People Management Made Easy: Evolving a High-Performing Team

A team is a collective of individuals assembled to carry out a task that requires a high level of collaboration among team members to accomplish the team's objectives. Teams can comprise members from the same functional team, individuals from various teams within the organisation (established on a Matrix structure), or representatives from external organisations who have been united for a specific project, such as clients, vendors, or industry associations.

In addition, a team of volunteers may consist of individuals who have been invited to participate in a marketing initiative for an organisation, but primarily consist of members of the general public. When individuals come together to form a project team, it is essential to establish guidelines that will shape the team's norms and behaviours. These are based on the following:

People should feel free to ask any questions they want, even if they appear silly or stupid initially.

Freedom of expression should welcome any ideas.

Confidentiality must be seen within the team.

Team members should be made to feel valued and that what they say is of value to the team; the feelings of individuals are paramount.

Managing a Team to ensure tactful candour takes practice. However, it is a skill that is as important as any other to allow people to express what they feel are essential issues, questions, or statements they may want to make.

The key to encouraging overall team performance and efficient project completion is ensuring that the team accepts the factors above. When forming a team, it is crucial to recognise that each member brings different skills, knowledge, experience, beliefs, and values. This diversity is a strength as it allows various perspectives to be considered in decision-making.

It is essential to acknowledge that individuals may have biases or assumptions that can impact their approach to a project. These biases may not necessarily align with the true ideologies required for the project's success. Additionally, there may be resistance towards the proposed project management approach or the project's objectives.

Bringing the team together makes it possible to reach a consensus that eliminates biases, false assumptions, and extreme ideologies from influencing the project's outcome. While decision-making by consensus may be more challenging, the decisions reached are typically superior to those made solely by the project leader in complex projects.

Effective teamwork is crucial in fostering a positive and cohesive team environment. When team members enjoy working together and exhibit good teamwork, it reduces the likelihood of aggression, defensiveness, power struggles, and unnecessary arguments. This, in turn, prevents negativity from permeating the project and ensures a successful conclusion.

Successful teams also recognise and celebrate both team and individual achievements. This benefits the project team and the organisation and extends to external stakeholders. The five stages of Team development are:

Forming: Where people first get together and get to know each other.

Storming: Where the team's project mission statement is decided.

Norming: People get to know and accept the remit of the Teams Project mission statement.

Performing: People deliver the team project by working together harmoniously.

Adjourning: This is when the team completes the project and people return to their daily duties.

A good Team Leader within any Project Team will strive to ensure that everyone feels valued and can take part, and that, more than anything else, the team works effectively and efficiently towards the project's successful conclusion. Specifically, a good Team Leader will:

Stimulate enthusiasm from the Project Team as a whole and, where possible, from the individual members of the Project Team.

Ensure that conflicts are resolved to the mutual benefit of Project Team members and the Project Team.

Encourage communication and participation from all members of the Project Team.

Ensure that all meetings are controlled and conclude successfully to maximise the use of people’s time and resources.

Ensure the Team Project is making progress and is delivered on time.

Overall, a competent Team Leader will ensure that they show respect to every member of the Project Team without allowing their or anyone else's personal biases, false assumptions, or extreme ideologies to impact other Project Team members or the successful completion of the project.

Motivation compels individuals to pursue or achieve something that fulfils their physical or psychological needs. It is unique to each person, and what motivates one individual may not motivate another.

Managers or supervisors can influence individuals to accomplish tasks. However, they can also inspire or motivate them by creating an environment that meets their psychological and physical needs. When individuals feel their needs are met, they are more likely to fulfil the expectations set by their manager or supervisor.

The role of a manager as a leader is closely tied to their role as a motivator. Managers, including supervisors, are responsible for motivating the staff under their supervision. While managers typically instruct staff on what to do, leaders set a vision and inspire others to achieve it.

Motivating individuals is essential in both managerial and leadership roles. However, it can be more challenging in a Production Line setting where productivity demands place significant pressure on individuals.

Senior Managers can motivate employees within a business by addressing Herzberg's Hygiene Factors. This involves ensuring that employees are adequately compensated (including pensions and benefits) and that the physical aspects of the workplace (lighting, heating, air-conditioning, etc.) are well-maintained to prevent them from becoming demotivating factors.

Supervisors and junior managers possess a greater capacity to impact the psychological needs of their employees. They are in a more advantageous position to inspire and motivate them. This is primarily due to their intimate working relationships with their staff members.

Through these relationships, they can provide commendations, introduce diverse tasks, or enhance the level of difficulty, all of which have the potential to improve the psychological well-being of the employees and consequently serve as a source of psychological motivation. There are three ways in which a Manager/Supervisor can motivate their staff:

A carrot is a reward for staff to do or achieve something.

Stick – conversely, a reprimand when staff do not do or achieve something.

Plant – positive reinforcement where staff are made to feel good when they have done well or achieved something successfully

Daniel H. Pink's book Drive: “The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” explores the idea that relying solely on offering rewards, or the "Carrot" approach, can lead to short-term gains and a subsequent decline in productivity, particularly regarding piecework rates.

