Leading Teams: Motivating and Optimizing Performance

by Greg Poskas

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

In an age of growing interaction in professional and social environments focusing on efficiency and group dynamics, the ability of a leader to evaluate and maintain teams to their maximum potential is more important than ever before.  It is the responsibility of those leaders to establish the level of standards needed to successfully produce the outcomes they desire through the skills and influences of the members within those teams.  To accomplish these goals, leaders use a number of techniques with the purpose of motivating their team members and optimizing their performances.

Some of these techniques include how to assess team performance, how to coach the team to improve performance and how to share leadership responsibilities to motivate the team.  The first method incorporates a strategy using the acronym “ASSESS” to fully evaluate the team and discover ways to help the members improve.

• Ascertain performance objectives
• Share positive comments
• Share improvement comments
• Evaluate overall performance
• Seek feedback
• Set guidelines and timetables for improvement

The second method uses a “GROW” model with things to do and things not to do in order to properly coach team members.  This guides the team through challenges by allowing them to find their own answers.

• G: Establish the Goal
• Do: Agree on a single goal.
• Do not: Criticize the goal or bring a personal agenda.
• R: Check Reality
• Do: Talk openly about how things actually are, not how things should, could, or used to be.
• Do not: Criticize people or processes, or present judgments.
• O: Identify Options
• Do: Ask questions until all ideas are revealed through the contributions of all team members while discussing the pros and cons of various options.
• Do not: Use personal ideas or judge other’s ideas.
• W: Wrap up
• Do: Establish a time frame to implement solutions while making sure team members commit to these actions.
• Do not: Dictate the course of action or judge decisions that were made.

As Nickol ( 2000, p. 19) expressed when discussing the Lack of Empowerment, management team members tend to not give proper authority to other team members, even though they have been given responsibilities.  The third method focused on the motivation team members can gain by accepting responsibilities presented to them from their leaders and having the authority to proceed.  This involves concepts of participatory management in three ways:

• Delegating responsibilities
• Team members perform some of the duties of the leader.
• Allowing team members to use their skills
• Team members support the team with their abilities and learn new skills.
• Sharing or rotating leadership roles
• Team members take charge of projects, meetings, or activities.

Through the practice of these techniques, there can be a drastic improvement in the quality of teamwork you are involved in.  This can be seen at various levels as at time you may be the leader, and others you may be a team member.  These concepts are validated where Hackman (Hackman and Powell, 2004, p. 86) points out how teams can grow to a size that they no longer function efficiently, and that using teams with no more than nine members tend to have less difficulties.  Therefore, it is recommended to use the number of members in a team that actually increases efficiency by having the strengths of each member have full contribution while maintaining an overall synergy throughout the team. 

With the inclusion of the ASSESS strategy, your teams can gain fundamental evaluations to help overcome barriers that you may simply not have the ability to currently see.  By sharing the GROW model with your team leader, they will have new tools to help guide your team members in new ways to face the challenges you currently have, as well as, new challenges in the future.  As a leader, utilizing participatory management techniques can not only build up team members, but can also begin preparing them to take on more roles as leaders themselves.

If leaders contribute in a way with their teams that can motivate and optimize their team’s performances, those teams can reach higher standards of productivity, efficiency, and inspiration.  By also using these methods for evaluation, coaching, and the sharing of responsibilities, leaders can break new ground in the principles that are used as a basis of judgment for years to come.

References

Nickol, B. (2000, March). Dysfunctional teams. [Electronic version]. Executive Excellence.

17(3): 19. Retrieved from MegaFile Database.

Hackman, J.R., & Powell, S. (2004). Viewpoint: Leading teams. Team Performance Management 10(3/4): 84-88. Retrieved from ABI/Inform Complete Database.

Heart of Leadership

by Dr. Denise Trudeau Poskas

At the heart of effective leadership is skillful strategic followership.  Trying to understand how influences of both the leader and the follower impact leadership effectiveness, leader-member exchange (LMX) theory has focused on the development and effects of this relationship (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1999).  Strategic followership is a philosophy of allowing this relationship to have flexibility in context.  By this, it means the leader realizes that the leader/follower relationship is the key to effectiveness. Strategic followership means the leader allows themselves to at times guide the follower while other times, allowing the follower to have more autonomy.
 

(Image via Shutterstock.)

Leaders lead better also when they understand active followership. By placing themselves in the role of followers when applicable a leader relinquishes the need to oversee everything and learns the value of empowering others resourcefulness.  Whether we lead or follow, we are responsible for our actions and influence” Chaleff.  Leaders that embrace strategic followership rely on communication, resourcefulness, encouragement and accountability.  They determine to what extent their followers need autonomy.  In order to practice strategic followership there are four strategies:

1. Assess what you do well
2. Know your limitations
3. Surround yourself with people who are exceptional at what you are not
4. Choose Boundaries

At the heart of leadership is understanding the importance of surrounding yourself with active, empowered followers that can move the mission forward.  This requires all to know their resources, develop skills, and work together for effective change.

