Do You Have This Specific Antidote for Less Than Stellar Team Performance?

 

 “I’m not comfortable giving my team direct feedback on how they’re not meeting my expectations because they all work so hard and I don’t want to demoralize them any further.”

 

Sound familiar? 

 

That’s what an administrator of a large surgical and anesthesia department told me not so long ago.  He described his team of managers, all of whom were high-performers but weren’t coming together as a cohesive team.  They were like the USA Olympic team depicted  in Miracle, the movie about the fledgling USA Hockey team which was made up of all-stars who needed to learn how to become a champion team fast so they could beat the Russians. 

 

When I probed further into how he’d been communicating to the team, he reported he had in fact shared his vision of wanting the sub-units to be more collaborative and also told me that he repeatedly asked the team time and time again, individually and collectively, how he as the administrative leader could better support them. 

 

What’s the Problem?

 

Probing still deeper, the challenges turned out to be that each sub-unit think it’s the other guy who’s got the problem that needs fixing, they were bringing their problems only to him and not to the collective table, and they weren’t asking for help.  Plus, he described incidents of disruptive behavior amongst the managers, which while it didn’t apparently interfere with functioning at the unit level, it took precious time and energy that would have been better spent on productive problem-solving.

 

The Diagnosis:

 

So while the sub-units are all functioning pretty well, there’s a state of inertia at the team level, in which there’s resistance to change. In keeping with the definition of inertia, this is keeping the team (and therefore the organization) from accelerating which would get it to an even higher level of performance and leadership. 

 

Does it really matter, you may be wondering?  Yes, very much so, because this hospital is becoming a Level 1 Trauma Center, which really ups the ante for the level of activity, responsibility and coordination that will be required to support the expanded organization.  So this team needs to get out of inertia and start operating like a well-tuned racing car.

 

And just what is the specific antidote to inertia?

The antidote is compassionate truth-telling.  Telling the truth, compassionately, opens the door to a new level of engagement, and usually is the turning point for creating new ways of being and ultimately, a whole new level of vitality.  Compassionate truth-telling is just the right mix of acceptance and love combined with the grit of honesty and truth. 

 

 

What gets in the way of our utilizing it? 

 

Sometimes you think you’ve already told the team “the truth” but depending on your communication style, you may be saying it too indirectly or “softly” for some folks to hear it.  Other times, it may feel a bit risky if we know there are history and/or sensitivities in and amongst team members that are blocking the path to greater collaboration.  And sometimes, when there’s disruptive or acting out behavior, compassionate truth-telling looks like “tough love”, something that can be quite challenging to pull off effectively. 

 

It took tough love on the part of the USA Olympic team coach to transform a group of competing all-stars into a true collaborative effort in which each person saw themselves, their personal and group well-being, as interwoven and interdependent threads in the fabric of the team.

 

Believe it or not, compassionate truth-telling – and even tough love - is as simple as flossing your teeth!  Notice, I’m saying “simple,” not “easy.”

 

For anyone who has ever struggled with acquiring a healthy habit, like flossing your teeth, compassionate truth-telling is kind of like that, especially if you haven’t done it for awhile.  It may hurt initially, it might bleed momentarily, but afterwards, your mouth feels so much better.  And consistent care, of course, keeps your whole mouth, and the rest of you, healthier. Sooner than you may think, you can create a new level of well-being.

 

Do you have a team (2 or more people) where you need to do some compassionate truth-telling? 

 

Yes?  Then here are some guidelines:

1.    Get in touch with your vision about and for the team.

 

2.    Tell yourself the truth of what’s important about the vision and what’s  needed on everyone’s part to make the vision a reality.

 

3.    Get really clear in your own mind what the strengths of the team are, and where there’s room to step up to the plate in a whole new way.

 

4.    Then share your vision with your team, and convey it with the passion you feel for what’s important about this.  Tell them why the heck this really matters.

 

You can even use a template to say something along the lines of “”So, here’s

what’s right, here’s what’s still missing, here’s why it matters, and here’s exactly what I’m asking for.” 

 

5.    However, before you do this, do a check on yourself to make sure you come from a place of appreciating and acknowledging their strengths and talents. 

 

As part of this step, you may also want look at your own strengths and challenges as well so can learn what areas or skills you need to strengthen.  This allows you to show the others if you choose, how to get into the swing of it, and that it’s ok to have areas that need strengthening.

 

6.    Help your team see what’s needed from and for them to get from a 7.5 performance to a 9.0.  Even though that may not seem like a big increase, that’s the zone where a little increase can give you exponentially different results.

 

When you follow these guidelines, there’s a much higher probability that you’ll enable your team to enter the zone where a competent team gains that competitive edge of the exquisitely-tuned racing car.  And everyone will be richer for the experience.

 

As an anonymous sage once said, “Only if a mountain is part of a range is it worth putting on a map.”