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Transcript

3 Easy Ways to Turn Staff Pointing Out Problems into Better Performance - Reduce Negativity Quickly · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Staff pointing out problems with initiatives, plans, activities and solutions can be really frustrating, annoying and sap team morale.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Employees who always point out what is wrong can be, if for example, subtle underminers, insecure or attempting to deflex blame for errors or substandard work.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Let negativity get out of hand, where team members become more and more negative, and your team's motivation and performance will start dropping, which is bad news for any manager.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Negativity left unchecked has a nasty habit of spreading and getting worse.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Staff pointing out problems is not all bad, especially when you can turn it to your advantage.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Why staff point out problems is really important.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: In my experience, there are four broad categories that I consider before deciding what action to take.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: First, staff covering for their own character flaws, insecurities, feeling threatened, etc.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, staff deflecting attention from themselves or their work.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Third, employees subconsciously crying out for help.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, staff genuinely seeking to help by spotting what could go wrong.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're touching on what to do with each category as a manager so that you can get the best from your team, increase overall team performance, and have an enjoyable place for everyone to work in.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: At the end, I share six actions that I found to be invaluable to stopping excessive negativity in individuals and teams, particularly for those covering character flaws or deflecting attention from themselves or their work.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: I was sitting on a fast train, you know, watching the countryside go by, surrounded by commuters like me on their way home after a long week.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: The train was quiet, you know, a few people tapping away on their laptops, most trying to relax.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: My brain was in overdrive.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: I had an exhausting first week listening to my new team tell me all about this problem and that problem.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Who wasn't pulling their weight, who kept making mistakes, who was not getting on with whom.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: I felt I had a list of problems a mile high, and the team was expecting me personally to sort them all out, and I had little idea of what to do about half of them.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: I felt like it was a mission impossible.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: It was at this point that I made a decision about what I was gonna do first thing on Monday morning and onwards with the team.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: I would go all out to put into practice three initiatives to turn staff pointing out problems into a collaborative team helping themselves.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Six months later, the team had gone from siloed, almost a silent group, to a much more collaborative team with a hum of voices and good-natured banter.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: The team solved most of the day-to-day problems and I had a very manageable list of the tougher problems.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: The team was easily beating targets and it was fun to be at work.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: I turned problems into a team responsibility rather than just a leader responsibility.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: I suggest you do exactly the same using these three approaches.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, reduce destructive negativity with clear boundaries.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: There are many good reasons for employees pointing out problems, with some of them being a desire for improvement, or it might be a sense of responsibility, or it can either be a way of helping others or the team be more successful.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: You want team members to continue to look for and point out problems where doing so is being helpful to others, or to improving team results, i.e., they are serving others rather than just themselves.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: There are plenty of reasons for team members pointing out problems where they are only serving themselves.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Here's some examples are firstly jealousy or when they're feeling threatened, or it might be deflecting blame onto others, or it might be a desire for superiority or to dominate others.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, it could be undermining people, or it might be a fear of having being held accountable for the work they're doing, or it could be a fear of failure, or it could be to create a sense of control, and there are lots more.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Left unchecked, these behaviours are destructive to team culture, make the working environment unpleasant through to outright toxic, and will reduce team performance.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Any of these outcomes will reduce the job security of the team manager, not what you want.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: The actions I suggest that you take to improve what problems are pointed out and how staff behave towards each other are.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, to communicate clearly what behaviours are acceptable and which ones are not.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: The best test I know is to ask if the behaviour or communication is intended to help others or not.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, whenever you encounter unacceptable behaviour, take immediate action.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: This is more important than repeating verbal and written communications of expectations.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Third, ask team members who always point out what is wrong to communicate the issues in private rather than in public or in a team setting.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, ask those bringing self-serving problems to explain how they are helping improve team performance and culture.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Keep repeating these behaviours combined with the next two approaches, and team members will stop bringing problems to you for negative, unconstructive reasons.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new to this podcast, Enhanced Doctraining provides resources and courses for you to build management expertise and confidence to lead any team to their best performance.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: I have included links to additional resources in the podcast description to help you turn staff pointing out problems into better performance on an individual and team level.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Do take a look at these.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, with staff pointing out problems, ask them to bring a solution with that problem.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Asking staff to bring solutions with the problems they spot has a ton of benefits for them, you and the team.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: The key ones being firstly, staff members take more responsibility for team success.