day tomorrow, I’ve got some tips for taking care of the mental health of your team (and yourself):

Set the ground rules for working from home

Research has shown that employees are working longer hours from home and feeling pressured to respond to emails and calls at all times. Agree working hours, Encourage your team to log off and take a lunch break and to take breaks from their screens.

Be clear about objectives and timelines

This gives you team to the ability to prioritise their workloads, always check that the timelines are reasonable and offer support if it is needed. Your team may not ask for the help they need, so try to prompt them.

Have regular team meetings

It’s important to keep the lines of communication open with your team. Have a regular team huddle, keep your team informed of what is happening in the business and give your team the opportunity to share knowledge and interact.

Schedule weekly 1-2-1’s

Check-in with your team weekly, use video so that you can look for any signs of fatigue or overwhelm. As well as checking on their workload, be mindful of the pressures of living and working in the same location. Ask about how they are coping with remote working and social distancing, talk about their weekend activities and ask about their family and friendship group.

Do something fun

Have a virtual team bonding session, my favourite activity is a cooking contest. Each individual received a basket of ingredients and something to wash it down with. We were instructed to make a meal by a chef and eat our work! There are tonnes of options from beer and wine tasting to talent contests find something that will work for your team.

Show your appreciation

Let your team know that you appreciate them and their hard work. Don’t forget to plan something for Christmas!

Monitor working hours

Check that your team aren’t working additional hours constantly. Be aware of late night and early morning emails. I’ve been clear to my team that I clear my emails at night but I’m not expecting a response outside of our agreed working hours.

Remind your team to use their annual leave

Although the government has said that statutory holidays can be rolled over to December 20201, taking a break from the challenges of work is essential.

Let me know how you take care of the mental health of your team in the comments.

Are you constructively nosy

What did you study? Where did you graduate? Where do you stay? Are you married?

I’d just started working with a new company and every meeting started this way. I felt like I was being interviewed all over again! But it was just their way of getting to know me – it was a way to get to know me and establish some common ground.

And after a while I realised that it was perfectly fine to be curious, I found out things about individuals that would have taken me months in other companies because we English people can be a little too polite.

I was at a virtual networking event last week and the host asked us to introduce ourselves and say what our special power was and I said: “I’m nosy”.

Now I’m not nosy just for the sake of it, I like to understand how things work and why things are done the way that they are done. Ask me to do something and nine times out of ten, I’ll ask you a question to make sure that I truly understand what you want and why you need it.

It’s because I’m aware that we don’t know what we don’t know, so if you tell me the background, I’ll be better placed to give you the solution that you need. The same applies to when I communicate with my team, I could make assumptions about their knowledge and aspirations but it is better to ask the question and be sure.

I had a client who was grooming a member of her team to become her second in command and was crushed when he left to pursue a career in secondary education; she’d assumed that his insight and interest in her pre-school meant that he wanted to continue working with under 5’s, but she hadn’t asked, it meant that she’d wasted time and hadn’t given the opportunity to others in her business. The good thing is that once she started asking the right questions of her team, she was able to identify those who wanted to progress and create a training plan to support them.

So before you start succession planning, have 1-2-1’s with your team, you might get a surprise.

Some good questions to ask are:

• What do you enjoy about your role?

• What would you like to delegate?

• What is your ideal role?

• Where would you like to be in a year?

• What support do you need to achieve your aspirations?

You don’t have to wait until it’s performance review time.

If you need assistance with your people plan, schedule a 20 minute FREE Team Strategy Call and get some actionable tips from us.

Do you respect the journey?

Back when I was working corporately, I was assigned to a project lead working alongside this amazing powerhouse. She knew her stuff and had sacrificed EVERYTHING to break through the glass ceiling and happily supported her team (male and female) to achieve greatness.

