What Will You Pledge to Your Team?
I was reminded last week of a simple but important truth: if you want to manage people effectively, ask them what they need from you in order to succeed.
The realisation came as I was coaching a executive who had been finding it very difficult to manage the disparate people in her team. Some were old hands, experienced but cynical; others were new recruits, enthusiastic but very junior. She had tried to sit down and work out all their different needs, but was finding it perplexing. Some wanted to be left alone, others craved attention; some needed structure, others a free rein. After repeatedly getting it wrong, she decided the best thing to do was to go back to her preferred directive style: “At least we will all be clear about what to do — and I can get on with my work,” she said.
But she knew well that a one-size-fits-all approach rarely works when managing individuals and teams, regardless of how diverse they are. Much depends on the situation as well as the individual — there’s little point in trying to control a specialist, such as a lawyer, for example, as they probably won’t listen, and very junior staff need structures and directions until they find their feet. It’s important that all managers recognise and become aware of their default style in order to move away from it: we all need to widen our range, moving across the spectrum from controlling to laissez-faire as the person and situation demands.
So here’s a simpler approach, based on a short conversation between you and your team members. It can also work with your boss, although really he or she ought to be initiating this conversation themselves! Ideally, you should have this conversation when you start a new role, but it’s useful at any stage of the working relationship.
Meet each member of your team separately for half an hour and follow these steps:
1. Tell them your job is to help them succeed. You will support them, but they must tell you what kind of support they need in order to succeed. If they have trouble formulating a response, ask them, for example, whether they prefer close supervision or to be left alone, whether they prefer formal or informal catch-ups, or how much detail they need from you.
2. Be careful to make a clear distinction between the words “need” and “want.” Needs are what they can reasonably demand to do their job well; wants are a wish list to make their life as easy as possible. (However, it might be worth striking a deal on this if you have some specific wants of your own.)
3. Explain that their job is to help you succeed in yours. Now it is your turn to state clearly what you need from them.
4. Document the contract and refer to it when appropriate, perhaps when performance dips, deadlines are missed, or there is conflict in the team.
The client I mentioned at the beginning of this piece used this approach to good effect. She acknowledged that her controlling management style wasn’t working: it had left her team disempowered and her overloaded with work, stressed, and unbalanced. Instead of trying to pretend she was perfect and omniscient, she made a pledge to her team members and asked for their pledge in return. This is now documented for all members of her team.
Manager’s Pledge:
To trust, support, defend, and develop individuals and to communicate as clearly and as much as she is able.
Team Members’ Pledge:
To trust her, work hard, do their best, be team players and take responsibility for their work and actions.
It’s a simple but remarkably powerful statement of how they want to work together. What’s more, they can always go back to their pledges as an explicit contract of trust, rather than rely on assumptions. I am confident it will work for her in the future.
What are your thoughts? Do you think it’s important for managers to have this kind of frank exchange with team members or do you think it’s a naïve approach that could easily backfire? Have you ever made a similar pledge to your staff or requested one in return? What happened?
I will go back to my client in six months and ask her for her experiences, but in the meantime, I’d love to hear your views and thoughts.