Coaching Focus: Your team’s performance is flatlining and you’re not sure why. What can you do to improve the situation?
Coaching Solution: Play the detective. Investigate the clues to find the real “culprit” sapping your team’s energy.
What you Observe
Your team lacks drive and has lost momentum in achieving goals. People are not performing at the top of their game. Team meetings are lackluster. Individuals seem to be checking tasks off a list rather than engaging wholeheartedly in the team purpose and vision. Retention is now a risk.
How can you Explore
What would you think about a doctor who put a bandage on a patient’s foot, but failed to treat the diabetes that caused the sore? How would you respond if a lawn care expert watered your dying grass, but never told you that it was a grub worm infestation that was sapping the strength of your lawn?
Similarly, in our organizations, lack of engagement is a symptom of a larger issue. How willing are you to look at root causes so you can solve the problem at its core?
Time to Reflect
- List any incidents that have occurred within the last 3 months that are the symptoms of employee dis-engagement
- What patterns you see ?
- Trace them back to their original source
- What is the underlying “infection” or “sore spot?”
- Commit time each week to listening one-on-one to a member of your team
- Ask what’s going well and what’s not going quite so well
- Don’t try to fix anything; just listen and take notes
- Compile the stories and look for a through line
- What themes come to the surface?
Time to Act
- Work with trusted members of your team to come up with a “treatment” plan to address the core issues that are undermining trust and commitment.
- Monitor the impact and continue to fine tune your strategy until the team regains its motivation and drive.
You can download the exercise for you to complete offline: Constant Coach – Team Performance exercise