The only problem was that she expected everyone's path and priorities to be the same as hers. Twice I remember her mentioning to me that someone with ‘great potential’ had ruined their lives by having children, as it would take away their focus from their jobs and if you asked for part-time or flexible hours, you could kiss that promotion goodbye. She simply didn’t believe that you could be committed to your career and your family.

Which of course is completely untrue and I know individuals who left that organisation and are powerhouses in their own right.

Everyone has a journey that has led them to where they are at this very moment. Becoming a parent is something has been a catalyst for a career change, starting a business or incentive for career growth.

“How you do one thing is how you do everything” – Zen Buddhism

I believe that if you are focussed in your career or business you will be just as focused on success as a parent, carer, volunteer or teacher.

Whether you are recruiting or assessing a staff member for promotion, don’t let the journey put you off giving them the opportunity.

This period of lockdown has shown us that we can work at home, with our partners and children underfoot. The working day hasn’t looked the way it used to look. However, there are positives and challenges to being home and we have smashed it!

We proactive leaders have to acknowledge that our team members are grown-ups and should be treated as such.

Believe your team when they say that they can get the job done and give them the chance to deliver, their way.

Remember to:

• Listen for the story and the why

• Remember experience is just as valued as qualification

• Look for the values and behaviours that are essential for your business

• Gather evidence that they have the skills to deliver excellence

• Have a trial period so that you can assess

• Focus on the outcome, rather than the method

Being open to the potential in others opens up your business to work with a diverse workforce and benefit from the growth potential that it brings through innovation and creative thought.

Look at your journey, I bet it wasn’t linear either, everyone has bumps in the road.

If you need help building or growing your team schedule a FREE Team Strategy Call with us.

Team Building Remotely

Traditionally, team building activities have included a morning or day of business updates, planning and sharing knowledge followed by a fun physical team activity like an escape room, bowling or walking over the roof at the O2, followed by drinks, dinner and more drinks.

Lockdown and remote working has changed all that, but as things are beginning to relax its time to re-engage your team. We’ve been trying to survive, but now its time to move forward and hit those targets for the rest of the year!

Most of us are still keeping working from home at least a few days week, plus social distancing and commuting headaches mean that we can’t have everyone in the office at the same time. Or find a meeting room that can accommodate the team whilst social distancing. So how about a remote team-building experience?

Just like all of the virtual networking events, birthday parties, weddings and quiz nights that we’ve been a part of during lockdown. It takes a little planning and coordination but we can get our team together for some fun. Here are some ideas:

1.       Virtual scavenger hunt – Have your team roaming their home to see who can find random items first

2.       Two truths and a lie -Get to know your team better and see who can guess the lie

3.       Masterchef – Send a box of ingredients to each team member, with a recipe card and see who can create a culinary masterpiece

4.       Open Mic Night – Give every member of your team an opportunity to share their party piece (song, dance, poetry, juggling…

5.       Cocktail/Mocktail Masterclass – Provide a box of mixology amazingness to each team member and do a virtual cocktail making class.

Let me know what your favourite idea is? Or if you have done anything special with your team. Be sure to send us some pics of your virtual team building fun.

*Don’t forget that you can to use virtual breakout rooms to divide your teams for tasks!

What is your team setup?

One of the things that I love about project work is that roles and responsibilities shift with each project. On one I can be the Project Manager, responsible for the full delivery, on another a workstream lead, just responsible for the HR elements or just contribute to one element of the HR solution.

For each of those roles, my level of authority and autonomy will be different. My working relationships may change.

Within your organisation, it may not be as fluid but everyone must be clear about the role that they play and how that relates to others in the team. If you can shift roles around or allow team members to lead on discrete projects it will give you insight on their strengths and weaknesses and may highlight a potential superstar in the making.

One of our clients regularly shifts the team leaders for their customer services department around. Each team leader has a team of 10 staff to manage and develop; every staff member is an individual so for a team leader they have 100 personalities and challenges to experience and learn from, the team leaders who adjust and connect with their team quickly are more successful at hitting their targets and progressing to the next level.

