Team Life 12/13/2017

Happy Wednesday Team. I hope you are all having a good and successful week so far. The work week is half over so now is the time to gather your teams and discuss your progress for the week and adapt your tactics if needed. Ensure that everyone is on track and if anyone needs assistance, ensure they get the help that is needed so the team succeeds. So let’s talk about assisting. Inevitably on some teams there are members that struggle from time to time and could use a hand. However, sometimes there are teammates that are just slackers and repeatedly ask for help simply because they do not want to do the assigned task and they know if they ask for help that someone will step in and take on the lion’s share of the work and get it done. So how do you as a teammate handle the slacker? In my opinion, the best answer is to just do it. If that slacker doesn’t want to do his job then step up and do it. Trust me, a good leader will, over time know his or her team and will see the actions and results of his team members. Eventually the slacker will start being assigned fewer and fewer meaningful tasks and if that individual is not smart enough to see the writing on the wall or even if he or she does and does not care eventually they will find themselves no longer part of that team or organization as a whole. So the next question for you is, as a leader, how do you handle that slacker team member? First off, as a leader, it is your responsibility to know your team. Know them as people first. Know what makes them tick, know their likes and dislikes and most importantly, know their level and quality of work. All of these things can be learned over time by being engaged with your team. A good leader does not just dole out tasks and simply wait for an end result. A good leader assigns the tasks and regularly meats with the team as a whole and individually to check status, assess plans, and also taking advantage of this time to build that personal relationship with the team. So, if you are that leader that has the slacker, coaching is key. The slacker team member needs to be informed of his or her substandard performance and a plan needs to be put in place to give that individual the opportunity to mitigate his or her shortfalls and get on a path to success. There is absolutely no reason to make this a tense confrontation. However, if once given the opportunity the individual fails to take advantage of the opportunity, then some hard questions need to be asked. There may be outside issues impacting your team member’s personal life that are affecting his or hers focus. Let’s be honest, we all have moments where life outside of work can be hitting us hard on multiple fronts. If this is the case, let your team member know you are there for them. Let’s face, it most career jobs, we spend more times with our work team than with our own families and that being said your work team is your family as well and they need to be treated as such. A good leader truly does care about the moral of his or her teams. If the issue is simply one of unwillingness to comply with assigned tasks or standards and fails to correct the sub-standard performance, than as a good leader it is your duty to sever the tie to that individual. That is what is best for the team and the organization as a whole. Remember, as a leader you are not only responsible for you team but you also have a responsibility to the big picture and the success of the organization. Each and every one of you has it in you to be a good leader. Some of us are willing to step up and take on that role but in some shape or form we are all given opportunities to be leaders from day to day. Take ownership of that and lead to the best of your ability. Have the discipline to hold yourself to a higher standard and lead by example. Never ask your team to do something you do not know how to do or at least have the willingness to learn how it is done by your team. You rely on your team to be the experts in their fields so trust that they can help get the team to success. Take care of your team, because it is your team that takes care of you. So let’s get out there and continue to push forward towards our goals. Be willing to go all in and embrace the SUCK!!! Be ready to adapt, improvise and overcome the challenges that lay ahead. So no one is ever a success on their own, we all succeed or fail as a TEAM!!!. Have a great rest of the week, and finish strong. You are Elite!!! HOOYAH TEAM!!! Never Give Up!!!