The Three Common Obstacles

The Three Common Obstacles

That get in the way when leading a team forward and their Solution

Khai Minthang

Beaumont, TX

Introduction: Leading a team across an everyday business landscape is tough enough. Nobody needs the added hassle of unexpected obstacles that get tossed in your way. But, it happens all the time. Sometimes a team member lays down the speed bumps! Sometimes they come from elsewhere in the organization. In any case, you are the team’s point guard and they are counting on you. Here are the three common obstacles:

Obstacle No. 1: New directives from on high: Bosses usually mean no harm and simply want to help you work through the change process. But they often just don’t see what havoc their brainstorms create and how much unnecessary work they may be drumming up for your team.

Solution: To overcome this obstacle, plan on some face-to-face, one-on-one conversations with the boss. Remember the rule when you challenge upward: Do it privately, not publicly. Here are some tips: 1) Assume management means well, 2) Ask for the gold, 3) Talk about priorities, and 4) Document agreements and plans.

Obstacle No. 2: Cold shoulder from other groups: Sometimes the biggest obstacles to making change efforts work within your team come from other groups in the organization. Your team may depend on their support in the form of providing essential information, responding to your inquiries or requests, or applying their special expertise to help you solve problems.

Solution: These are legitimate interdepartmental requests, yet for one reason or another, the other guys aren’t responding. Here’s a process to help you tackle this impediment: 1) Assume they mean well, 2) Go in to solve problems, 3) State your team’s problem objectively, 4) Listen to their side of the story, and 5) Solve the problem together.

Obstacle No. 3: A counterproductive team member: Sometimes the biggest obstacle a team faces in its development comes from the inside. You may observe disruptive outbursts, chronic complaining, low quality or sloppy work, or very little work.

Solution: If it only amounts to an incident here or there, you can pull the person aside for counsel and correction. But if the problem persist and shift into patterns, the effect on a team’s morale and productivity can be devastating when the situation is left unaddressed. Aim your initial efforts at coaching to improve the performance of the person involved by: 1) Stating your concerns, 2) Exploring reasons for the problem, 3) Finding a solution and forming an action plan together, and 4) Following up periodically.

Conclusion: Don’t tolerate actions by certain team members that poison the overall team’s chemistry and performance. But remember to intervene early and coach for improvement first. Quite simply, the earlier you act to address an unsatisfactory pattern of performance, the more likely you are to gain improvement in the team member’s performance and the team’s morale in general.