It is important to assess the natural styles of your team and give them the opportunity to work on areas of development in a safe space. One of the ways that I find most successful is completing a personality test as a team. There are several to chose from including 16 Personalities (MBTI), Strength Finders, 5 voices and the colour works.

Personally, for Leaders and Managers, I think that 16 Personalities (MBTI) and 5 voices work well but for team cohesion, I like the colour works.

There are four colours red, yellow, green and blue. When you complete your test as a team you will get your two most dominant colours. Knowing your colours and those of your team will give you an insight into the way they think and work, and give you a common language to use.

The first time that I completed the test, I discovered that I was the only blue in a team of yellows. Blues are very detail orientated and like to have all the facts, my other HR colleagues were more spontaneous and engaging. Once we knew that, I knew that I had to be more direct in my questioning to get a detailed response and my team knew that if they wanted my opinion they had to tell me all the facts. It gave us a common language if someone told me I was being too blue – I could give an opinion without thinking that my reputation depended on it.

Try building a common language with your team, so that you can work together to your full potential.

If you need some help with your team dynamic schedule a FREE 20-minute Team Strategy Call, where we will share some actionable tips

What are you missing?

When you are building a team to take your business to the next level. You can often hire for the skills that you need and not take into consideration the team dynamic.

That’s not to say that you hire team members to be friends, but you do need to think about how individuals will mesh; and how they will work with your clients.

Look at the Premier League Football teams, they can have the very best players, who look like a winning team on paper but if the players don’t work well together no silverwork will be won – and the manager may not stick around!

The last thing you want is to invest in building a team and then get to a point where your business accelerates and you get a flood of resignations.

The first time that it happened to me, I was gutted. I’d invested in building a team and just when I was moving up and was preparing my team to step into my shoes, some decided to move to other organisations.

Where did I go wrong?

I had been so busy focusing on delivery that I hadn’t taken the time to properly listen to what my team members aspirations were and I’d tried to mentor them into thinking the way that I did, rather than understanding their unique strengths.

Every individual is different and will bring different strengths, skills and potential challenges, it’s important to make sure that your team dynamic is positive and any conflicts are addressed swiftly.

There are three things I always do when I’m adding or developing a team (for me or a client):

1.       Never replace like for like – Always review the role and the business needs to create a revised role that hits the needs of the business going forward.

2.       Recruit for a 70-80% skills match so that there will be a period of stretch and development.

3.       Look for the personality traits that we may be missing to add balance to the team. There are many personality frameworks; Myers Briggs, Colorworks, Five Voices, etc, that can be used to assess your team and give you a common language to use

Throughout this month I will be sharing tips to improve team dynamics but  If you need help with building your team or your team dynamic, schedule a FREE 20-minute Team Strategy Call

What exactly is going on?

Do you find it a challenge to get a straight answer from your team?

Ever had a client ask you what’s happening or tell you about a problem that you were not aware of?

Are you trying not to micromanage your team, but you aren’t getting the updates that you need?

Back when I was working corporately, I was often away from my office working on tender, and I struggled to stay updated with what was happening with my team back in head office. Beyond our regularly scheduled catch-ups, I’d need to call or corner someone in the break room to get caught up. I found it really stressful as I was often only in the office for client meetings and would pitch up with a report to present but not have the background to deal with any issues or concerns.

It was my fault I didn’t set out my expectations correctly, I agreed objectives with my team and didn’t tell them that I needed regular check-ins or ask for the narrative behind the reports.

Trusting your team to deliver and keep you updated with what's happening, shouldn’t be a challenge but it can be hard to find the balance between giving your team the freedom to deliver and micromanaging.

You want your team to be problem solvers, not problem multipliers and work within their zone of genius, but if you don’t ask for what you need from your team, the problem with their performance might not be them, it might be you.