Perspective Changing

by Dr. Denise Trudeau Poskas

Effective leadership revolves around the understanding of perspectives.  Everyone has them and most people like to keep their perspectives.  One of the first things I learned in graduate school in Psychology is that everyone believes their perspective is reality.  Albert Ellis said that, and it is so very helpful to remember when dealing with others.

(Image via Shutterstock.) 

I am reminded just how perspectives at time can be faulty, yet individuals still remain insistent on keeping that perspective.  Case in point; not long ago I was sitting in the airport waiting for my flight.  I am not keen on lay-overs, but they happen, so I spend that time either reading or chatting with fellow passengers. 

One particular passenger; a nice man, early thirties, career oriented, from the East Coast leaned over to strike a conversation.  When he asked where I was from and I mentioned Minnesota, he got a smile on his face and looked at me in disbelief.  “Well you do not have the accent”.   

 

“And what type of accent would that be?”  

 

“You know… ‘yah bet chah!’”  He then proceeded to run through a few phrases emulating an unique imitation of an accent that I begrudgingly realized where he got it from.  “Let me guess, you watched Fargo.”   

 

“Yes!” he exclaimed in such a manner it was as though his research of dialogue was an extension of a PhD in Linguistics.  

 

 “That stupid movie!” I thought.  “You do realize that movie was not real?  That Fargo is not even in Minnesota?  That they exaggerated most everything in the movie especially the accents?  You realize that, right?” 

I had never actually watched “Fargo” it until this year, and only because I had heard the same perspective connecting Minnesotans to that movie.  The guy sat back in true disbelief “You are kidding!  It says the story is based on true events!  I just believed that is how you guys talked”.  

“No,” I said.  “Not accurate.  And believe it or not… people cannot fit down a wood chipper,”  I said with a smile.   

He sat back again.  “Well, have you always lived in Minnesota?” he asked.  I could see he was still reluctant to give up his perspective, even though it was based on one movie made many years ago with entirely exaggerated, stereotyped information.  It created a perspective about all people in Minnesota.   

 

“No, actually, I spent half my life living in other states.”   

 

A smile came back on his face, “Oh that explains it!”   

 

“Explains what?”   

"Well you would have that accent if you lived in Minnesota all your life”.  He sat back, relaxed into his seat, feeling justified and happy he did not have to give up his perspective.  

 
So I sighed and thought, “Everyone believes their perspective is reality.”
  

Creating Change in Organizations

by Dr. Denise Trudeau Poskas

Organizations frequently find themselves debating the depth and breadth of change that is needed to make and how those decisions must be made.  Change can be discussed in decision making terms.  All this change requires decision making processes and a strategy to resolve issues, plan ahead and implement proactive ways to embrace change.  All too often this change is threatening to organizations and thus meets with resistance, fear or denial.  Change and change strategies requires opinions and participation of many people at different levels of hierarchy.  The decision-making process in an organization should be structured and resolved in a formal, detailed, consistent, and transparent manner.
 

(Image via Shutterstock.)

There are always external factors that stimulate the need for strategy.  World financial crises provoked by financial speculators have made it clear that the practical and theoretical knowledge in economy or finance are only the starting background to confront the market of financial speculation (Shimizu, 2006).  Some barriers to change come from problems such as the globalization of the world economy, the need to manage the environment, combat poverty, etc., affect an organization's choice of strategy.

Change tools can include strategic decision making models.  Simon (1997) stresses that the solution to any decision problems in the business, scientific, or artistic areas can be visualized in four stages:

1. The perception of the need for a decision or an opportunity.
2. The formulation of action alternatives.
3. The evaluation of the alternatives in terms of their respective contributions.
4. The choice of one or more activities to be carried out.

The authors also discuss that one can look at change through analysis.  Thus, in addition to making the best decision about the strategy at the time, the company might also like to know the other possible decision alternatives.  The company could be content with a good decision within its possibilities or, the second-best decision might be more appropriate.

In addition, a decision about any one type of problem requiring change can be differentiated by the level of decision:  

• Strategic (usually, a decision for two to five years)
• Tactical (decision for a few months up to two years)
• Operational (a few days or a few months)
• Dispatching (an "in loco" decision just for some hours)

Developing strategies in organizations requires the use of wide and deep participation of organizational intelligence.  Research on strategic organizational decision-making seeks techniques for improving the intelligence of actions by organizational decision-makers.

  

Changing a culture is a large-scale undertaking, and eventually all of the organizational tools for changing minds will need to be put in play.  In general, the most successful change strategy is to begin with leadership tools, including a vision or story of the future, cement the change in place with management tools, such as role definitions, measurement and control systems, and use the pure power tools of coercion and punishments as a last resort, when all else fails.  For example, leaders can use tools such as negotiating, decision making, and strategy for change.  Managers have tools that can promote change through incentives, control systems, policies and communication factors (Shimizu, 2006).

As change is a whole systems approach, it is important that organizations look carefully at creating a harmonic, effective and strategic change.

References

Denning, S. (2011). How do you change an organizational culture? Forbes Magazine. Retrieved online at forbes.com.
 
Shimizu, T., Monteiro de Carvalho, M., & Laurindo, F. (2006). Strategic Alignment Process and Decision Support Systems: Theory and Case Studies. IGI Global. Retrieved from Books 24x7