My team isn't performing – what should I do?

Business could be going great, but you may still be facing issues in your team or your department. There are many reasons why you could be facing a tough conversation with your team. Restructuring, a change in leadership or major adjustments to strategy can all impact how employees are performing at work. A lack in transparency can make things worse.

As a manager, it’s important that you communicate to your team what’s going on. And have an open ear for their concerns.

Here’s how you could tackle issues, such as dissatisfaction or bad results, with your team:

• Get everybody in a room. Create a comfortable setting and ask for initial, spontaneous reactions to the result.
• Ask open questions such as “What are your thoughts about this achievement?”, “Would you have wanted to see a different result?”
• Ensure you give everyone time to speak up. Some people tend to be quieter. Give them the space and encouragement they need to raise their concerns.
• Continue with more direct questions. “What could have been done differently?”, “How can we improve?”
• Use the previous questions to guide the conversation towards problem solving. What can each individual, you as a manger, and the entire team do to deal with the issue at hand?
• Follow the conversation up. Create a moving forward plan that you follow up regularly to keep everyone on track.
• Don’t forget to measure how everyone is doing continuously to ensure the measures you’ve taken have the desired effect.