196 Exercise: Does Counseling Work for Your Team? Under each of the points listed below (and discussed on the previous page), note: 1) the positive results of counseling evident in your team environment, 2) any results your team may lack, and 3) specific steps you could take to experience improvement. Coaching, Mentoring and Managing 5 Benefits of Counseling True/False Explain Action to Improve 1. Shared ownership of goals 2. New errors don’t become old errors 3. Employees become teammates 4. Strong goal orientation 5. Confrontations are fewer and increasingly positive TEAMFLY Team-Fly ® 5 Summary Counseling is the least favorite of the three approaches in the StaffCoach™ Model and is the one most easily identified with achieving results. Done well it is a win-win situation for you and your associates. Your people want to win and they want to be on a winning team. When you step up to below-average or poor performance and deal with it immediately, you strengthen the team and assist the associate. There are a lot of reasons why managers avoid counseling. Having guidelines and steps to follow will minimize the frustration and fear of addressing negative behaviors. Confrontation signals a negative approach yet differs from criticism in its emphasis. The goal of any counseling session is support and recognition. The associate is important to you, so much so that you will take the time to assist him in his ability to improve. An important aspect of counseling is that, although you are counseling to help, correct and improve, the associate owns the problem and is responsible for addressing the issues. Counseling is more promoter than police officer, more healer than henchman, more director than dictator. You aren’t trying to push everyone into the same behaviors and the same molds. You counsel to help people see where they fit and what they must do to fit. You maintain their best interests by taking care of the organization’s objectives and needs. Molding and shaping are all about increasing your people’s abilities to stretch. As they develop flexibility, they will better cope with the exponential changes that are bombarding them in this new workplace. The values of the StaffCoach™ are the values of the counselor. Your emphasis is your people. 197 The Counselor Role: Confrontation and Correction A counselor doesn’t push “square” team members into “round” organizational holes. 198 Chapter Quiz 1. What are the four keys to effective counseling? 2. Name three of the five steps to positive confrontation. 3. List eight ways to eliminate unsatisfactory behavior. 4. Name five of the 10 elements of productive counseling sessions. 5. Who is one team member you look forward to “molding” over the next few months? Coaching, Mentoring and Managing 5 ? HAPTER 6 C Integrating the Individual and the Team 199 When you are coaching individuals, it is easy enough to specify desired performance, keep a log and connect with them regularly. There is no problem determining how much more or less you should encourage, instruct and direct. Your job, though, as a manager is not to manage results but to manage the aspects of performance that cause those results. That’s where your team emphasis comes in. Integrating your associates’ strengths and capabilities so that the team reaches optimum performance requires similar yet different skills on your part. Absolutely, the guidelines for coaching are applicable. Setting expectations, defining measures, supporting and praising are invaluable to the team. Broadening the team’s view is effective and correcting work is necessary. Merging individuals into a collaborative team requires some real balancing. There will be some times when what is good for the team may not be the best for an individual. You may have, for example, a very creative individual on the team who just brought you a great plan for reorganizing the data files. Her idea would win the company the “Outside the Box” award of the month for innovation. Implementing it, however, would be a depressing experience for two of your other specialists who have been researching some different approaches for the same result. Recognizing your associate for her great idea while not accepting the action requires mental agility and 6 200 verbal acuity (not to mention some tap-dancing thrown in, perhaps). Balancing individual needs and team needs is as tough as looking at the short-term and long-term goals you are constantly reassessing. A second balancing act with regard to integrating your individual and potential stars into a strong team deals with the approaches and the steps of the StaffCoaches™ themselves. What you have been doing for and with the individual team members — coaching, mentoring, counseling — also needs to be done with them as a whole. Talking to a group of people is a challenge when each listens differently, has different points of view and is emotionally charged at different levels. The tips and techniques work; the orientation and adaptation on your part cause success. StaffCoaching™ has as its focal point staff, or your team, coaching the team of individuals. Group vs. Team Groups have been around since the beginning of time; human nature draws people to one another. Group behavior ranges from supportive to chaotic, from disaster to success. Many managers are fine with group performance. For the StaffCoach™, though, it is increasingly evident that groups that experience the highest output are those that have bonded into a team. A main distinguisher between a group and a team is their orientation to one another. A group is two or more people working in proximity, each doing her own thing to accomplish a goal. A team shares the same goal. Its work is dependent upon each team member for the final results. An example is the curriculum team at National Seminars. While it is a group of people with different accountabilities — one laying out materials, one proofing, another editing, another administering tasks — none is successful without the other. The final product, whether book, CD or electronic presentation, cannot be completed without the team’s integration of talent. The coach’s job is all about getting results. You do that by building your team, individual talent upon individual talent. You balance the multiple needs, recognizing one and minimizing another to integrate them into a unit. Taking care of your Coaching, Mentoring and Managing 6 StaffCoaching™: The Coaching Process MentoringCoaching Counseling Team Involvement Assess Present Performance <-> <-> 6 associates in a holistic focus is what makes the team strong. Developing individual team members so they compensate for and support one another makes them a team. As individuals improve, the team improves. The result of moving