Working with teams based in different locations, working a variety of shifts and on multiple projects would be difficult to juggle for anyone, Here are 5 things you can implement to help you stay on top of what's happening:

Daily/weekly team briefings – A half an hour meeting at the start or the end of the day to discuss priorities and any challenges will give you comfort that your team are on the right track, or if they are not will allow you to redirect their attention.

Weekly online updates – Create a template that is updated weekly in your file share (google docs, dropbox, etc). I like the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) method as an easy way to check progress on objectives – find out more here.

Be specific about what you need – Schedule a regular call for when that report drops, so that you can discuss it in-depth or be clear about when your team needs to give you a heads up that a client has a problem, even though they are on top of it.

Shadow and delegate – Provide opportunities for your team to shadow your interactions and present the reports so that they can see the purpose of their objective and get a deeper understanding of your client's expectations.

Add a buffer – Don’t leave things to the last minute, give yourself some time to review and reflect.

Let us know which tip/s you’ll be implementing with your team and if you need some strategic advice about motivating and managing your team, schedule a FREE 20-minute Team Strategy Call.

Are you prepared for change?

‘Julie has resigned, I don’t know what to do. She's the only one that can cover for me, no one else knows how the booking system works. I’ll be lost without her! Shall I offer her money to stay?’

My client Patrick called in a panic as the administrator/controller of his chauffeur business had handed in her notice. He’d recently changed his booking system and had sent Julie on the two-day training so that she could be the superuser and train his other controllers and drivers.

That system was the lynchpin of his business!

Do you have systems and processes in your business that only one person can complete?

Building a business that can work without you is key, you shouldn’t feel like you are being held hostage by your staff.

As awesome as your team is you have to be prepared for the fact that people will leave and you’ll need to adjust.

If Julie didn’t have all the knowledge of the new system Patrick wouldn’t have been concerned by her resignation. She was late often and overrode the price list without asking for approval for discounts.

I told Patrick that offering an increased salary would only be a sticking plaster on a gaping hole, but would give him a chance to get a few members of his team up to speed with the new system if she accepted - in the end, we managed to get the team trained during her notice period and a detailed manual created to train new joiners.

And then we reviewed the business functions to make sure that there weren’t any other single points of failure, we found a few and put a plan into place for those too!

To ensure your business can function you need to eliminate single points of failure and have up to date process manuals so that your business can still function should anyone leave or fall ill.

It’s also important to think about succession planning so that you can start training your staff and giving them acting up opportunities to prepare them for their next role.

Need help with future-proofing your business? Schedule a call to see how we can help you.

Cultural differences

Do you know the difference between postponing and preponing?

The first time I heard the term prepone it was during my induction for a new role. I was working for a multinational company and they took you through cultural diversity training so that you would understand the nuances of working with teams based all over the world. Most teams were a 50/50 mix of local hires and internationally seconded staff who would spend a few years in different countries building their skills.

I needed to understand why some male colleagues wouldn’t shake my hand or that the pub wasn't a good location for a chat or why I kept being invited to dinner at colleagues homes rather than to a restaurant for dinner.

It was a whole cultural awakening.

We live in a multicultural world and with the increase in remote working our employees and team members could be based ANYWHERE in the world. Do you take cultural nuances into consideration when you are hiring and managing your team?

For example in many countries publicly disagreeing with your boss can be regarded as disrespectful, while in other cultures giving your honest opinion when asked is a prerequisite for progressing your career.

I sat on an interview panel for a client and they asked candidates to give examples of how they have convinced their manager or stakeholder to change their mind. Some candidates had great examples but one candidate said she supported her manager to achieve their aims and kept them compliant by giving advice and highlighting the risks. 

My client wanted a different type of response and didn’t want to take the candidate further, even though they had loved all of her other responses. I managed to convince them to get her back in for a second chat and it turned out that her boss regarded it as disrespectful to be told what to do and so she used different tactics to ensure compliance. She was hired and is still there 2 years later.

Do you ask why your candidates or team members respond differently to your expectations? It might not be a lack of knowledge or braveness, a person’s culture can have an affect on how they communicate in the workplace.

