Human Resources Issues for Senior Management
Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/343811
24 Executive Series Digest hrreporter.com CORPORATE CULTURE Humans are the limiting factor By Dave Crisp (Organizational E ectiveness) A Minnesota speech coach is credited with observing " e natural result of communication is misunderstanding." Nowhere is this more relevant than when teams gather. I suppose you might also conclude " e natural result of working together is one or two people dominating." is points to a fact that is increasingly clear: Human beings are the limiting factor in getting better results — not money, tech- nology or ideas. To improve means overcoming ideas we take for granted as common sense that may not be sensible at all — old saws like "If you want something done right, do it yourself " and " e fastest team is one person." It takes work to learn how teams function best and it doesn't feel natural at all when you rst start out. For example, in the past, we promoted the best tech specialists to leadership roles only to nd they might be excellent at the tasks but poor at getting others to pro- duce results. at's why building skills for e ective team leadership is essential for organizational e ectiveness. How o en have all of us been stuck in team meetings where most attendees weren't sure there was much point to being there, where heads nodded consistently when the boss spoke but people worked on other things while fellow team members reported on their activi- ties since the last meeting? Total consensus of all members is rarely achievable except in the broadest terms — "We want better results." e question of how to get them, whose plan will be followed, who will get what budget allo- cations and so forth may all cause dissention, with each person truly believing they see the best solution — which just so happens, in most cases, to favour their function. Internal political power comes into play, the most common situ- ation being the boss dictating, directly or indirectly, what the goal will be and, far worse, how to go a er it. We know the boss is part of a larger team and may have to lay out what the goal needs to be. But, ideally, she will also provide a compelling rationale that team mem- bers can feel good about — a noble purpose. Instead, our meetings tend to be lled with the boss giving orders, only to have executives huddling in the hallway a erward, discussing why they would never work. e presenter's comment I liked best was about such gossip — that you can't stop it but need to move to- ward getting it on the table during the team meetings. I've been there for sure — sometimes trying, rarely succeeding. e problem was, and still is, no one wanted to seem negative or get a reputation as the person who always objects, points out incon- venient aws or drags her feet. ose can be career-limiting moves, so most would nod agreement and let time prove their silent doubts right. ere were always ways to shi the blame for a lack of results toward someone else on the team. e notion of "cover your ass" still thrives in many organizations. We look to the leader to set the tone and we can be pretty sure from research that fewer than 20 per cent of leaders are skilled at drawing out the problems, not submerging them. Everyone who trains and promotes leaders needs to act on this problem, now — or teams will continue to ounder. Dave Crisp is a Toronto-based writer and thought leader for Strategic Capability Network with a wealth of experience, including 14 years leading HR at Hudson Bay Co. where he took the 70,000-em- ployee retailer to "best company to work for" status. For more information, visit www.balance-and-results.com. The counterculture of toxic teams By Trish Maguire (Leadership in Action) L eaders need to start "teaching people to team." at was one of the messages Liane Davey, vice-president of Knightsbridge Leadership Solutions, brought to the table. Why should leaders heed her advice? Because although teams are central to any organization's continued success, she reveals that a counterculture of toxic teams is growing. is is a thought-provoking observation for some leaders and likely distressing for others, especially those who have invested signi cantly in team-building workshops. Traditional thinking has always sup- ported the notion that e ective teams solve more complex problems, make better decisions, encourage greater creativity, increase skills and build commitment. However, even if you believe teams are a better way of doing business, the truth is old beliefs and structures are de nitely not meeting the needs or demands of the workplace. Remember the "forming, storming, norming and performing" model? Well, it just isn't that simple anymore. e reality check from Davey is it's time to change our think- ing since the old team-building models are just not working. As she points out, whether we put a man on the moon or we pick up our morning Egg McMu n, it took a team to make it happen. Why should the notion of toxic teams send out alarm bells for every lead- er? Because if toxic teams are increasingly the norm, what does that do for corporate Canada's productivity and long-term prosperity? Would it surprise you to know that in 2012, the Organisation established, then you can start to gure out where people t in as individuals and how di erent personalities will mesh together. "Create a mindset shi ," says Davey. "Show that di erence is not 'He's annoy- ing' — it's 'Wow, that's someone who thinks di erently than me. ere is my chance to think di erently, to think more broadly and, very importantly, to cover my blind spots.'"