As an organisation we have experienced significant change. I am finding it difficult to keep my team focused on our business objectives due to the cynicism that has resulted from the constant restructuring. My team members feel there is no point investing all of themselves in the project because it could all change tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I have my directors breathing down my neck asking for results. How can I get them motivated and on track?
It’s challenging to keep focused when there is uncertainty about the future and your role in it.
I am currently rolling out a career program for an organisation with the focus of the program addressing how to create a robust Individual development plan. This company, like many, are going through significant change and restructuring. Often the questions that come up in these programs are, “Why should I bother in investing in my development”? The following reasons are given as a reason not to:
1. I don’t know what’s happening tomorrow.
2. I don’t know who my people leader will be as I have already had three so far this year and it may change, so what’s the point?
3. I work part-time so there is no point.
4. I love my job, know it well and I don’t see myself moving so there is no point.
I invite participants to connect to the benefits to them in this investment and answer the questions above with:
1. You are going to end up somewhere in the future as the world changes. In order to continue to have a satisfying and rewarding career in the roles you wish to pursue it’s important to invest in your skills and capabilities so that you are able to transfer to other opportunities both in and outside your organisation.
2. Investing in yourself is for you. This investment in yourself benefits your development and future prospects and is not dependent on your people leader or your organisation. Yes, it helps if your people leader is interested and supports your development and if you work for an organisation that provides the culture and tools for developing their employees. It is a three way partnership, however if your people leader and your organisation do not support this it’s up to you to ensure you get what you need. Your development is ultimately your responsibility.
3. Regardless of whether you are full-time, part-time or not currently working due to personal circumstance such as full-time parenting, it’s valuable and important to continue to invest in your development so that when you want to move to another role, to stay current and competitive in your current role or re-enter the workforce, you will have the skills and capabilities to do so. Investment in planning will give you an idea of which direction you wish to take and where you need to focus your energy/time in developing your skills and strengths. It will also prepare you for a sudden change in situation that may require you to re-enter the work force, such as death of a spouse, divorce or other changes in financial circumstances.
4. What’s required of you today in your current role will shift as time, technology and the role expands. Therefore even if you intend to stay in your current role for the foreseeable future it is crucial that you continue to invest in yourself and continue to develop existing capabilities that are currently strengths for you, as well as investing in capabilities that are not an area of strength for you. This takes planning. We are now educating our children for roles that do not exist, using technologies that have not yet been invented, however we continue to invest in their development, resilience and experiences. We need to give ourselves this same investment.
Two things create a shift for participants on this program, 1) We explore all the barriers that get in their way and 2) We help participants to connect to their compelling reason to invest in themselves. Once this has happened they get into action.
You could use the same approach for your team. Make some time to meet as a team (I recommend to allow three hours for a session) to work through the issues you are facing as a team on delivering on your business objectives. I have outlined an approach for you to use below.
Send an email out inviting team members to the session clearly outlining the outcomes and the reason why you are all meeting.
Re-enforce the message sent out in the earlier email about the reason for the session, the session objectives and what you will be covering. Start to address the “what’s in it for me” for participants. This will have more impact if you talk from your own personal perspective. Why do you personally continue to work on delivering on the business objectives and what do you get from doing so (include personal brand, business reputation, experience, development of skills and capabilities, access to other opportunities, networking, etc).
List your business objectives on a white board/flip chart. Divide the team into groups. Eg. if there are 20 team members divide them into four groups of five. Get each group to nominate a team leader for the group. Give the following instructions:
We are going to explore all the barriers that are getting in the way of us delivering on our current business objectives. We are going to do this by using the post it notes on your tables. Take the post it notes and write down all the barriers that you are experiencing specifically with regards to delivering on our current business objectives. Only write one barrier per post it note, (use Textas as it’s easier to read when you report back to the group). Once you have written down all the barriers, group the post it notes onto a flip chart and arrange in themes.
Team leaders, your role is to keep your group on topic and focused on the exercise. Then present back to the rest of the room.
Groups present back to the room with the barriers they have uncovered.
While the groups are presenting back resist the urge to get into discussion about any specific barriers, keep this part moving quickly (things may come up, capture them on a flip chart to come back to). Once this part of the exercise has been completed and all of the groups have presented their barriers back to the room ask your team if anyone has heard of Stephen Covey’s Circles of Concern/ Influence. The next exercise has been adapted on his model.
On a flip chart draw three circles (see diagram below).
In the outer circle write Out of Control, in the next circle write Influence and in the centre write Control. While you are drawing the circles ask the following questions:
1. What happens when we focus on what’s out of our control?
2. What about when we focus on what’s in or sphere of influence?
3. What about when we focus on what we can control?
You can access more information about Stephen Covey’s model from his book the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Ask the team to work back in their groups and regroup the post it notes with barriers into the categories above: Out of our control, In our sphere of Influence and In our control.
Each group is to present back their findings after this exercise. It helps to coach them through this process.
How?
The third step of the barriers exercise is to get each group to brainstorm how. How can they influence/control this barrier? After each group has presented back to the main group, collate the information, have someone put ideas/solutions on another flip chart and move to action points. This part of the exercise generally leads to robust brainstorming as the team begin to focus on what they can influence and control and shift their focus away from blaming and what’s out of their control.
Pollyanna Lenkic is the founder of Perspectives Coaching, an Australian based coaching and training company. In 1990 she co-founded a specialist IT recruitment consultancy in London, which grew to employ 18 people and turnover £11 million ($27 million). In this blog Pollyanna answers questions from our readers on issues they are experiencing leading or being part of a team. She offers insights on teams and team dynamics. For support and information on team days run by Perspectives Coaching see here. Her previous Blog for SmartCompany, 2nd Time Around was about the mistakes she made and the lessons she learned building a business the first time round and how to do it better second time round.
Pollyanna is a leading expert in building sustainable, high performing teams. Her leadership programs provide the framework and confidence to help leaders create leaders and a leadership culture.
