For many years I have been working in big companies, first as an employee and then as an entrepreneur myself. I have had the opportunity to experience both sides of the medal with their advantages and challenges as well. For several years now, I have been managing, training and coaching teams. Mainly I get contacted by managers who are facing challenges and are clear enough to ask for an external intervention when they run out of options to increase the team performance.

I have heard managers complain and also blame their staff, but only when I ask them to express their request instead of their complaint the attention shifts from a passive mindset to an active one.

What I am curios to learn is:

What is one change that would create a great impact in your team performance?

What you want to see more in your team?

Also : What you as a leader need to do more in order to achieve such results?

Instead of complaining and waiting from your staff to change, there are three things you need to do well in order create a meaningful impact in your team`s performance. If you focus all you attention and effort in these three important steps you will create immediate improvement in the team performance and your leadership as well.

1-     Treat them Well

The way you treat your team is how they will treat your clients!

When it comes to team culture the role of a leader is crucial.  Never underestimate the way you communicate with your your staff and how you make them feel. The energy you create is more important than the resources you provide. If the team works in an environment of psychological safety and trust they are more determined to exceed challenges and use existing resources in a more efficient way because they act based on the feeling of belonging in the company.

2-     Pay them well

There is a reason why payment is second in this list, all researches have proven that motivation derived from a financial reward is temporary and if it is not supported by a positive team culture it won`t create any sustainable change in the team performance. Just because you are paying them well doesn`t mean you are providing all the necessary for a high impact. The most common mistake of managers is that they put too much focus into the talent acquisition and they neglect the talent retention. The first thing you as a manager should do is make sure to retain talented staff by giving them credits and reasonable compensation based on their performance and time of engagement in the company.

3-     Train them well

We are working in a market that is changing rapidly. What you know now won`t be relevant next year. You can`t expect your team to be high performing next year with the same knowledge and training of this year. Invest in capacity building, and create a working environment that is built on continuous growth by providing internal and external interventions that aim to develop your team`s technical and leadership skills.

If you are a team leader keep in mind that the team`s performance is your responsibility and a high performing team is co-created from you and your team. There is common ownership on results and you have all the means in your hands to create a meaningful change.

Complaining won`t do the work, instead of that try to identify what is the real issue and address it as a team because the problem is never isolated in one person and the solution as well!

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