Dear Supervisors, do you know how to optimize the structure of your team? When the needs of a department bring together direct reports with a wide range of backgrounds to work as a team, how can its supervisor bridge the knowledge gap with expediency to find the often elusive yet highly desirable team mojo? Dear Supervisors, how do you expect your direct reports to quickly solve the long list of deficiencies enumerated at the last team huddle? Keep reading to find out how to reset your communications strategy and, in the process, improve team performance by 25 percent.
Welcome to new and returning readers to the Branding24Seven community! This blog is the brainchild of JMStrategy LLC (JMS), a boutique consulting firm that works with you to tighten team cohesion, maximize productivity, expand output…. In short, to strengthen your organizational brand. Today, this blog is helping supervisors change their communication strategy to earn newfound loyalty of direct reports and boost productivity to new heights.
Effective leadership is a worthy yet time-consuming goal that demands a sustained level of focus.
Indeed, Dear Supervisors, you must commit to improving the working conditions of your department day in and day out if you are serious about inspiring direct reports to prioritize team effectiveness above everything else. So, what does that look like concretely?
Positive reinforcement goes a long way in encouraging employees to raise the bar and think outside the box to solve problems (especially when upper management expects your department to operate in crisis mode due to severe time and/or resource constraints). Indeed, more often than not, upper management sets goals that do not match the reality on the ground but expect employees to make it all happen by magic!
For example, the board of trustees of an inner-city hospital wants to move to a 24-hr schedule. Understandably, it falls on the executive team to implement a viable plan that will keep the hospital as profitable as possible. However, if laboratory supervisors have only ever worked on day shifts, how are they supposed to anticipate pressure points and logistical nightmares behind the coordination of the off shifts and graveyard operations? How are they expected to know how to maximize the productivity of these different teams with contrasting structural demands? If you are currently experiencing this level of disconnection, email jms@branding24seven.com to set up a Mastermind Atelier for the JMS team to work with your leadership to uncover what prevents your employees from reaching their highest level of engagement.
As a golden rule Dear Supervisors, this blog suggests sharing with your team what’s in the pipeline as soon as possible.
Hearing about any structural changes through the grapevine promotes resentment, anxiety, and confusion (none of which is conducive to cultivating the team spirit you are desperately trying to achieve). The rumor mill should never break any news, big or small, to your team. This bad habit is the number one complaint the JMS team hears in the context of Data-Driven Powwows when evaluating the most effective channels to limit workflow disruptions for executive teams exploring new growth opportunities.
The most dynamic pathway to breathe new life to the cohesiveness of your department Dear Supervisors is to reset the way you disseminate information. In other words, you must upgrade your communication skills in order to improve team effectiveness! Rather than letting direct reports be the last to find out about innovation, consider bringing them along from the moment the executive team is evaluating new profitability driven scenarios; especially since the implementation of structural changes requires a lengthy process as in the case of merger or acquisition. Consequently, this blog advises restructuring your communication strategy as follow:
- Monthly 30-minute meetings are to disclose departmental transitions and structural shifts.
- Weekly 15-minute huddles are to discuss any progress to be reported to the executive team in real-time.
- Daily 5-minute check-ins are to address any snafus before they become full-blown crises.
Please note that this continuous feedback loop requires face-to-face interactions.
Dear Supervisors, emails are not the best vehicle to develop a robust level of cohesiveness with your team. You have to lead your direct reports while being in the trenches with them rather than from behind the screen of your computer if you hope to inspire them to prioritize team effectiveness above personal ambitions. Dear Supervisors, this is the best way to show direct reports that you are looking out for their best interests! In return, they will go above and beyond before you even make any suggestions!
As always, Dear Readers, thank you for taking the time to read this post and hope that you are motivated to make your brand as a supervisor more robust than ever! Please share this post with anyone who is knee-deep in team building. Let us know how you are planning on motivating employees to aim higher and care about team performance in the comments below, by email at jms@branding24seven.com or by mail at:
JMStrategy LLC
21 S. 11th Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19107
Come back weekly for a dose of thought-provoking insights to help you grow your brand. Indeed, Dear Readers, this blog is here to inspire positive change and help you become a trusted asset wherever you work. Before leaving, check out the trifecta bliss point of highly effective teams and stay committed to the pursuit of excellence!
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