First Steps to Turn Your Team Around

You’ve committed to take action and turn around your underperforming team. CONGRATULATIONS!

Whether you’re the new leader of this team, or you’ve been leading them for a while and you’ve decided now is the time, here are the first steps to get you on your way. 

1. Let everyone on the team know what you’re doing. If you’re the new leader, they’ll welcome the information. If you’ve been leading them for a while and are changing what you do, they’ll be anxious if you don’t explain what’s up. 
2. Get clarity on how things are currently. Whether you’re new or not, you likely don’t fully understand the current reality and the underlying root causes of that reality. While you can, and should, obtain objective performance information from a variety of sources, the most valuable info will come from your team members. So ask them - individually and/or as a group - what they think. 
3. To build strong buy-in, work with them to develop a clear vision of the future. Your vision of the team’s future, or direction you’ve received from your superiors is key. By asking the team members for their vision, you will have a good understanding of how well aligned everyone is, or if there is significant work to do on alignment. After all, if everyone isn’t rowing in the same direction, there is a high risk of getting nowhere. 
4. Clarify the gaps between where you are and where you want to be in the future. Involving all team members in this process creates great buy-in, easing your ability to drive change. 
5. Hold a “solutions session” in which team members recommend activities to close the gaps and agree on which 2-3 the team will collectively pursue at first. By giving your team some control over the process, you significantly enhance their engagement.
6. Codify a project plan, specifying who will do what by when, and track progress. This reassures people that they know their specific role and expectations, and gives you a process by which to track progress and get things back on track if (when) things slip. 
7. Celebrate progress, both small and large steps, and your ultimate success. By showing appreciation you build momentum and energize engagement in your next improvement projects. 

Congratulations. You are on your way to turning your team around!

If you’d like to learn more specifics about such a process, or have started and run into a road block, feel free to reach out to me. Schedule a free discovery call during which we can discuss your specific challenges.