When assembling a team, choose participants who bring distinct expertise to the group. Pick people who share a positive attitude and a desire to produce results. Individuals with strong personalities can stifle free-flowing debate. Less motivated participants or “malcontents” (i.e., workers who chronically complain) can undermine the group. Employees who lack the motivation to excel may fail to complete their team assignments as promised.
Before you replace underperforming team members, diagnose the situation and take these steps to help them improve:
1. Review workload. Some potentially strong contributors can crumble if they feel overworked. Take stock of everyone's duties. Divvy up work so that no teammate faces an unfair burden.
- 2. Cross-train. Someone who struggles with one task may thrive in another job. Rotate assignments so that you give people a chance to surprise you by demonstrating a range of skills. Don't pigeonhole an employee because you assume he or she has just one narrow area of expertise. On a service team, for instance, switch members regularly from new-customer orientation to database management to survey design.
- 3. Pair up teammates. Ask an outstanding team member to mentor a poor performer for a few weeks. For example, pair a worker who lacks technical prowess with a high-tech wizard.
If disagreements erupt, remind everyone of the group's goal and the timetable for action. Strike a positive, forward-looking tone when teammates grow frustrated; don't let them engage in fault-finding and defensiveness. Tell the team, “Looking ahead, you need to…” instead of reviewing what's gone wrong so far.