Remember:

• There can be multiple right answers

• Get the why behind the answer

• Don’t judge a candidate based on one response

• Gather the opinion of others 

If you need help ensuring your recruitment process isn’t losing you quality candidates, schedule a call with us here.

Taking the holistic approach to change

ABC Corporation changed their annual leave policy to state that you couldn’t take more than 10 consecutive days holiday, they made the change with the best of intentions, they wanted staff to take breaks more often, rather than just taking 3 or 4 weeks of leave so that they would be less likely to get ill or get overwhelmed from working in a fast-paced industry. 

However, there was an outcry from all of their staff with families from countries that required a long haul flight to visit.

Denise has elderly parents who live in Jamaica, she visits them every January to take care of them, ensure any repairs that are needed for the family home are completed.

Ahmed’s wife and children still live in India as they have family support there, he goes back twice a year and his wife brings the children to London for the summer holidays. Countless others have family in America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia that they visit, but also staff who took their children back to the land of their (or their parents) birth, so that they could spend time with family, learn about their culture and experience a different way of life.

The leadership team that decided for the policy change were all British, a family visit for them was car ride or short-haul flight. They hadn't even asked their staff reps for input, as they saw it as an operational matter.

After staff, some of whom had already booked their flights and had extended leave approved, explained why they preferred to take extended leave the policy was revoked, but the change led to a drop in morale as staff felt like they weren’t being treated like they were capable of choosing when and how to use their annual leave.

To avoid a misstep with your team, it is important to do the following:

Consult with staff, regarding any change that will affect them, whether or not you think it will be well received, you don't know everyone's personal circumstances.

Pilot new schemes to see how they work in reality, there may be positive or negative impacts that you do not realise until you try.

Review your policies annually to see if they are fit for purpose and remain competitive, as your business grows you’ll need to check that your policies are fit for purpose.

You need to ensure that your policies and processes do not disadvantage any members of your team, including those with protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity).

If you need help making sure your policies are up to date and relevant for you and your team, schedule a call

Are You Ready To Listen?

This week has been interesting and painful in equal measure, there have been so many clients, colleagues and friends of all races wanting to know what to do next to truly make a positive change in the way that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals are treated in the workplace and society.

Now if you’ve never seen my photo you might not be aware of the fact that I am a Black woman and so I do have a vested interest in this matter.

I thought long and hard, and I believe that understanding the biases (unconscious or not) begins with listening to the experiences of the BAME community WITHOUT comment, to truly understand all of the different ways that prejudices have been made that have affected us individually and collectively.

Understanding a persons ‘Lived Experience’ and validating it is essential. Historically when BAME individuals express how they feel in situations they have been told that they are being sensitive and so have buried those feelings to continue to function. It is those raw feelings that are being released at the moment, as finally, the world is seeing how BAME people are treated by those who should be protecting them.

I can remember my very first experience of racism at primary school, when I was told “to go back to where I came from” I was totally confused. I couldn’t understand why this snarling white boy was telling me to go back to my house across the street! Do you know I remember that boys name and face to this day? He was probably just repeating something he’d heard his parents say to someone but for me, it was the realisation that I could be hated for the colour of my skin.

I have so many other stories and I’m not going to share them here, but I would say if you want to stop racism and prejudice, first talk to your BAME staff, colleagues and friends. Listen to their experiences, educate yourself and then work together to put the measures in place to bring about equality of opportunity, prosperity and progression.

Three things to do as an employer today:

• Ask your BAME employees about their experiences and really listen

• Arrange unconscious bias training for you and your team

• Gather the data – What is the demographic mix within your organisation, at operational, strategic and executive level

You have to know what you need to address before you can address it. If you need help creating an inclusive people plan, schedule a call with us.

Causing a stink

Stuart was an ideal employee, an amazing customer service officer who the clients loved, as he always went the extra mile to make sure they were happy. He was always on time, was hardly ever sick and consistently exceeded his objectives. 

