Are you tired of answering your own questions in meetings?

The most likely reason for your problem is a lack of engagement, or the old word, involvement, on the part of your team. But don’t believe for 1 second that you are alone in this situation!

A Gallup poll from 2013 found that only 13 percent of employees are engaged at work. That’s less than two out of every 10 employees at any given company. The survey also found that almost a quarter of employees (24 percent) were “actively disengaged” at work. Not only did those employees lack motivation, they also were unhappy or unproductive in a way that could potentially affect other employees. Basically, negativity breeds negativity, especially in the workplace.

There are a few things you can do to change this situation, that are reasonably simple to implement.

1.    Book a Square Wheels session with me.

That might seem like shameless self-promotion, but the reality is that unless you get some help to first level the playing field, nothing else you do will be effective. This is a session that can be run in as little as an hour, depending on the size of the group we are working with. In it we use a cartoon drawing and / or a Lego model (yes, you read both of those correctly!) to facilitate an interactive discussion that is designed to measure the current level of engagement, identify the primary reasons for any lack of engagement, and involve your team in designing workable solutions to solve their own issues. This is a ridiculously simple, yet highly effective, way to facilitate meaningful conversations, create new ideas, and build a sense of ownership within your team;

2.    Change your culture.

These days, very few of us will dive into a pool if we cannot see what is under the surface. We only take the plunge if, and when, we decide it is safe to do so, and in a lot of teams, group activities and meetings are a bit like diving into a pool. Unless your team feels confident and safe about sharing their thoughts and ideas, they are going to stay on the pool lounger and you are going to continue answering your own questions! After a Square Wheels session, it will be far easier to make your team feel safe, and create the environment to grow participation, and engagement;

3.    Move your meeting focus from “interesting” to “interested”.

For most people, just the idea of a “lecture” style meeting is enough to put them to sleep. But is this because the material is not interesting enough or is it that they feel you are not interested in their point of view? The difference between "interesting" and "interested" is critical for creating participation and involvement. If you want to engage people, concentrate on being more interested and spend less time trying to be interesting, or deliver, interesting content;

4.    Make the meeting, or the problem, “ours”.

Very little creates more of a barrier between a manager and the team than using the word "I." Leaders are often frustrated by the casual and disinterested attitudes of team members toward solving problems and taking action. One reason for this can be the language they regularly use, and the impressions it creates.  People are much more willing to participate and take ownership when the problem is "ours," the challenge is for "us" to overcome, or the question is one that "we" must answer; 

5.    Make it happen, and keep it happening.

Knowing a life jacket will save you from drowning is one thing, but taking action by putting it on and inflating it is what really counts! Imagine meeting with your team to discuss ideas for improving efficiency. Everyone is involved and some great suggestions and insights are tabled. Does that make the session a success? Unfortunately not. Generating solutions from engaged employees is the first (vital) step in the process, but that level of involvement and participation is unlikely to be repeated without action and execution. Getting people involved is the first part. To keep them switched on, you must follow through obviously and quickly. And as your team sees the solutions they proposed and developed being implemented, they are naturally and totally invested in the successful outcomes of those solutions.

If your team is stuck, I can help you get things rolling again. If you are trying to implement change, generate improvement, or grow team engagement, a Square Wheels session will help you to have meaningful planning sessions, brainstorm new ideas, and successfully introduce and implement change. People resist change being done to them, or being forced on them – when people are involved with the change, it is much more likely to be successful. 

So, if you are tired of having to force conversations, and demand participation, leave a comment below, or on the Version 8 Coaching & Training Facebook page, and I’ll make contact to discuss how Square Wheels can help you.

Managers have 2 primary functions in any organisation. Competency and performance.

Effective managers develop the necessary competencies and skills in their team members so that they can efficiently produce the products and services that the business offers. And this post is focused on the words “efficiently produce”- or to go back to my opening statement, performance.

Performance has nothing to do with what you preach, and everything to do with what you tolerate. And one of the hardest things any manager needs to deal with in this area, is mediocrity. So, it’s not really that the team member is not producing anything, it’s more that what they are producing is below the acceptable standard in either (or both!) quality and quantity. Which means you have defined what is required in both those areas AND you are constantly, or regularly, measuring them. More on that in another post.

Back to dealing with mediocrity -  and you do need to deal with it! Quickly and obviously. If you ignore it in the hope it will somehow miraculously improve on its own, you are simultaneously appearing to put your stamp of approval on the unacceptable level of performance, and allowing the poison from that decision to permeate, and disillusion, the rest of your team.

So, how do we deal with mediocrity?

1.     Start your intervention by clearly demonstrating how mediocrity negatively affects the organization and its customers. Try letting under-performing employees review customer complaint calls, or let them man the complaints desk if you have one, to help them to understand the negative implications of not doing their jobs well.

2.     Use the team dynamic to your advantage by making sure everybody clearly understands what acceptable performance is. Encourage the team to immediately, and respectfully, confront each other when problems arise.

3.     Grow a pair and speak up when you see mediocrity in other parts of the organization. If everyone knows that a corporate initiative isn’t working but no one is addressing it, your team will be watching to see who has the integrity to point out “the emperor’s lack of clothes”.

Acceptable performance is a non-negotiable that needs to be defended regularly and observed vigilantly. It cannot wait for the next round of annual performance reviews, in order to be resolved. It requires immediate and direct action, that may also include a measure of retraining, or even up-skilling, in order to meet your responsibility of creating the best environment in which your employees can flourish, and your customers experience the highest level of service possible.

If you believe that your team could be doing more, and / or better, it might be time for you to let me run my revolutionary engagement tool with them. I can facilitate a simple ½ day session that will clearly identify where the sticking points are, and allow me to help you develop customized solutions to address them. Leave a comment below, and I’ll be happy to give you a call to see if I can help.