among your roles of coaching, mentoring and counseling is what your team produces — productivity and job satisfaction. Ask employees today what motivates them to join one organization over another and a top response is to be able to work with the team. Integrating your individual associates into the team requires the same skilled approaches of the StaffCoach™. Shared values, common goals, constant rewards and satisfaction take a group and shape it into a top-performing team. Instill Team Vision The greatest outcome of successful StaffCoaching™ is a team that works together for inspired performance. Given the right vision and guidance, any team can achieve new levels of performance. In a visionary environment of trust and commitment, people develop strengths they never knew they had. Every truly great coach in history had a vision … a dream of what a team could achieve … whether that coach was Roy Williams, Martin Luther King, Martha Graham or Walt Disney. The coach who integrates individual performers into one cohesive team with a common view is the coach who gets results. Great coaches communicate that vision to their teams in a way that inspires. For you to be an outstanding StaffCoach™ and build a team that achieves inspired performance, you need to have a vision, and then you need to share it. Every person on your team must feel that she has a personal stake in the vision. Your role as coach gives your people a vision that meets their needs and motivates them to be the best they can be. Having an inspiring goal keeps the team on target, but the excitement and energizing addition of vision draw people in. 201 Integrating the Individual and the Team Only with vision can you have a winning team. 202 Without a vision, the team is just a work group, a “unit,” with each person doing her job … getting through the day. Simultaneously, as you develop your people’s potential individually, integrate them into a team. Do that by giving them a common vision. You can take four actions to shape that vision. 1. Write out your highest hopes. Don’t limit yourself at this stage. Involve the whole team. Set your sights high … your most ambitious expectations … your most cherished dreams for your team. Make your vision one that will inspire people and assure them they are working for something great! Examples • To be the best team this organization has ever experienced. • To provide the greatest opportunities for advancement. • To provide superior customer service by a balanced approach to work and life. 2. Link your vision to organizational goals. How does your vision line up with the corporate direction … with your market … with your budget? If you create a vision that’s out of sync with these key business elements, you and your team are setting yourselves up for frustration. Let’s say one of your department goals is to increase product quantity, but the driving division goal is to increase quality. You could be in the unenviable position of receiving team reprimands even when your team members exceed your goals! Always make sure your “mission” or “vision” is based on and complements the larger corporate objective: • To operate as a totally self-directed team within the next 18 months. • To enroll every member of the team in at least two job-related educational experiences every year. • To achieve and sustain the highest level of productivity in company history. Coaching, Mentoring and Managing 6 “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” — Jonathan Swift 6 • To have a 100 percent accident-free work record for one full year. • To operate for 90 days without receiving one customer complaint about department service. 3. Develop a strategic path for reaching your vision. Identify the necessary steps and resources you need. Identify the tools your team will need to work effectively toward achieving your vision. For instance, if your goal is to increase sales by 20 percent during the third quarter, list the specific “behaviors” that will accomplish that, such as: Make 10 more calls per day … Attend “How to Sell Effectively” seminar … Develop new leads from old customer referrals. Where do these “behaviors” come from? They come from your team. Brainstorming sessions with your team to develop action steps not only create a stronger sense of unified purpose, but also give each member ownership in the resulting plan. Once you’ve listed the steps to your goals, ask your boss to review your written recommendations. Get her ideas … and approval. 4. Implement your vision. Once you have input from team members and approval from your leadership, transfer the “ownership” of the strategic plan to your people. Then get out of their way! You show your willingness to provide ongoing, positive and constructive feedback — and, when it’s time, to provide direction and support. Your team knows that you endorse reasonable risk taking and that failure isn’t terminal as long as productive learning results. They learn this constantly through your StaffCoaching™. 203 Integrating the Individual and the Team Brainstorming sessions create a stronger sense of unified purpose. 204 Recognize the Potential for Team Trouble To keep your team running smoothly, stay alert to signs of trouble. These are similar to the signals to watch for with individuals who may need counseling. If you notice them in your team, they could be even more dangerous since they potentially affect everyone’s performance. Here are six common signals employees may send indicating they are losing momentum on the job. 1. They are falling behind. When job progress slows down because team members can’t seem to get their work done on time, check your lines of communication! Either a) you aren’t inspiring and motivating through regular team meetings, b) your associates aren’t telling you about specific productivity or workflow stumbling blocks, or c) general unspoken resentment exists among team members. Immediately start a dialogue to discover what is happening. 2. Team member actions or plans are vague. Employees have difficulty explaining how specific jobs will be accomplished. If you aren’t getting clear explanations, immediately probe. Initiate a meeting to clarify actions through team brainstorming sessions, new job or project descriptions, or clarified expectations for procedures and deadlines. Coach: Well, this looks good, Barb. I think you should probably go with it. But how will you hand off to shipping when Donna has her job finished? That looks kind of critical. Barb: It really shouldn’t be any problem. Donna has had that part of the project under control for a long time. Coach: You’re probably right. But you’ve got a couple of new wrinkles that might confuse her. It sure would me. Does she know about them? Coaching, Mentoring and Managing 6 When job progress slows down, check your lines of communication. 