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, team members build better problem solving skills.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Third, you have less problems to solve personally, giving you more time to focus on the challenging problems.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, team performance usually increases with better team capability and ownership.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Building problem solving skills in teams takes time and coaching effort on your part.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is an investment to reduce the time and effort you need to spend in the future while getting better team results.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Start expecting team members to provide solutions for low impact problems for which you can solve easily, i.e., you have previously implemented one or more very effective solutions.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Then move them into creating solutions for common problems with higher impacts.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Then to unusual problems with low impact, and then finally to unusual problems with high impact.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: This progression will build their confidence and skills while keeping low the risks of damaging mistakes being made.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: I suggest you ask your team members to work out a practical solution to the problem, and then you can either approve their solution or you can work with them to come up with a better solution.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Coach them so they learn.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Over time you'll find yourself doing more approving and less coaching, and then needing to be involved with less problems all around.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Think about how much time and effort that would save you every single week.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Always ask team members to bring solutions with the problems they spot.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, work to foster a collaborative problem-solving culture in the team.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: When you have a problem-solving culture in your team, your team members will, either individually or in small groups, solve most of the common problems the team encounters without needing your help.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is brilliant for you, good for their skills development, and definitely stops other team members pointing out problems without bringing ideas for solutions.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Encourage team members to get together to solve problems.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: You might start facilitating these sessions.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Then you might review the solutions before implementation.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: You might then create frameworks so team members solve and implement solutions for certain problems without needing review or a permission from you.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: For employees who always point out what is wrong, you can give them a special job in these groups.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Ask them to work to spot the problems in what the other team members are proposing and help the team mitigate the issues spotted.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Explain the value of this role to the other team members.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Setting this up maximizes the use of the individual's problem spotting ability for the benefit of the team and the solutions being created.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: You could also take the step of training other team members in how to get the best from overly negative people or those staff who always point out what is wrong.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, as promised, six actions for minimising the impact of negativity in people and teams.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: The human brain is a brilliant filter.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: When you're looking for things that will go wrong, you're very likely to find them.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: When you're looking for things that will go well, you are also very likely to find them.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: To turn this to your advantage, ask individuals questions that get them looking for the positives.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Looking at this solution, what elements give you confidence that it will deliver what we need as expected?
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: If individuals are feeling threatened because colleagues are doing a good job, look at the areas that are worth praising and praise them in private and or in public.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: If individuals fear accountability, then provide them the reassurance about what will happen if they make mistakes and make sure you treat mistakes as a learning experience, not a reason to punish.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: When individuals feel out of control, give them practical areas that they can control and be responsible for.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Having areas they do control should help them feel a bit happier about dealing with the areas they don't control.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: When employees point out the problems in other people's work, to put them down, take them aside and tell them that this type of behaviour is not acceptable.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Pointing out problems needs to be about lifting team members up, not putting colleagues down.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Escalate your actions if needed.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: If staff try to use problems and mistakes as a way to undermine, put down, bully or any other damaging behaviour, then take immediate action to stop them behaving in this way.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: In short, support positive behaviors that help the team and individuals and discourage damaging behaviors that harm the team or individuals with all the tools you have available.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, in summary, team members who always point out what is wrong are frustrating, draining and add to your problems as a manager.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Those that are constructive when pointing out problems can also be really useful in improving solutions, projects, and team performance.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Try to expand the responsibility for solving problems from just a leader to include all team members.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Match problem-solving ability to the problem type and difficulty and be on hand to support, help and build skills in your team.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Take these three approaches to turn staff pointing out problems into better performance, and you'll have a much easier and more enjoyable life as a manager.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, reduce destructive negativity with clear boundaries.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, ask staff to bring a solution with the problem they have spotted.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: And third, foster a collaborative problem-solving culture in the team.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to take a look in the podcast description for more resources to help you reduce the problems you personally have to solve while increasing the performance of your team.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on the three easy ways to turn staff pointing out problems into better performance, please email me at support at enhance.training and I will get back to you.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks very much for listening, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.