Mistrust can kill your team

The reason why I haven't been as active on this blog recently is because I am now busy writing for the SME section of moneycontrol.com. 

Reproducing below the latest article, something close to my heart. 

I have seen firsthand how teams crumble and productivity diminishes when trust is low in teams. So what are the symptoms of a team suffering from mistrust? Well here's my article that addresses this very question. 

Mistrust can kill your team Mukti Shah Trust is a tricky thing. It can make all the difference between a healthy and productive team and one that tears itself apart. It is therefore imperative that a team leader creates a healthy culture of trust because a team that trusts is secure and also performs better. This crucial ingredient, intangible yet a powerful motivator, works on two levels - between team members as well as between them and their leader. Either way, the onus is on you because a good team leader always sets the tone. This would mean setting up a transparent system, assessing performance as objectively as possible and never playing favourites. Remember, mistrust can go viral very quickly. So here's a checklist that will help you detect the problem and nip it in the bud. How to take a trust-check Are your team members too guarded? Keep an ear open for stilted conversations and lack of openness and authenticity in conversations. Do your team members think twice about what they say and to whom they say it? Lack of trust is also fertile ground for people to jump to conclusions and hold grudges against each. You will be surprised how much energy it takes to manage a team that mistrusts each other. So, identify the problem quickly, before work starts to suffer. Watch out for blame games: Passing the buck is not unusual but when blame games become habitual, it's a sign of a deeper malaise. If your team members do not own responsibility, both individually and collectively, your business will not be productive. Since energy is directed at protecting oneself and pointing fingers, the focus shifts away form work. Says Vijay Gupta, a behavioral expert and also Founder and President of TeamResults Corporate Solutions Ltd, "Blaming each other for failure and trying to be seen by the entrepreneur/leader as being more reliable than the other members is a definite sign that there is an absence of trust in your team." Your business could take a hit: Have you noticed a lack of meaningful debate during meetings? Low trust stifles creativity and risk-taking. So, even if someone has a brilliant idea, they are reluctant to share it with the team. Creative thinking, brainstorming and problem-solving take the fall. If you notice that your team members are not actively involved in meetings, and work in general, the problem could be lack of trust. Mistrust kills team work: Mistrust is essentially associated with suspicion about information and it therefore results in reduced information exchange and feedback between members. They stop soliciting or offering performance feedback to each other, which robs opportunities for self-correction. Monitoring performance then falls to the entrepreneur or team leader, who already has too much on their plate. Mistrust also compromises the ability to anticipate other team members' needs through accurate knowledge of their responsibilities. This includes the ability to shift workloads among members and assist each other to achieve balance during periods of high workload or pressure. Perhaps it's time to take a trust-check? Get your team to trust you A good team leader or entrepreneur always leads by example. Thus, at the organisational or policy level, they must ensure that appreciation and recognition is based on objective criteria. So, for instance, they do not hire relatives and friends. And, most importantly, they create transparencies in the system so that everyone can see each other's results and performance," Gupta points out. On the flipside, he adds, "Although trust is the backbone of the structure of a team, every task still needs to be tracked to ensure proper execution. Trust as an excuse for lack of follow-up can be suicidal for an enterprise. However, the follow-up and discussions on execution have to be open and done with the people responsible for them." Mukti Shah is a Clinical Psychologist, Corporate Consultant and an accredited Entrepreneurial Motivation Trainer. smementor@moneycontrol.com

Indian Perspective on Facilitation and the Learner- Facilitator Relationship...

Probably one of the best explanation of facilitation...
Traditional View: Don't give a man fish, teach him HOW to fish...
Indian View: Don't give a man fish, Don't teach him HOW to fish either...
Inspire him to discover his own method of fishing..

Valve's Creative, Hold your Belly Laughter Inducing and Amazingly Practical New Employee Handbook!

Just came across the Valve- New Employee Handbook. What a fun way to onboard employees! Out with the old drab manuals and in with this fun and practical, all you want to know about us awesomeness! (For those of you who have never heard of Valve: Valve is the developer of the Half-Life and Counter Strike videogame series.)

