(Re)structuring your team

I fundamentally believe that in most situations there is a chance for everyone to benefit. The Happiness Marketing Board calls this a “win-win” situation; sadly this term is vastly overused by people who are usually trying to convince you that the bad deal they’re giving you is really for your benefit. Yuck.

I call it the right way to do things.

Business as usual with bad apples

You’re a new leader with a tight deadline and too much work to do. And one member of your small team isn’t pulling his weight. Your first instinct is to shuffle them out of your group and find someone new who can perform.

At best this is a win-lose-lose deal: you win by getting a new team member, but the person loses out on an opportunity to get better and, if you aren’t up front with the group that receives your problem employee, they lose too.

Lose-lose-lose is more likely, though. Or maybe draw-lose-lose as you discover that your new wunderkind has their own problems.

So how to fix this?

Deming established that the vast majority of failures are due to the system, not the person.

Almost everyone wants to do a good job. How can you match what needs to be done with what your problem team member is capable of doing really well? What is he or she interested in?

A lot of times this requires some shuffling and reorganizing. For example, you may not have planned to write the user’s manual or do a marketing plan for your team’s new widget for another three months, but if that’s something of real interest to your problem team member you might consider assigning that job to him now. He’ll be grateful for the chance to show his stuff and so will work extra hard. You could get more than you expected from the product, and add a whole new dimension to your success at the end of the project. Win for him, win for you, and win for your organization.

People aren’t stupid

They know when they aren’t doing well, and they know when you’re trying to take care of them.

What’s even better about this situation than the wins we’ve already highlighted is that you’ve laid up stores of good will for the future. Your team has seen that you treat everyone with compassion and respect. They now know that you aren’t likely to toss any of them out at the first sign of trouble, and this loyalty will bring new life and creativity to your team. And your “problem” team member now feels an even deeper connection to the team that helped find a way for him or her to be successful.

This post is inspired by material in the book, The Only Trait of a Leader.