There was just one problem, Stuart’s personal hygiene was not consistent, some days he smelt super fresh on other days his odour was eye-watering. Staff complained but no one spoke to Stuart.

Ever been in a situation where everyone is aware of a problem except the person who is causing the problem?

Rather than addressing his body odour issues, his manager placed him in a separate office, stating that his telephone conversations could be distracting to other members of the team. However, when a team leader position became vacant and Stuart applied, someone had to talk to him and you guessed it, it was me as the HR Manager.

He and I had a private chat, where I discussed the situation and tried to find a resolution. Stuart felt so embarrassed. He hadn’t known that his odour was a problem and couldn’t understand why no one had spoken to him sooner. 

The problem was that he shared a house with roommates and wasn't always able to get into the bathroom to shower before he needed to leave for work (he knew he wasn't super fresh on those days but didn’t think he was stinky). He had felt that his colleagues were avoiding him and thinking back could understand some interactions better. Stuart’s confidence was destroyed. He wanted to retract his application for the team leader position.

That wasn’t what we wanted. He was a great candidate for the role. We discussed options to improve his hygiene - like using the showering facilities at the office but building his confidence in his manager and colleagues was the bigger issue.

We needed to build an environment that was open and honest so that any issues could be brought out in the open and addressed before it caused a longer-lasting problem. I mediated a meeting between Stuart and his manager who was clearly uncomfortable with discussing personal issues and so some additional management training was given to him. 

Stuart was able to get his hygiene under control and get the team leader role. His colleagues and team members warmed up to him once they were able to share the space comfortably and his manager became more effective at addressing challenging issues.

Do you have an issue that you haven't addressed because it's awkward and/embarrassing? 

Having challenging conversations can be hard, here are 5 tips to help you to address the stinky issues:

1. Stick to the facts, be clear about what the issue is and why it needs to be addressed.

2. Show empathy, as awkward as you may feel the other person will be trying to absorb the information.

3. Ask about mitigating situations, there may be business or personal issues that can cause or affect the issue.

4. Offer solutions suggest some options that can resolve the issue 

5. Follow up, don't just talk and run, check-in and make sure that the individual is ok.

Use these tips to address your challenging team issues and let us know how it goes

Are you ready to lead?

Steve was so frustrated with the way his team dressed in the office, no matter how many times he said ‘smart casual’, people would turn up in jeans, trainers and unironed t-shirts. Even new additions to the team started coming into work smart, as he’d instructed during the recruitment process, but within a month their standards slipped too.

You didn’t have to look far to see what the problem was, the CEO came into the office in flip flops and shorts, often covered in dog hair – the only way the team knew that an important meeting was taking place was when he showed up in a shirt and trousers, with his hair brushed!

Have you ever had this kind of experience?

Leading others effectively is impossible if you are not prepared to demonstrate the values and behaviours that you wish to see and develop in your team.

Say your values are: Transparency, Responsiveness and Innovation. How are you embodying them daily?

Does your team know what your plan is for business growth? Do they know there is a problem BEFORE you start reducing the outgoings? Do you respond to requests for help or assistance promptly (even if it’s just sending a holding message)? Do you shoot down any ideas that don’t come from you?

Do you think your team would be transparent, responsive and innovative with you, your business or your customers?

Being a true leader means taking a hard look at yourself and making the changes that you need to influence in the right way because whatever you do positive or negative you are making an impression on those around you.

Take this quick exercise and see what you need to work on  -

• Take a pen and paper

• Write down your top 3 – 5 business values

• Write down an example of how you have demonstrated (or not) each in the last 2 weeks

• Assess what you could have done better and decide what you will do the next time

Be honest, if you can see that you aren’t demonstrating your core values, make a plan for how you can set a better example for your team.

Need some help on your leadership journey? Schedule a call and see how we can help you build a positive legacy of leadership