How to get the most out of your team even if you don’t feel like a people person

So maybe you prefer computers to people?

Or maybe you are a busy, busy person who hasn’t got the time for the niceties of a chat around the water cooler / zoom room.

And you just want to get straight down to business without that fluff?

But the problem with that is that businesses are made of people – many different people.

And people are not all like you, and we all have needs (human needs). And if we don’t fulfil their human needs then they tend to stop doing what we want, start leaving in droves, or if they stay, they are disengaged and frustrate us when they are not performing in the way they could or should.

And then we start to suffer…

The team aren’t performing, which means you are not performing in your bosses’ eyes.

Turnover of staff goes up, which starts costing the business money (and they are on your back, as it is your department that is spending all the money on recruiting, again and again.

But are we guilty of creating our own reality?

Maybe so.

If we don’t look at what people need, then we will certainly lose out.

So, how can a non-people person, an introvert, or a techie get the most out of people in their team?

Well, we can start by understanding who is in the room.

Stopping for a second and taking the time to listen to what is being said, not just done.

So, let’s look at it from the other direction.

What is going on when people are not engaged and not performing.

There are 3 big reasons why people are not engaging and not doing the things you want them to:

1.????They can’t do

2.????They won’t do

3.????They just don’t do

So, what do I mean?

Can’t do

This means that for some reason they can’t do the thing you want.?Either they don’t know how technically, don’t have the confidence or aren’t sure exactly how you want it done, so they don’t have the autonomy to make good decisions.

Won’t do

This is a different reason entirely. ??They could do it, but they choose not to because the relationship between you and them or them and the team is not good. So, there is little trust and connection, and they don’t feel understood, or heard. And therefore, they don’t give their best, even if they could do. We need to build that trust and grow the relationships between the people in the business so that they can work together like a well-oiled machine.

Just don’t do

This has nothing to do with whether they “like” you, but much more about the reason “why”.?They do not know, or do not believe in the cause that you stand for.?And therefore, when you tell them the direction you are going in, they don’t think it is right, or they try to take it in another direction.?Or you haven’t communicated it, and therefore they don’t have any direction. So, they are left to guess, or just do what they think is right on a general level. But this doesn’t bode well if you want a super engaged team working towards your goals.

So, let’s pick “Won’t do” and dive into what that means for us…

People are driven by their human needs. The way they show up and their behavioural and communication preferences and their values will, in some visible way, serve those needs, and therefore, when we look at behaviours, and our team members, we have to look behind the mask of the behaviour itself and look for what is driving it. ?Because “won’t do” will have more to than just won’t.

But that isn’t always easy, since no one walks around with their thoughts and feelings written across their face.

So, we have to discover what’s going on by being a good detective, and then by creating a culture of speaking about how we feel, who we are and what we need (stay with me ??), we will make it easier to identify how to meet those needs and create great relationships.

Being the detective means looking in the right places and using the information we can glean when we pay more attention to our own and others’ behaviours.

Understanding your team will mean you have the confidence to say what needs to be said, engage them authentically with you and the team and then work together to achieve greatness.

As a leader, it is up to us to do this.?And I use many tools with my clients to make things easier to find the clues to who you have in the room.

One of those tools is a simple 1-page ready reference for catching a glimpse of what is going on for people and how you can use this.?If you would like a copy, just message me and we can get it over to you.

We teach this in our Confident Communicator? and Leaders Launchpad? Programmes in full, but this guide you can pop on your desk and use to begin to understand the people in your team.

And we are going to talk about all 3 of the reasons in our live training on Friday 25th February at 0930am.?Join us here .

And, if you want some support to apply this in your business and start getting your team even more engaged, then give me a shout, and I will get you the details of how you can jump on a training or get some support from Think Be Do Leadership.

Julie Hutchison

[email protected]