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The Top 5 People Problems Managers Can’t Ignore For Happy & Productive Teams · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: There are lots of people problems that managers can't ignore if they want to have a happy and productive team.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: People problems in your team usually get worse over time if left alone and they will easily damage team performance.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: People problems can be small things to very large, persistent behaviour that damages relationships, damages trust, and damages teamwork.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: The top five people problems managers can't ignore, in my view, are firstly bullying and putting others down, secondly, undermining colleagues or you.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Third, taking credit for others' work, fourth, poor or no communication, and fifth conflict between team members.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: For each of these, I explain what I would do as a manager to remove these problems from a team quickly.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be speaking in general terms, which you should then adapt to your specific situation and using your knowledge of the people involved.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: The first people problem managers can't ignore is bullying and any behaviour designed to put others down.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Bullying and other behaviour designed to put another person down generally happens because the bully feels threatened in some way.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: It might be a new person is better at the job than the bully is, which threatens the bully's social and professional standing in the team, their self-esteem and their job security.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Understanding why the bullying is taking place should be your starting point as a manager.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: The more you understand, the more you're able to tackle the causes of the behaviour.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Next, communicate to the team and the individual that the behaviour being displayed or reported to you is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: It is really important that this expectation is set at team level first.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Then you can take direct action with the individual.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Start with conversations and clear examples of the behaviour in question.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Ask them to stop.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Spend time observing and asking other team members to report any examples of problem behaviour to you.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: If the behaviour continues, start a performance improvement plan or disciplinary procedures to increase the pressure for change and improvement.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: As a last resort, remove them from the team.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: If a manager doesn't take action, they are in effect communicating bullying or putting others down in the team is okay.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine the impact that will have on team trust, relationships, motivation and performance.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Team performance can drop quickly and dramatically.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Always take action to prevent others from putting your team members down.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles, and if you're new here, Enhanced Doctraining provides resources and courses for you to build management expertise and confidence to lead any team to their best performance.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: The second people problem managers shouldn't ignore is individuals' undermining colleagues or you.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Undermining can take many forms.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: A few examples include asking difficult questions to purposely put someone on the spot and cause embarrassment.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, leaving off an individual from a meeting request they should be attending.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Third, not sharing vital information in the hope the other person makes mistakes or looks bad.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, delaying providing work until the last minute to make the other person's life more difficult or cause them to make mistakes.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, mistakes happen and they should be treated as mistakes.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Consistent behaviour or a pattern of behaviour that undermines others, including you as the manager, is just that undermining.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Be on the lookout for any behaviour or actions that could potentially be undermining and address it as quickly as you can.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Follow a similar process as outlined for bullying.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Speak to the individual after getting examples.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Escalate into more formal actions if they continue to undermine, and as a final resort, remove them from the team.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Do not put up with undermining in your team as will also kill trust, relationships, collaboration and teamwork.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: The third people problem managers can't ignore is taking credit for others' work.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Trying to pass off other people's work as your own happens too often in the workplace and it damages teamwork and trust.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: I have literally had employees tell me they won't provide ideas and solutions to certain managers because the employees know they won't get any credit or appreciation from that manager.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Losing the trust of employees in this way handicaps your ability as a manager to be effective in your role.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Demonstrate by giving credit to others for their contribution to yours and team solutions.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Use praise to reinforce that good ideas and solutions from any source are appreciated and expected.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to all ideas and solutions provided by team members.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Seek out ideas and solutions by asking questions and encouraging discussion.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you are told about or see others taking credit for work that is not entirely theirs, pull them into a private meeting room and tell them that that behaviour is not okay.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: If they carry on taking credit for other people's work, you can use other incentives to get them to change, such as withdrawing development opportunities, or allocating them the less interesting work, or putting them on a performance improvement plan.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Use meaningful carrots and sticks to ensure problem individuals are incentivized to be collaborative and give credit where it is due.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Taking action to encourage team members to give proper credit to colleagues encourages trust, teamwork, and drives better team performance.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: The fourth people problem managers shouldn't ignore is poor or no communication.