6 Barb: Well, generally. Coach: How can you get specific with her? I wouldn’t want you to get all the way to Donna’s department before discovering a glitch. Other than that, let’s do it. Great job! 3. Employees become overly optimistic about projects. This is difficult to detect, especially because optimistic enthusiasm is exactly what coaches like to hear! But watch out. Team members may bite off more than they can chew in the interest of pleasing you or making the team look good. The danger is that unrealistic optimism sets up your team for failure — maybe even repeated failure. Make sure someone who is objective monitors project goals, and make sure your people know they don’t have to be super-humans to be superstars on your team! 4. Employee anger or stress increases. Reasons for irritated team members can be many and varied, but you can usually identify them through counseling. You may discover a well-concealed dispute between two or more members that has team-crippling side effects. Maybe general dissent exists over a new policy or procedure. Ask questions — and ask as many team members as it takes until a consensus begins to surface. Is there a grievance, condition, event or personality that runs like a thread through each counseling interview? Does the name “Joanne” surface repeatedly in a negative way? Does the plan to relocate the department to another floor keep coming up? Or the companywide salary cut? The starting point for uncovering widespread dissension is talking to your team. 5. Absenteeism Absenteeism is also a strong signal that something is wrong. As in No. 4 above, getting involved with your people and pinpointing likely causes of the problem are critical to finding solutions. In the meantime, 205 Integrating the Individual and the Team Team members may bite off more than they can chew to please you or to make the team look good. Absenteeism is a strong signal that something is wrong. [...]... listen to rumors, you are supporting them No matter how helpful a little inside knowledge might appear, if you listen to gossip, then you gossip It erodes your trust and credibility Three ways to handle gossip follow • Tell the person who brings it to you to go with you to the person involved so you can check it out • If the person declines, ask if you can use her name to go to the person involved to check... select the idea most likely to succeed This approach helps team members listen for one another’s good ideas and gives everyone a chance to contribute to a team solution without fear of criticism When it comes to facilitating the team’s ability to handle its own problems, the best way is to simply do that: facilitate, don’t solve Instead of suggesting or telling a solution, revert to your StaffCoach™ questioning... claimed to know nothing about the disappearance Then Rob saw her slip a new memory board into her briefcase before leaving work one day When Becky was dismissed three days later, she returned the parts or the dollar equivalent of everything she had taken in order to avoid prosecution Out of deference to Becky’s brother, Mark, and out of concern that customers might hesitate to trust their hardware to MacMasters... exception arises, don’t expect your employee to handle it Work it out with the other managers before handing the project over to the team member Coming to such an agreement doesn’t take long to do — not nearly as long as it takes to train a new employee to replace the one who quit because she couldn’t take the pressure any longer You can trust your individual associates to make their own 218 Integrating the... corollary to that story: Tom Peters has been mentioned in this book several times Do you recognize Robert Waterman? Or perhaps Nancy Austin, another co-author of Peters’? Why is it that Tom Peters is instantly known but not his associates? Consider that when you give out rewards Do you want to accelerate one person’s performance or career? Do you want the team to be known throughout the organization and extolled... given! 215 Coaching, Mentoring and Managing Surprisingly often, problem behavior is also ignorant behavior When team members fully understand the ramifications of behavior, bad and good, the motivation to stick to company standards or work together is much greater 7 Am I in control and ready to discuss this situation? Only discuss a problem when you have control of your emotions Too much damage can be... day or more to pull yourself together before acting on a problem While it’s important to respond quickly to improper behavior, there is no gain if you risk shattering a long-term solution by saying angry things you can’t retract 6 AM FL Y 8 How can I support this employee and the team? TE This is not always the first question that most coaches ask themselves when they prepare to respond to problem behavior... separate meetings so that people have time to think A caution: A brainstorm session becomes ineffective after about five minutes of spilling out ideas Likewise, negating any idea during the brainstorm tends to stifle the flow of ideas 5 Decide how to address the problem Again, this might be accomplished in one meeting, going through Steps 1 211 Coaching, Mentoring and Managing through 6, and it might... would be totally unfeasible Their results are based on customers and customers come through campaigns Point the team toward what they control and what they can affect 6 6 Commit to action on the solution When the team agrees to a solution, an action plan with detailed steps best guarantees success An example of one solution for the above is to assign one team member the task of getting a month-by-month... Another solution could be to have team members monitor stress levels and to make sure they add a fun diversion into the schedule or a prize at the end of a grueling stretch 7 Follow up Check the results regularly With the team, monitor whatever solution is chosen Acknowledge what works and build on success 212 Integrating the Individual and the Team A Checklist for Responding to Team Troubles Before . henchman, more director than dictator. You aren’t trying to push everyone into the same behaviors and the same molds. You counsel to help people see where they fit and what they must do to fit. You maintain. minimizing another to integrate them into a unit. Taking care of your Coaching, Mentoring and Managing 6 StaffCoaching™: The Coaching Process MentoringCoaching Counseling Team Involvement Assess Present Performance <->. company history. Coaching, Mentoring and Managing 6 “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” — Jonathan Swift 6 • To have a 100 percent accident-free work record for one full year. • To operate