Today a really cool thing happened. I saw the results of a leader’s two-year journey to create a new culture for her team.
A couple of years ago when I first started coaching with this leader, she described a department that was struggling. She had inherited a team where some members felt overworked if they took more than a handful of calls per day. While others busted their tails with a very full docket. She told me how one or two employees had infested the team with negativity. And that other departments in the organization complained about her team’s slow response time.
Over the last couple of years, this leader has worked hard to bring out the best on this team. She set clear expectations. She held people accountable. She started working with a fellow leader to solve some long-standing technical problems, and they were able to pull some data to support communication and decision-making.
Slowly this has changed her team’s output, attitude, and reputation. And this month her team won an award! And not just any award. It’s a recognition voted on by the other employees in the organization. A highly coveted honor!
Three years ago, her team was consistently overlooked and taken for granted. Today they have earned the admiration of their peers.
What worked? The leader boils down the change to these actions:
-Set clear expectations.
-Create teamwork by getting out of the middle. Expect and empower team members to discuss conflicts with each other before involving the leader.
-Identify problems and discuss them. Don’t sweep stuff under the rug and expect it to go away.
-Address problems together in a positive, productive way that puts the needs of the organization front and center.
-Use other leaders as resources. You don’t have to go it alone.
These tools helped build a new culture. And they’ll be in the toolbox, ready to keep this culture strong.
Karman Hotchkiss