The handbook is a great example of sharing the Organizations values (which usually ends up as a poster gathering dust on the wall) and culture and defining basic expectations from employees. This is Organizational branding at its best and should go a long way in managing early attrition.

Some gems from the Handbook include:

How to Use this book: This handbook is about the choices you’re going to be making and how to think about them. Mainly, it’s about how not to freak out now that you’re here

Your First Day: Why does your desk have wheels? Think of those wheels as a symbolic reminder that you should always be considering where you could move yourself to be more valuable. But also think of those wheels as literal wheels, because that’s what they are, and you’ll be able to actually move your desk with them.

      On Working Hours: While people occasionally choose to push themselves to work some extra hours at times when something big is going out the door, for the most part working overtime for extended periods indicates a fundamental failure in planning or communication. If this happens at Valve, it’s a sign that something needs to be reevaluated and corrected. If you’re looking around wondering why people aren’t in “crunch mode,” the answer’s pretty simple. The thing we work hardest at is hiring good people, so we want them to stick around and have a good balance between work and family and the rest of the important stuff in life. My favourite section is towards the end: “What Valve is not good at?” Helping people find their way!

      Epilogue: What we are not good at? Helping new people find their way!

        Epilogue: What happens when all this stuff doesn’t work? “We are all stewards of our long-term relationship with our customers. They watch us, sometimes very publicly, make mistakes. Sometimes they get angry with us,” the handbook states. “But because we always have their best interests at heart, there’s faith that we’re going to make things better, and that if we’ve screwed up today, it wasn’t because we were trying to take advantage of anyone.”

        Glossary: WFH—Working From Home. What to do if a single snowflake falls out of the sky.

(To view the handbook go here: http://newcdn.flamehaus.com/Valve_Handbook_LowRes.pdf)

Addicted!

“Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.”
-Carl Jung

Anyone who has struggled or watched someone struggle with a serious addiction knows that for the abuser life is a rollercoaster that takes them from highs of sobriety to the abject lows of using episodes. And while for many the ultimate goal remains, “I will stop smoking/ drinking/ injecting/ snorting…tomorrow” the tomorrow comes and goes.   

I have worked briefly with a Drug Rehab programme and it followed the then unusual but now popular, Drug Harm Reduction approach. (Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harm_reduction).

This approach is pragmatic and believes that while abusers struggle with their addictions, the risks and harm associated with their drug consumption can be minimized. For example, a heroin addict can go from injecting to snorting to smoking (which is considered lower risk), or if abusers will insist on injecting, we ensure that they are educated on the value of using disposable syringes instead of sharing, to avoid HIV related risks, etc.

At the workplace we all have our addictions. An addiction is something that isn't physically necessary, but leads to negative emotional states when the thing we are addicted to isn't supplied. 

For some the work itself is a drug, for others it is power and one upmanship, the compulsive need to be right, being liked and popular is an addiction or just the addiction to the adrenaline rush that comes from winning all the time.

Biologically, research shows that we can even be addicted to certain emotions and keep recreating scenarios that lead us to experience those emotions over and over again. (Read: http://www.healthstresswellness.com/index.asp?pgid=72 & http://www.healingcancer.info/ebook/candace-pert to know more).

While facilitating any behavioural change it’s important to remember that the resistance to change comes from an addiction to certain emotions at the deepest cellular level. That is why change always requires us to lean into discomfort. If a Coach or a facilitator promises you a pain free transformation I would look at them with suspicion.

The drug harm reduction approach appeals to me because it looks at changing behavior in an incremental fashion. You cannot expect everyone to give up their ‘drugs of choice’ cold turkey. There is no magic pill. It’s not a switch that can be put on or off but rather a regulator where we can bring down the intensity, frequency and duration of the harmful behaviours gradually. While we do this we try to protect the ‘addict’ by minimizing the risks and harm that those behaviours represent.  

