As a direct sales leader, you want to leverage the strengths of your team members to boost their performance, motivation, and satisfaction. But how can you identify what they are good at and what they need to improve? Here are some tips to help you assess and develop your team's strengths.
One of the simplest ways to identify your team members' strengths is to observe how they act in different situations. For example, you can notice who is good at communicating with customers, who is creative and innovative, who is organized and efficient, who is resilient and adaptable, and who is collaborative and supportive. Pay attention to their body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions, as well as their words and actions.
The way I observe this is to set a task above their paygrade. Give them a challenge and no help. You want them to identify the requirements of the task and set themselves up to succeed. Do they ask for help? Do they try multiple ways of delivering? Are they on time? Failure isn't a bad thing in this task, its if they learn from how they failed and adjust. I love mistakes in our company as they always solve problems we didn't know we had.
One of the tools is side by side in the field after agreeing on the sale visit scenario and have a good calibration that allows you to observe how they act , manage and lead the call
The way that I do this is by assigning various tasks to the people reporting to me. By analyzing how they approach the task assigned and not just what the outcome is you gain insight into both peoples skills and their preferences. But observation is not always accurate don't make a judgement call on just one metric.
Mine is by observation, and I mean spoken and unspoken responses towards challenges and roles assigned to my team members and at different times. I'm also keen on performance at different tasks, projects as well as at selling our various products.
Another way to identify your team members' strengths is to ask for feedback from different sources. You can ask them to self-evaluate their skills and abilities, as well as their areas of improvement. You can also ask their peers, customers, and other leaders to share their opinions and insights. You can use tools like surveys, interviews, or 360-degree feedback to collect and analyze the feedback. Make sure to ask specific and constructive questions that focus on their strengths and potential.
When it comes to work, its important to understand your teams strengths. Identifying your employee’s strengths and weaknesses can help you motivate your team and optimize their performance. Here's few tips :- ?Encourage self-awareness ?Observe and listen them in action. ?Talk to them directly. ?Encourage team members to help each other. ?List the opportunities and threats that apply to you. ?Pay attention to failures and successes. ?Ask searching questions?. ?Encourage people to acknowledge and appreciate others. ?Being Direct and Real. Delegating work based on the team’s strengths sets your group up for success and helps employees feel engaged in work that uses their skills,who work together to achieve a common goal.
It’s enlightening to ask people what they view their strengths as… questions like “what do you see as your biggest strengths that you can leverage for success in this role?” or “what do you think you are best at” are great because oftentimes you won’t get the answer you expected. Plus, when people verbalize what they are best at they typical set a higher standard for themselves in that area. Makes for a good transition to questions about where that person feels they can most improve too. Another benefit of these types of conversations is it shows that you care about this person, their input, and their development
The principal of MBWA and observing is only one way of gathering data about your team, another way is by simply asking them, not necessarily directly but by formulating questions that will allow for an honest feedback. As leaders no matter how much of an open door policy we have people reporting to you will always watch what they say. You need not only to hear their answers but gauge their responses. Leadership involves being attentive to more than just one aspect of the people who work in your team
A third way to identify your team members' strengths is to use assessments that measure their personality, values, interests, and talents. There are many online tools and platforms that offer various types of assessments, such as DISC, StrengthsFinder, Myers-Briggs, or Enneagram. These assessments can help you understand your team members' preferences, motivations, and styles, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. You can use the results to tailor your coaching, training, and recognition strategies.
Among the mentioned assessments I particularly like StrengthsFinder as it helps to understand team members' strengths and how they fit together as a team. Emphasis on direct observation and interaction is crucial, with experience in recognizing individual skills and potential through close mentoring. This information is used to tailor coaching and training, customizing it to develop identified strengths. This strategy supports the growth of high-performance teams and continuous learning.
Be very careful of these personality and talent assessment tools, they have become the "go-to" for many managers and research has shown that they are very marginally useful because we all exhibit various personalities, traits and talents depending on age, experience, current situation, current aspirations etc. You will be far more effective if you take an interest in the person and spend time with them not just during their KPI reviews but have regular meetings with team members where they can discuss their progress.
A fourth way to identify your team members' strengths is to challenge them with new and different tasks and projects. You can assign them roles and responsibilities that match their strengths, or that stretch them beyond their comfort zone. You can also encourage them to volunteer for opportunities that interest them and align with their goals. By challenging them, you can help them discover and develop their hidden or underused strengths, as well as their areas of growth.
You should always stretch the people who work for you, keep them reaching for the next level. If you let people stagnate in their position they become less effective.
A fifth way to identify your team members' strengths is to celebrate their achievements and successes. You can recognize and reward them for their contributions, results, and improvements. You can also share their stories and best practices with the rest of the team and the organization. By celebrating their achievements, you can reinforce their strengths and boost their confidence, engagement, and loyalty.
I put this differently, it's not about celebration rather it is about recognition (semantics yes but subtle difference as well). Use the principals we learn from Maslow, people at different levels in the organisation and team respond at different levels in the Hierarchy of needs. Be sensitive to where people are and what kind of recognition they will respond to. This is where a healthy knowledge of human behavior helps, remember as a manager/leader your primary job is to make sure that your team is operating at maximum efficiency and this can be achieved when you are caring for all your reports individual needs.
A sixth way to identify your team members' strengths is to review and refine your findings and actions. You can monitor and measure their performance and progress, as well as their feedback and satisfaction. You can also ask them to reflect on their learning and development, as well as their challenges and opportunities. By reviewing and refining, you can adjust and improve your strategies and plans to maximize your team's strengths and potential.
~ Ask them (Aspirations) ~ Guide them ~ Challenge them ~ Push them into difficult situations ~ Ask them to showcase leadership skills ~ Assign different tasks to collaborate with internal stakeholders. ~ Seek their opinions about different processes and SOPs Just do above steps, you’ll find enough insights about your teammate’s strengths and area of improvements.
Few important things to do ?? Keep communicating with your team constantly ?? Rather than reacting, ask them why something wasn’t done ?? See if the intent is right or if there’s something else bothering them ?? Track their performance on a regular basis ?? If they are not good at something, guide them and encourage them to become better These pointers would help you in identifying strength and weaknesses to improve efficiency of the team
Here's a quick rundown: 1. Observe their performance. 2. Ask for feedback. 3. Have conversations about their interests. 4. Use assessment tools. 5. Review past successes. 6. Let them share their strengths. 7. Try different tasks to see their abilities.