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Communication is at the heart of relationships, coordination, collaboration, teamwork, solution building and more.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: The more you can get all of your team members talking and communicating with each other, the better the whole team will be.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: The team will be a nicer place to work.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone will feel more empowered and involved.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: The team will perform a lot better too.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Here are seven actions to encourage more communication within your team.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, encourage engagement from all team members.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, be open and honest and ask others to be so too.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Third, seek to over-communicate rather than undercommunicate.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, resolve conflicts quickly.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, use weekly one-on-one meetings to cascade information.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Sixth, create a clear purpose and agenda for each meeting held within the team.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then seventh, provide consistent, useful feedback.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Lead from the front.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Show your team members how to communicate when you work with all team members.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Ask them to follow in your footsteps.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: When employees don't communicate or communicate poorly, help them improve their skills.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Explain the impact of not communicating clearly and honestly.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Coach them to build their confidence.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Give them opportunities to practice communicating, for example, by asking them to lead many projects, or giving presentations in team meetings, or by asking for their opinion in meetings.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: If employees purposely withhold information and provide wrong information to colleagues to make them look bad, you can escalate by making expectations clear, by inviting them into a PIP, and finally disciplinary proceedings.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Be clear what is acceptable and unacceptable in terms of the level of communication within the team.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Always lead from the front when communicating.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: The fifth people problem managers can't ignore is conflict between team members.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Conflict between individuals, when it has become obvious in the team, is rarely resolved without intervention.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: If the individuals were going to resolve the issues between themselves, they would have done so before it became apparent to you or the rest of the team.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Conflict between individuals and teams is often caused by organisational issues such as conflicting goals and objectives, or overlapping or unclear responsibilities, and unclear or confusing communication.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Always check to see if there is organizational issues causing the conflicts.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: When the organisational conflicts are fixed, the conflicts between individuals and teams will resolve themselves quickly too.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Conflict between individuals can happen for all sorts of reasons, such as a breakdown of communication, or not listening to the other person, or being unfair, or being selfish, etc.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: The first step as a manager is to find out what is causing the issues by speaking to each party separately.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Keep asking questions until both parties are explaining the same or similar underlying issues to you and you understand both positions.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Then bring each party together and facilitate both parties communicating and understanding the other party's position, views and pressures.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Creating mutual understanding solves a lot of conflict.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Ask both parties to work together to come up with an agreed compromise or solution.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Facilitate rather than dictate the solution.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, ask both parties to implement their solution.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Hold each party accountable for the actions and behaviours needed to implement the solution.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: If one or both party refuses to change their behaviour or approach, you can take escalating actions as mentioned previously.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: To build your expertise and confidence dealing with people problems, take a look at our one-day course on how to manage difficult employees.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, in summary, there are a ton of people problems managers can't ignore if they want to build and keep a happy team, a productive and performing team.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Teams rely on trust, relationship, communication, and collaboration to deliver better results than a group of individuals working alongside each other.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Take action as quickly as sensible when you see any people problems developing.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Leaving them nearly always means they get bigger.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: The quicker you take action, the easier it is to resolve those problems.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: Do visit us at enhance.training and take a look at our one-day course on how to manage difficult employees, which takes you through each of the stages and each step you need to undertake within each stage to firstly set clear expectations and standards which team members pay attention to and want to meet.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, how to give effective corrective feedback to improve performance or behaviour.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Third, the eight-step process to formally take corrective action and how to approach each step.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then fourth, how to run really effective performance improvement plans that produce improvement that is needed for around 70% of the PIPS run.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: The course provides you the essential toolkit to prevent a lot of people problems occurring and then quickly and effectively resolve any people problems when they do arise.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Do visit us at enhance.training and take a look at how to manage difficult employees.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: The top five people problems managers can't ignore, in my view, are firstly bullying and putting others down, secondly, undermining colleagues or you, third, taking credit for others' work, fourth, poor or no communication, and fifth, conflict between team members.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on the top five people problems managers can't ignore for happy and productive teams, please email me at support at enhance.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks very much for listening, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.