New to an agency with little turn-over. Most have been there for three years or longer performing only one task. I’ve started trying to have people learn responsibilities of others in case an individual who performs a task no one else does is not at work. I’ve guaranteed that learning another’s responsibilities did not warrant them to perform those tasks unless an individual who generally performed that task did not come in to work. I’ve met some resistance from 4 of 15 individuals. They want to be reimbursed for the additional responsibility if they are to perform the task, whether or not the responsible individual does not report to work. The majority of the individuals accepted my idea and are trying to help me in motivating the resisting individuals. I’ve planned to move forward, but continue to encourage the ones resisting to participate; I’ve explained the benefits for the individual and the department. How do I negotiate if the four individuals choose not to learn?

The Team Doc Says…

Assuming these tasks are interchangeable from person to person and no special education or skills are needed, I don’t think you need to negotiate.

Unless your company is bound by a union agreement, most jobs include a statement identifying that the person will perform other tasks as required (or something like that). Which means you can just tell them to participate or face the consequences. That said, I wouldn’t go the strong arm approach until you’ve tried other options. Not knowing for sure what you’ve tried, some of my advice may be repetitive. Here goes.

1. Make sure everyone “gets” the big picture. The main reason a company has employees is to accomplish a goal. Goals are broken into tasks with are typically spread around the company by some sort of logical grouping of jobs. I think it would be worthwhile to have this discussion with your entire team. Often team members have a tough time seeing how they fit into the big picture of the company and this will help them understand.

2. Explain the driver behind the cross training. I call this an explanation about the dump truck theory. In other words, if a team member got run over by a dump truck (yes, I know – morbid), the work of the team could not be completed. If the work of the team could not be completed, it could potentially sink the company. And who wants that to happen?

3. Cross training makes team members more valuable (and normally provides job security). Often people don’t want to learn new skills because they’re afraid. And they don’t want to teach others their skills because they’re afraid. You need to talk to each of these team members to determine the real issue. Most don’t look past the end of their nose and discover that the more they know, the more valuable they are to the company (so it’s tougher to be let go in a down turn). But to make this work, you need to have a plan — a method to the madness if you will. Make sure you identify the critical skills (not all skills are critical) that could stop the company cold and prepare cross trained team members.

If, after all of this, the team members refuse to cross train unless they are compensated, you can make the cross training a condition of their employment with the company and if they don’t comply you’ll have to let them go.

What do you think reader? Please leave your thoughts in a comment.

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My team is located all over the states. We seem to have communication and trust issues within our group. I wanted to come up with some team building exercises that can be done over the phone on one of our staff meetings. Do you have any recommendations or suggestions on any team building games or exercises? Please advise. Thanks for your help.

The Team Doc Says…

Trust takes time to build in a team. And the distance gap doesn’t help. Here are a few things for you to try.

1. Take a look at your team goals and conduct a round robin discussion with each team member identifying their role in accomplishing the goal. That will help tie the team members together. Make sure you — or your team scribe — capture the information as each team member is sharing it. Then recap at the end of the meeting after each team member has shared their role. Debrief by exploring how important it is for each team member to understand their part in a team goal and the dependency on each other.

2. Plan a meeting where team members will share who they depend on and why. To ensure that no one gets left out, prepare ahead of time. Provide each team member with another team member’s name and advise they will be required to share how they depend on this person to get their work done. While each member is sharing, draw the links of team member to team member on a piece of paper. Then after the meeting send this visual out to the team.

3. Alternatively, you could have a discussion about what each team member needs from others. In a round robin fashion, have each person state a) who they need something from, and b) why they need it.

End each meeting by tying the relationships of the members together. Encourage team members to share success stories about how “together” they accomplished a goal for the team.

It would also be a good idea to establish some groundrules for your team around communication, if you don’t already have them established. It is really essential to team success and the distance barrier can create walls between team members. If you do have groundrules, take some time in a team meeting to revisit them and make sure you have key communication areas identified. Take a look at Growing and Sustaining a Virtual Team for some additional help.

Let me know what you decide to do in your team and if these ideas work for you.

Anyone else have suggestions? Please leave a comment.

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My team is predominately male…12 men +3 female. The males tend to exclude or not value the input of the females.. not only that but independence is not encouraged among the males. Meaning that there are about three really dominant ones in the group who tend to be able to maintain a status quo type of environment where the other males play a lesser role. We were finally able to eliminate one of overly aggressive males. We would like to have a team building day, what types of activities would you suggest?

The Team Doc Says…

I’m not real fond of “team building days.” I’ve seen way too many of these fail to meet the expectations of the team to build on the experience and move forward.

Where is your team leader? Does this person not recognize what is happening in the team? Or are they turning a blind eye to the team whose dynamics have become dysfunctional?

Not having a strong team leader in this type of situation doesn’t help your team move forward. What would probably work for your team is to hold a series of workshops — about two hours each — to clarify roles, communication methods, and conflict resolution techniques.

The key is for each team member to rediscover that the team is focused on a common goal and that it takes each and every one of you to achieve that goal.

Focus the workshops on shared outcomes. To ensure that each team member participates, use a structured process. This could involve “brainwriting” where each person puts their thoughts on paper or a one-minute each round robin so every team member has a chance to contribute. Make sure you identify how each person contributes to the team and how each team members role is dependent upon others for the team to be successful.

It may be wise for your team to hire an outside team facilitator as you begin the process of building your team into a cohesive unit. If that is not doable, find a team leader from another team that could come in and perform this role for you.

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How can you have a clear concise direction when starting a new project and also support from your other team members along with being flexible?

The Team Doc Says…

It all starts with clear communication. Seems simple, huh? But not so much for many teams.

Here’s your best bet — and don’t wait for someone else to do it. Take the lead.

When a new project begins, it is imperative to get all team members together to set the tone and direction for the project. This is typically called a “kick off” meeting and should cover the following.

• Team Mission — Define what is the objective of the project. Each member should know what the expected outcome is to be.
• Team Authority — Clearly explain the team scope and boundaries. How far can the team go in making decisions without asking permission?
• Team Roles — Determine who will do what and whose responsibilities are dependent on what other team members.
• Team Communication — Set up a method for regular team communication and meetings. Define what the meeting objectives will be. Determine who will be included in what communication topics.

So there you have it. Sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? It is. But your team won’t be sorry if they take the time to put these items in place before the project starts. And the outcome will be so much better.

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What measurement can a communication team use to gauge effectiveness, %, targets, etc.?

The Team Doc Says…

I’m going to assume you mean an internal communication team rather than an external communication team.

Two ways to measure the impact of actions taken by your communication team are by looking at outcomes expected (the number of people taking a specific action) and via feedback surveys that are conducted on a regular basis to find out how team members feel about the amount of communication they are receiving and the methods and timing used for the communication.

Brainstorm with your team expected outcomes for the tactics you have in your communication plan and you’ll have a good set of targets to work with. Additionally, structure a feedback survey and plan out when you will administer it (every few months, once a year, etc.). Make sure you conduct the feedback survey on a regular basis so you have data to track your progress. Adjust your communication plan accordingly.

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