I’m a very experienced manager in retail in the UK. In a recent performance review its been pointed out that I’m not a team player. This has come as a shock to me but I do realize that its what other people say I have to consider. I’m currently dealing with many performance issues within my store. I have completed a feedback exercise and am building this into a development plan for myself. I just need some help to turn this perception of me around , whilst at the same time being firm with the non performance issues and certainly not looking like I’m backing in to people. I am a strong leader, I’m working with a team of managers who on the whole have less experience than me. how can I turn my perception around?

The Team Doc Says…

The short answer here is that your actions will help turn around people’s perceptions of you. It’s really hard for people to change the way they behave and I congratulate you for taking action. To ensure you are staying on track with your new behaviors, make sure you take some time at the end of each day to look back and analyze what went well that day and what you could have done better. Don’t be too hard on yourself — we all make mistakes. Just jump back in and work to do better the next time.

I also want to address what happened to you. Feedback should never come as a shock to anyone. I think it’s sad that you had to find this out at your review. That’s a really poor management practice on your supervisor’s part. You could make some efforts to manage this going forward by asking for feedback at regular intervals. Better yet, you could demonstrate the right way to give feedback by practicing it with your own team of managers. Here is a good guide to giving feedback.

And remember, the best feedback is given at the appropriate time and is specific and actionable. I suspect the feedback you got was neither of these.

Good luck and let me know how this works out for you. Anyone else have suggestions to offer? Please leave a comment.

Related posts:

1. Team Members Should Get Shared Performance Review
2. How to Make Team Member Feedback Part of the Culture
3. Numbers Not The Best Team Member Rating Format

A group of about eight woman who need to work together but have gotten into dividing themselves. They are causing the division, I believe, due to two or three people wanting total control. It is detrimental to the group and to the students they serve. Please send suggestions of where to begin.

The Team Doc Says.

The first thing you need to do is identify the behavior that is causing the division. Your assumption is that they want total control, but exactly what are they doing that makes you feel this way?

Once you’ve identified the behavior, you need to have discussions with each of these women to provide feedback on the impact of their behavior on the rest of the team. Use the “what and why” model. For example, “When you [exhibit this behavior - the what] it causes others to [impact of behavior - the why].”

They may not realize what they are doing is causing an issue. Or they may be doing it on purpose. But until you take the time to open a dialog and understand more about what it going on, all you have to go on is your assumptions.

It would be a good idea to plan your feedback discussions. You can use the conflict resolution process to help you prepare.

What do you think reader? Can you offer other suggestions?

Related posts:

1. How to Handle a Team Leader Who Barks Orders
2. Team Feedback Must Be Specific
3. How To Hold A Virtual Team Member Accountable