How to Get it Wrong with the Team!
Nicola Richardson - Management Consultant
Empowering SMEs in handling challenging conversations to strengthen employee relationships using my COMPASS model | DiSC Facilitator| Difficult Conversations Mentoring and Training | LinkedIn Top Voice
Once upon a time there was a young, inexperienced Manager who had just got promoted, who wanted to change how the main work was dealt with as targets were being missed.
Pulling the team together, she shared her idea & before she knew it, one person had taken exception & started to become belligerent & uncooperative (or that was how it felt to the Manager). The rest of the team listened to the team member who was passionate about why it was so wrong & before the Manager knew it, there was a pack of wolves snapping at her heels.
Shaken & upset, the Manager slunk away not knowing how to look the team in the eyes & unsure of how to salvage the situation.
Away the Manager went to reflect.
Through the reflection & discussion with her Manager she identified where she had gone wrong.
1. Discussing with the team individually to sound out their views & listen to their ideas would have given her a feel to how the idea would have gone down & motivated them as they would have felt influencing the decision.
2. When it got heated because of the one person, she should have taken the conversation offline & moved the conversation on. Just a simple statement “Let’s take this offline after the meeting” would have stopped IT getting out of hand.
3. The best step would have been to hold a problem-solving event where all parties could have input & shared ideas, creating the motivation to sort the work.
From then on, the Manager always involved employees by carrying out problem-solving.
And yes, that Manager was me! It taught me a valuable lesson & now I am passionate about teams being taught how to problem solve properly & being fully involved.
My idea did end up being taken on board & the employee & I developed a healthy respect for each other but it’s not something I would want others to go through. Want to know more about problem-solving with your teams, then give me a call.
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6 年You've shared some great recommendations, you clearly know your stuff.
Ensuring first time senior leaders dodge the d*ckhead trap and ace their first 90 days | First 90 Days Coaching | Leadership & Mindset Coach | Emotional Intelligence Practitioner | Tamer of Mind Monkeys ??
6 年Love the experiences you share Nicola, simple changes can make such an impact