Making Positive Business Choices

What do you do if you have a team of employees who just don't seem to be able to work together? Often, it can be a learning experience for everyone. With the right team communication training and leadership coaching, you can turn your most difficult teams into your most rewarding assets.

Conduct Personal and Group Interviews

When dealing with team-related problems, your first step is to get a feel for the team dynamics. Conduct interviews with employees one-on-one and in a group, to find out more about what part of the group is malfunctioning. Ask directed but positive questions. Rather than asking "What has gone wrong?" ask "What do you think needs to be improved?"

Work on Team Communication Skills

Communication is usually the largest flaw when it comes to bad team management. If your teams aren't clicking, it could be down to miscommunication. Teach employees some basic communication skills, including active listening, and seeing things from another point of view.

Look for a Catalyst

Sometimes, in difficult teams there's a specific issue that needs to be addressed. It could be that there are two employees who are like oil and water. It could be that the project they're tasked with completing is simply too difficult and too stressful. The issue doesn't always lie in the employees: sometimes the issue is in the project itself.

Conduct Individual Performance Reviews

All other things aside, it's important to know how the team is actually performing. Take a look at individual metrics to see whether some members of the team may be carrying more weight than others. If some employees are working much harder than others, the imbalance and inequity is very likely to be part of the problem. Consider promoting harder workers into leadership positions within the team; a reward and responsibility may be what they need to feel valued. 

Consider Separating the Team

If nothing you do seems to work, it's time to continue separating the team. Sometimes good employees can turn bad if they're in the wrong environment, and some employees will never get along. Leadership sometimes means making difficult decisions, and acknowledging that some situations need to be abandoned.

If difficult teams are occurring frequently in your business, it may be an issue with either leadership style or environment. You may want to consider looking at your business as a whole, and hunting down any malfunctions that are occurring within.