So initially, the risk is that a coachee might not be able to accept the implications of the feedback he has received. Here the ego is fragile and in an attempt to maintain the perceived self concept he or she goes into denial. This reaction is natural and is the mind and body’s attempt to hold on to the addictions. So if the person’s addiction is to always play the victim, he/she will get depressed, if it is power the reaction could be one of anger, etc. During this phase their work can get affected and this is the harm that the coach needs to manage. This is done by constant encouragement and assurance which comes from a space of unconditional positive regard.

The effects of these negative moods can also reflect in interactions within the team. That is why it is important for the coachee to inform his team about the transformational journey he is undertaking. Social support is key to succeeding in sustaining long term change. This also helps to maintain relationships during the often challenging transition time.

Facilitating Change- A top Down Process

Facilitating intact teams is always an interesting experience. An entire team and sometimes entire departments come into the session, carrying their unique power dynamics, conflicts and silos. Add to this the presence of the top boss and what you get is a potentially volatile situation that needs all the presence and awareness a facilitator can muster.

What happens at work is always reflected in the classroom. Leaders believe that the problem is down below, wiser men know otherwise. The functioning of a team is a direct reflection of the leader leading it.  

At the conclusion of a recent workshop with an IT Department of an Organization, the functional Head invited me to his cabin to discuss his team. He sought feedback on his people. After having identified his top three ‘problem people’ he also realized that they were also his top performing guys. Having overheard various snatches of conversation during the session and seen the way the team reacted to this leader I had realized that the problem could lay elsewhere.

We discussed strategies to manage his people and then I asked him a casual open ended question, “What is your equation with your team?” My intention was to steer the conversation in his direction and assess his openness to feedback. To the leader’s credit, after a long pause, he admitted that he wished things were better with his team.

The next question I asked him led to an Aha moment for him. I asked, “How does your team feel in your presence?"

While answering the second question what the functional head realized was that his team felt insecure under his leadership, because they perceived that he got routinely bulldozed by other functional heads and hence could not secure the resources his team expected

What followed was one of the most heartfelt and honest conversation I have ever had with a leader. When the readiness is there the solutions appear. Genuine change is only possible then. The road ahead for this introvert leader maybe uphill but I believe he will get there because of his strong will to improve. A trait that has taken him this far…

Handling Difficult Bosses

Recently, while facilitating a programme on Collaboration for a MNC, a participant asked me how to handle an aggressive and exploitative boss. This is a question that often comes up in my other sessions also.

There is a stereotype for everything in this world and usually a Boss equates the Hari Sadu of the brilliant naukri.com ad. Egoistic, unappreciative, manipulative, in short the monster under your bed your mother had warned you about.

One participant shared how inspite of having worked with the same boss for four years his boss still called him every half hour to find out where he was, which client he had met and what he was doing. He mentioned how he gave this hell to all his team members.

Sounds like a micro managing tyrant who has nothing better to do right? Wrong.

Let us put ourselves in the bosses shoes, not out of empathy but out of sheer curiosity as to why would somebody be driven to behave like this?

As a psychologist the one question that I always ask is why do people do what they do? The answer is surprisingly simple. People do what they do, because they have a need to do it.

What need drives the behaviour of this Hari Sadu?

What does he get when he gets all the information as soon as it happens all the time?

How does this make him feel?

In control, on top of the game, in the loop.

As unfair as it may sound, we are responsible for understanding what makes our boss tick… Once we know this we can manage him better.

This Hari Sadu has a high need for control and is highly insecure if he feels he remains out of loop even for small things. Obviously all he remembers from all the programmes on Coaching and the GROW model is the Rogan Josh at the Five star resort where the programme was conducted.

Now that we have this very crucial piece of information regarding our boss how do we fulfil his overpowering need for control? We call him back every half hour and give him every little detail. I can bet that the frequency of his calls will reduce to a great extent, very soon.

