WEBINAR WEBINAR

Why Teams Fail

Assemble a group of people together for a project and see what happens.  You might just get lucky and get the best thing since sliced bread but the statistics do not favor that so you should probably prepare for a little friction.  In fact, those statistics show that 60% of teams fail or fall short of their potential.  That’s a pretty big percentage there working against you so to up those odds it’s a good idea to do some preparation.

In the webinar:  Why Teams Fail – “Dealing With Friction and Dissention” by Dr. Eunice Parisi-Carew and Mr. David Witt listeners gained some insight and ideas on how to prevent this from happening.

One of the most important things mentioned was the attitude of the team leader.  First off, it takes a leap of faith to believe the team will succeed.  One must also trust that the team will become a high performing team and that in order for this to occur a lot of deliberate hard work is necessary.  I believe these same factors can also be contributed to whether a person achieves success in life as well.  One cannot or should not just sit around and wait for good things to happen.  It takes work.  It also takes patience and understanding and that’s where the dynamics of a team become challenging.

Now this is no easy topic and much could be written on ways to deal with team dynamics so I will strive to only hit the high spots.  First, here are some obstacles you may face with the team.  If you fail to clarify the purpose and goal of the team you can almost always expect disaster.  Gathering a group of people together without a clear goal is not a good idea, ever.  So take the time and put together a mission statement.  

Along with this mission statement you can make a charter.  This is one of the ideas I really liked and will put into practice.  In this charter you can set forth agreements of what exactly the team is to accomplish and why, along with ideas of how this will be accomplished.  You now have established a purpose and can work on assigning separate tasks to individual team members.  You now will have some clarity so the individual members will know what is expected of them and can maintain some responsibility and accountability for their actions. 

Along with poor clarity on the mission other obstacles can include poor planning and lack of resources.  Put some of that good old hard work in here and make sure you do have a good plan and maybe you can also work on gathering some extra resources from the community.  You don’t know what people will volunteer if you don’t ask!!! 

So now you have a good healthy attitude, a strong mission statement, good plan, good clarity, and willing team members.  Time to put it all into action and start achieving the goal!  It’s also time to put some of that patience and understanding into action as well.

Whenever you have a group of individuals there will be friction.  Mark it down.  Prepare for it.  It’s a guarantee.  That makes communication a very important part so make sure you communicate.  Make sure you are communicating the foundational steps you already have in place.  Operate the team as an entity and not as individual members.  Follow the assigned tasks to keep things working smoothly and help keep personalities in check.  When differences pop up try to deal with them immediately.  All this will help to build the trust that is a key to smooth operation throughout the team.  One way to deal with problems is directly ask each person if they are feeling effective and if not what will help them.  See yourself as a guide through the process and don’t be afraid to make changes if they become necessary.  Everyone has known a difficult person at some point and if you happen to have one on a team that will not conform to group standards you may have to make a decision to replace that team member.  This should come as a last resort after exhausting all other options.  It won’t be easy but will be necessary and you will almost certainly see immediate results in the team after removing the problem. 

The team will go through different stages of development and it is up to you to be a good team member as well as guide.  Keep the communication open and keep moving toward the goal.  It probably won’t be smooth sailing all the way but if you keep in mind it’s somewhat like planting a garden.  You have to decide what you are going to grow, form your plan and gather your resources, put all your resources in place, spend some time working to smooth the dirt, watch for weeds and pull when necessary, give the proper water and sunlight and make your way through each developmental stage and wait for the bloom.  With great effort comes great reward so hang in there and don’t give up.  You can make a great team!!!

Pam's Point:  Managing a team is not easy.  There is no magic trick to help you. Patience and preparation are crucial to the team development and will determine whether you achieve success.  Remember to ASSESS, ACTIVATE, AND ACHIEVE!!!!!

UPDATE ON E-RATE

Awwww......I have been gone so long.  Time to give some new life.  It's been a long hard winter and not sure it's done yet.  Won't be long until we are complaining of the heat so what else is new??  

Upon logging in just now, I quickly scanned my last entry.  Sadly, I have to say things did not get better with this company.  Had I returned to post last month after the last incident it would have been the same long story.

Since the amount of my anger has died down a bit I will keep it very short and sweet this time.  Turns out they received our e-rate check back last fall and had not bothered to tell me.  In fact, they would still have it if I hadn't kept asking about it.  So it sat in their bank account drawing interest the whole time.  When I called to inquire about it one of the department heads scolded me and told me he did not ever receive a check.  Said he received lots of things but not that and he would get "one of the girls" on it.  

After this conversation I called the e-rate folks who informed me I should report these people because they did indeed send the check last fall and that the company was supposed to send it to me within 20 days. Clearly they missed this mark.  I kindly said that I would take the kind road and not report them since it is a local company and the ONLY option we have.  After this, I called the president of the company.

He tells me he will investigate and I tell him I'm not very happy thus far and I give him the actual date and time the deposit was made into their account.  Once again it doesn't seem like he is very concerned about my feelings. So far no one in the whole company has been so why start at this point?  He calls me back later in the day and informs me that the check is being processed and will soon be mailed to the library.  Never once does this man, the president of the company, ever attempt to offer an apology for their mistakes.  After all this I don't know why that still surprised me but it did.  One would hope the president would at least have some sort of customer service skill set????  What a bad taste this company left for me.  

Now, one of two things is happening here.  Customer service is a complete lost art in this world today or the fact that this company has a monopoly in our area and can treat customers however they want and we just have to take or it's a combination of both.  Whatever, the case this is not how ANYONE should behave in my opinion.  And to think, I had the opportunity to report these people and I didn't.  Lesson learned.

Pam's Point:  The manner in which one treats people should always be professional and courteous.  Don't be afraid to apologize!!  The president of that company could have helped turn that whole situation around for me with just a simple apology.  Instead, I have nothing good to say at all about the company.  From the bottom to the top each employee was rude and didn't seem to care one bit about the quality of service. Since I live in this community and have contact with lots of folks I can say that this is not an isolated incident.  This is a sad example of how to run a company.