Managing People Tip 13

Have a weekly meeting with your team.

This is really essential!

I know you're too busy, you see them all every day anyway, they are too busy, they don't like meetings, they work shifts, etc. I've heard all that, and these are not good enough excuses! If you want people to feel like a team, with you as their leader, rather than just a bunch of people who work for you, then you have to all meet in a room once a week. It's an animal / pack thing - you have to feel like a team by physically being a team.

Also it's good to get away and think as a team, just for half an hour a week.

The benefits are many: teamwork, communication, control, authority, quick way to monitor progress, etc.

It should just be 5 minutes per person. (You can even have a timer - hourglass or electronic!) Total of 30-45 minutes.

Some questions to ask yourself or the individuals are:

For every team member.
"How are you getting on with your personal work targets?"
"How can I (or anyone else) help with these?"

Concerning the whole team together:

What is each person working on at the moment?
Plans for the week.
Problems that each person needs help with.
(Unspoken to self) - Is the team functioning well as a unit? Does it feel right? Are the quiet people getting a fair say? Would it be useful to allocate Team Roles? (Shaper, Plant, Monitor Evaluator, etc) Does the physical environment encourage teamwork? How could it be improved?