On the other hand, using the "Stick" form of motivation, which involves punishment or negative consequences, is often associated with panic or emergencies. However, it can be highly demotivating if a manager or supervisor consistently relies on this approach.

It may result in employees refraining from collaborating or leaving the organisation altogether. The most effective form of motivation is positive reinforcement. However, it should be used judiciously. Offering positive reinforcement for mediocre work diminishes its value and impact.

Orientation is a comprehensive process that begins during the interview stage when hiring inexperienced staff. Its purpose is to align the psychological needs of new employees with those of the organisation and vice versa. Orientation extends beyond the initial weeks of induction. It can continue for the first two or three years of an employee's tenure.

Orientation focuses on ensuring a closer alignment between the psychological needs of the staff and the organisation. This approach differs from the more traditional methods of interviewing and onboarding inexperienced staff, which have historically been conducted separately.

Orientation aims to motivate staff to stay with the organisation longer, as consistently recruiting inexperienced staff is extremely expensive. The skills, knowledge and experience staff gain within the organisation are lost when they leave.

The emphasis of orientation is where the psychological needs of both the staff and the organisation are focused on ensuring that the fit between Staff and Organisation is closer than the more traditional "Interview" and "Onboarding" process of inexperienced staff, which have traditionally always been conducted separately from each other.

Orientation aims to engage and retain staff within the organisation for a longer period, as constant recruitment of inexperienced staff can be costly. The organisation loses the skills, knowledge, and experience that staff members acquire when they decide to leave.

Orientation serves as a tool to inspire staff to commit to the organisation long-term, as consistently hiring inexperienced staff can be financially draining. When staff members depart, the organisation loses valuable skills, knowledge, and experience. To summarise:

Orientation includes both the Interview and Induction phases of recruitment.

Onboarding or inducting inexperienced staff into an Organisation is usually conducted separately from the Interview Stages of the Recruitment Process.

The aims of orientation are focused upon welcoming a recruit into an organisation; it is people-oriented rather than process-driven; the goal is to ensure that Staff retention rates are increased and Recruitment Costs are reduced.

Setting unachievable or expected goals in an unrealistic time frame can demoralise, putting everyone under tremendous stress. If the goals are not achieved, it is an ineffective and inefficient way of managing teams, staff, and resources. Setting individual or Team Goals is something that we all do, but a Team Goal needs to be:

Specific: We need to know what we must achieve.

Defined: We need to know how we will achieve it.

Achievable: We need to know what success looks like.

Measurable: How else do we know when we have achieved the goal?

Planned: the period and path of how we are to achieve the goal.

The term “SPIRIT” is used when setting a realistic project plan to achieve a goal, get something done, or achieve something that requires a degree of planning. The separate words have the following meanings:

Specific: Setting the exact definition of what the project is to achieve.

Prizes: The reward for achieving the outcome of the project.

Individual: The reward must be something the person wants when they have achieved the project's aims.

Review: Ensure that progress is being made towards the Project Outcome at regular intervals during the project period so that corrective actions can be taken to ensure the project's success.

Time Bound: Ensure a reasonable deadline is set for the achievement of the project.

Aligning the needs of internal and external customers to ensure mutual satisfaction is crucial in any customer-centric setting. The organisation, its Teams, and its Staff play an essential role in meeting the needs of external Customers. Managers, Supervisors, and Leaders must motivate their Staff and Teams to meet external Customers' needs.

In a work environment, various interconnected processes and procedures must be carried out systematically to meet external Customers' needs. Processes and work routines are typically assessed in some manner. Without measurement, there can be no improvement. How can you determine if a method has been enhanced if you have no baseline for comparison?

Providing positive and negative feedback to Staff and Teams is essential to ensure they perform tasks correctly, at the right time, and within budget. This concept resembles a Supply Chain principle.

When issues arise, it is crucial to inform staff and teams about them. While negative feedback may demotivate individuals, correcting deviations from the correct path is essential to minimise costs, reduce time, and ensure efficient remedial actions to maintain profitability, quality, and customer service.

On the other hand, when things are going well, positive motivation occurs when staff or teams are informed of their success. This aligns with Reinforcement Theory, which suggests people will strive to improve their performance when motivated appropriately.

Positive motivation is compelling when staff or teams are informed of their achievements. However, avoiding excessive positive motivation when mediocre work is essential, as it can lead to complacency. According to Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard's Situational Leadership Model, praise should be given when expectations and standards are low, and progress should be acknowledged when a staff member's or team's performance improves.

Reinforcement Theory emphasises the importance of motivating individuals correctly to enhance their performance. However, due to the complexity of the subject, achieving the maximum impact of motivation can take time.

Motivation is an internal force that propels individuals in various ways, making it unique for each person. Exceptional supervisors, managers, and leaders who excel at motivating their staff or teams possess a deep understanding of the individuals they work with. They have an intimate knowledge of what drives people and can effectively motivate them by employing the Plant motivational method rather than relying on the carrot-or-stick approach.

Managers and supervisors should not simply coerce individuals to accomplish tasks or goals. Instead, they can foster an environment that fulfils the person's physical and psychological needs, thereby encouraging and motivating them to undertake the desired actions.

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