Many of us work in a hurried, reactive environment. We tactically respond to what's coming at us each week, each day, even by the hour, like the game of Whack-a-Mole. The pace is not sustainable. This approach is causing exhaustion for managers and even for our most engaged team members.
I hear from managers about the disorder that happens in the workplaces. They are tired, bewildered, and don’t know how to fix the system that they created or in some cases inherited. While doing the great work of delivering client projects, helping earn new business we sometimes forget the critical work of developing a team and sustainable systems to make the work and workplace thrive. So, we live in this place of antiquated systems, tools, processes and wonder how to unravel this ball of yarn, but then another client deliverable is due and the job of working on the team is set aside.
I know the place that you’re in, and the feeling of overwhelm.
You might be managing from a reactive stance if some of these situations sound familiar;
News among the team, and the company, often travels through the grapevine and rarely comes from management.
Some people are in the know about important company info, while others, who are equally qualified, remain unaware. This causes discontent but let me point out that it also causes equity and proximity issues.
The team is not aligned on priorities.
Team members may struggle with loneliness or lack of connection individually or with each other.
The work feels transactional, and employees feel like a cog in the wheel of a big production with little personal benefit.
In an impulsive environment, we can fail to communicate important details with our team. This leaves employees, managers, directors, and even senior leaders occasionally in a confused dark space and often leads to frustration at its best, and active employee disengagement at its worst. If you’re familiar with the eNPS score, actively disengaged team members are considered “detractors”. They are actively not promoting your workplace. In fact, usually, they are actively complaining about it to their friends, neighbors, in line at the coffee shop, and those complaints are like poison to coworkers. Very few companies can withstand a trend of actively disengaged employees.
Here’s the bad news: the outside world might not get any less chaotic any time soon.
But the good news is that you can create a calm, stable work environment anyway by proactively leading your team. Sounds great ... but who has the time for that?
I get it, making this kind of change to move away from chaos can feel like one more overwhelming thing in a long list of overwhelming things. And I’m not going to lie, this kind of change does take a lot of effort upfront. But it pays off in stability, consistency, innovation, and performance.
(And just in case that’s not convincing enough for you, if you don’t make these changes, you’re creating an unsustainable future for your team and risk employee dissatisfaction, productivity, and regrettable turnover.)
The key to success? Consistency.
I’ve noticed in two decades as an HR professional that the teams and leaders who harness a methodical, intentional approach to communicating and leading a team have stability in their workforce. Consistency is the key. Identify how you want to lead and manage your team and stick with it.
And if you do nothing else, host a regular team meeting.
It’s not that this will magically solve your problems overnight, but you have to start somewhere, and I recommend implementing an effective team meeting. If you're not already hosting a team meeting, start with a consistent and dependable one. Or, if you have one but it feels stale or fruitless, reinvent it.
The benefits of a healthy, transparent, and dependable team meeting are palpable, here are a few from my experience working with mid-sized businesses:
Connections thrive among the whole team
Team members develop a strong level of trust in their manager that they are knowledgeable about the happenings in the business
Together, teams can solve problems, it’s not just for the manager and the individual who has the problem
Brainstorming power multiplies in team meetings
Employees report feeling a sense of belonging
Crosstraining and employee development thrive
Above all: do not cancel your team meeting!
The meeting can only work if you actually have the meeting!
Even if your agenda feels light, and you simply come together to bond, and follow through on your promise of hosting a team meeting, that’s a win. Don’t be the manager who cancels the meeting at the last very last second, or shows up and says, “Well, we don’t really have anything on the agenda this week, so...” Set a proactive agenda to effectively communicate important information with your team. It’s a simple, wide-reaching, and effective way to infuse stability and tip your culture in a positive direction.
Not sure whether your team meetings are worth the time? (Or maybe you’re pretty sure they are not?)
I’m here to help.
Check out my on-demand course, Building Blocks to an Effective Team Meeting. It’ll set you up for success with a downloadable course agenda and the exact components to include in your regular team meeting agenda.
