CEO Diaries : Handling Team Failures...

The biggest reality of the contemporary corporate world is - NO ONE LIKES TO FAIL..... and EVERYONE FAILS SOMETIMES.....

And while we all know the importance of learning from mistakes, more often than not we ( individuals and teams) struggle to bounce back from big blunders. Whether it was a product launch that didn’t meet its targets or an important store launch deadline that you all missed, or U ran empty shelves for weeks due to unplanned inventory - the effects of a failure lingers around for long - and a manager is expected to know - "what can you do to help your employees recover"? How can you help them see the experience as an opportunity for growth instead of a death knell.

It’s often harder to lead a team past a failure than it is to help one person. It is because a team is made of different people - coming into the a task with different expectations, perspectives, levels of investment, and different things at stake, and above all - different sense of maturity. Some people may be resilient and others might feel more vulnerable. All the things that individuals fall prey to — misattribution and rationalization — are compounded on a team and add exponential complexity to the process. It really doesn’t matter whether one person in the team is at fault or if everyone bears some of the responsibility, it is the manager's responsibility to help the group lick their wounds and march forward....

Take Control of Self

A team leader's feelings , moods & reflections are far more contagious than a team member’s so, while you don’t want to suppress your emotions, you don’t want to get stuck in a moody, negative space either. Do whatever you need to move on from the disappointment so that you’re ready to help your team deal with theirs. And don’t try to fake it. You need to be genuinely in control of your feelings or your team will see through you. it is tough - but not impossible. U would learn it once u try and analyse the bigger picture - dispassionately - and change the goalpost often!!

Create Breathing Space

Everyone needs time and space after a failure!! Time to introspect and self analyse - as to what went wrong. Most managers attempt to move on too quickly !!! It is advisable that time, you shouldn’t become a “beacon of positivity” before the team is ready, It’s okay to let everyone wallow in “disappointment and negative feelings,” for a little while. In fact, negative or neutral emotions are conducive to deductive reasoning, which means they can help your team more effectively process and analyze the failure. When you acknowledge the disappointment — “We got routed..” or “Far worse then expected” — you’re not just stroking people’s emotions. You’re facilitating a critical appraisal of the situation. Let people know that " yes we have failed - but thats not the end of the world"...

Be Blunt - Don't cover up

Don’t sugar coat what happened or resort to “corporate speak” that abdicates responsibility. Avoid phrases like “let’s look on the bright side,” “we’re lucky it happened this way,” “we sub optimized,” or “a mistake was made.” Instead, be clear: “We missed the deadline because we didn’t take into account how long each task would take.” When you focus on the facts,you can call it like it is without being demotivating.

Focus on What rather than Who - Avoid blame game.

It’s more important to focus on what’s to blame, rather than who is to blame. If the fault really does lie with one person or a few people, then talk to those individuals in private and focus on their actions, not character.  Address the group but be sure to do it in a way that doesn’t single anyone out.

Change the Mood....

At some point, it’s also important to move on from analyzing the failure to talking about what comes next. The mutual commiserating and examination of what went wrong is useful only up to a point, After a day or two (or maybe longer if the failure was a big one), push your team to more strategic, open-minded thinking and discussing how you will avoid similar mistakes in the future. Call a meeting and make sure that the tone is positive and energized.

Show the change...

You can help everyone begin to see the experience as a learning one by telling them about a mistake you’ve made in the past. “It can be very powerful when a leader authentically shares a time when they have a crucible-type failure that became a stepping stone in their career.

Do:

• Deal with your own emotions about what’s happened so they don’t unduly influence the team
• Give team members time to feel disappointed
• Talk about what went wrong and why

Don’t:

• Get stuck in a negative, analytical mood for too long -— shift the conversation to focus on the future
• Allow people to point fingers at one another — give constructive feedback and move on
• Lecture the team about what they can learn -— let the ideas come from the group

Build Fences

Every mistake is an attack on the corporate functional fortress. Post the team has revived from the mistake and is set on the next course - the team leader quietly sets on to the job of FENCING..... Building processes, competencies & Fundamentals that ensure that leaks are plugged - damages are repaired and the organisation is on a strong path.... Error once - is a mistake - but if not corrected - can become a habit - and is very likely to spiral down the organisations cultural fabric. Corrective action some time varies all the way from changing processes , building competencies , to as strong as replacing team members for the overall well being of the team

As a young retailer, in my formative years - I made numerous mistakes - from missing store launches, to running ads without products on the floor, to running promotions that bled the bottom lines - but every time, my leaders instilled confidence in me , help put processes and structures around me , and gave me the liberty to experiment and evolve!!