Why? Simply because his basic need for control has been met…

Top Two Mistakes Start up Entrepreneurs Make

Recently I was in conversation with an entrepreneur of a small business and he shared how after five years in business he was still doing more work than the rest of his staff put together.
This is one of the top two mistakes entrepreneurs make. Often entrepreneurs get into areas that they executed well or were on top of in the industry and believe that will be enough to make it big in business. Unfortunately that is NOT what an entrepreneur does.

So what is an entrepreneur’s job? An entrepreneur’s job is to make himself redundant in his own organization so that he can do one of the two things that ultimately most entrepreneurs want to do:
1. Sell the company, make money and go on to the next big thing
2. Sell the company and retire and reap the fruits of his labour.

Either ways the question to ask yourself is after the initial years how would the company do if you were to die? Are there enough systems in place that the Organization continues to run smoothly and make profit for your family even if you were removed from the equation? After the initial years are you still like the first time manager who continues to do everything himself and just cannot bear to delegate? As a start up entrepreneur, with your business in a nascent stage it is vital to cultivate habits that help you make the next big leap.

Mistake One: Are you afraid to delegate?

One of the biggest mistakes that start up entrepreneurs make is that they don’t delegate enough. Their state is very much like the first time managers who get promoted because of their above average ability to sell/write code/maintain good CRM scores, etc. However the role of a manager is to ensure that the entire team develops an above average ability to sell/ write code/maintain good CRM scores, etc. Entrepreneurs get too caught up in execution that leaves them little time to strategize? Here are some questions that you might want to ask yourself:

1. Are you a bottle neck for your own Organization’s growth? Here’s how you can find out. If you notice that all the work is being delegated upwards in your direction, chances are you ARE a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for you, delegate it. Force responsibility downwards. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Don’t work for your employees! Because when upward delegation becomes the norm employees pass on both the work and the responsibility of its outcome to you and drag you further into the quicksand of execution.
2. Have you reviewed the utilization of resources in your Organization? If you are challenged in the delegation area chances are your team members are definitely slacking off or too few people are shouldering the burden of productivity which can lead to resentment.
3. What is your long term plan with your Organization? Do you have one? And if you have one where are you in meeting the short term goals that will lead you to your goal? When was the last time you stopped the fire fighting and actually reviewed where you were going and course corrected?
4. When was the last time you took a step back and did something new with your services/products?

The disease to micromanage and not delegate has a direct effect on the bottom line and attrition. Often in a bid to save money entrepreneurs do all the work themselves instead of delegating it to existing employees or hiring someone to help them take care of things that unnecessarily cuts into their time and takes the focus away from areas that truly require their attention. Which brings us to the next mistake.

Mistake two: Are you being penny wise and pound foolish?

Money is usually tight for start ups and as a result most employees end up multi tasking and do much more than they would at a bigger, more established Organizations. Hence, you would be attracting two types of people: The passionate and the bottom scrapers and desperate. Retaining both these types of employees is challenging for the entrepreneur. Assuming that the Passionate are also skilled then understanding why they chose your Organization over a bigger one is critical. Is it because they believed in your vision, the uniqueness of the product/service, or the excitement of co-creating something together? What is it that keeps them going? This is your ‘hook’ for keeping them with you. Almost always these things change when the Organization goes from a mere start up to a small scale outfit. The true challenge is to take with you the people who helped build your business, and then to have these people become entrepreneurs of their own departments, passing on their expertise to others so that they are freed up to do the strategizing and help take the Organization to greater heights.

As far as the really desperate and mediocre are concerned, there are two ways to deal with them. Ask yourself if it is worth paying one good resource for the price of two mediocre ones? My experience has taught me that your Organization will be as good as its people. If you are penny wise and pound foolish you will pay the price in the long run, both in terms of the speed at which the mediocre ones finally become productive as well as the resources spent on training them to shape up. However, you don’t always have to hire a horse to do a donkey’s work. Certain roles can be managed by your bottom scrapers and with time and encouragement they can turn into noble steeds that win you the race in the long term.