How effective can a group personnel review be when the reviewers (managers) each are reluctant to say anything that would make them seem as not a team player? Is there ever a time when an employee canbe effectively and efficiently reviewed by a team of people? I am speaking of a small non-profit which hired an executive director and who gets perfomance reviews from 3 directors, whom the executive director has had a hand in naming. Seems to me that this person would never get a bad review.

The Team Doc Says…

In two words — not very. Team reviews are only effective if there is a strong foundation of trust for every member of the team. If that doesn’t exist, I would avoid team reviews like the plague. It would be a total waste of time and effort, plus it would add no value to the employee or company whatsoever.

If your company runs around the clock on a twenty four by seven, three sixty five schedule, it could be at risk for communication issues among the teams who cover different shifts. Twenty-four hour operations add an additional dimension of complication to working in teams.

Before you run into problems and start hearing things like “Well, we couldn’t because third shift didn’t…” or “Yea, those day shift guys think they’re better than…” take some proactive steps to ensure good communication between your shifts.

The key to your success is having each shift communicate critical issues to the next shift so they can be successful. Too many times companies end up with shift teams working against – rather than with – each other. It’s critical that you consistently communicate how each shift team contributes to the success of the whole. That will help you keep their communication lines open.

Here are four simple tactics you can implement to overcome that challenge.

1. Overlap shifts by thirty minutes. Use that time to have a shift transition meeting to identify key issues and successes that were encountered by the outgoing shift.
2. Place easels around the team work space. Designate what items will be updated on the easel by each shift.
3. Distribute a shift transition email. This email should be in a standard format that’s been communicated to all shift workers so they can quickly read it and get on with their work.
4. Create a ‘communicator’ role on each shift. This role would be responsible for meeting with the previous and following shifts at shift transition time to communicate key issues.

These are four pretty low tech solutions. With today’s technology, there’s no reason to have communication disconnects between shifts. What other suggestions do you have? Let’s talk about it in the forum.

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I will be given responsibility as Team Leader after one month of working in my team. It’s a new team of only two people. What is the first thing that I should do after they announce that I am a Team Leader?

The Team Doc Says..

Well congratulations to you! If you’ve never been a team leader before, starting out small is a good way to go. But small teams can have as many (if not more) challenges than big teams. So here’s some advice I’ve given others in your situation that will help you.

In my post regarding a new team leader wanting to make the team effective again, the key to success is in communicating with each team member and then gather as a group to move the team forward.

You should also take a look at the team building forum discussion on a new team leader who is managing four peers. Please feel free to participate in that discussion or start a new thread.

You can get to the “New Team Leaders” section of the team building forum by clicking here.

I am just starting a uni module which involves team work in an online discussion board. Basically we never meet each other face to face. How do you think this will change our team work and what would be the two most important ground rules?

The Team Doc Says…

Congratulations to you and kudos for realizing there could be additional challenges in your virtual team arrangement. One of the main issues that can derail a virtual team is communication. Of course this is the same issue that can derail teams that are not virtual.

So one of your team ground rules should be around communication — as in what will be shared and how it will be shared. Since the team is virtual, a wiki or blog might be a good idea. And, of course, you can always use email with threaded discussions (that could get a bit cumbersome though).

The other key ground rule should be around resolving conflict. Your team will need to define when the team needs to get involved, how they will get involved and what process will be used to resolve the conflict. I’ve defined a process for resolving conflict in a virtual team here.

You’ll also want to make sure that you define team roles which will help you communicate better and (hopefully!) minimize conflict.

What about you reader? Have any additional suggestions? Please leave a comment.

I’m 29 and have recently started in a new job at an insurance company as, well, supervisor of about 23 people. With the exception of 1 or 2, all my new team members have been with the company for between 10-20 years and with the exception of a handful, they’re all older than 37; in addition, they’re all much more technically knowledgeable than I am, which is a bit intimidating.

At first, I thought they were a ‘well oiled machine’ having worked together for many years; however, there is some friction amongst the team (and as expected, a little towards me – although, I can understand why, particularly since a few of the team had applied for this position and were turned down). I know I shouldn’t feel daunted by all this, but it really does make me feel a little intimidated sometimes – especially since I’ve never really been in this scenario before (at my previous company, my team was 4 people.)

Budgets are tight, time is a rare commodity and some individuals think that team activities are beneath them. What can I, as the newbie, do to help foster a better sense of team within my unit – generally and on a daily basis, without really overwhelming them? 

The Team Doc Says…

Your situation is not unique. As organizations age, it is becoming the norm for supervisors to be younger than their direct reports. Although there are people who will make it an issue no matter what the circumstance, the key thing you need to remember is that being the leader is what’s important — not your age.

Since it sounds like you are a little “green” in this area — that’s a big leap from a team of four to a team of 23, it would be a good idea for you to seek out a mentor to help you transition and hone your skills. There are plenty of training opportunitites to learn new skills too. Plan out what you need and get started.

And I wouldn’t worry too much about the technical knowledge. You were hired to manage the team, not do the technical work. If you manage properly, and match the right team member with the right task you can’t help but succeed.

As far as your team is concerned, take a few minutes to read one of my previous articles about how to leverage strengths to close the generation gap here.

What do you think reader? Have other advice to offer? Please leave a comment.