Team Development_ How Your Team Is Keeping You Broke
26 Apr
Entrepreneurship, Grow Your Business, Team Management

Team Development How Your Team Is Keeping You Broke

Your Team Is Keeping You Broke: Tighten Your Team, Bolster Your Bottom Line

You’ve put your heart into your business, and it only makes sense that as a purpose-driven entrepreneur, you put your heart into your team, too. Loyalty and enthusiasm are hard to find, and it can be difficult to recognize when you need to let go of an employee or if the people on your team are coachable. Unfortunately, underperforming team members can force other staff to pick up the slack, and if the entire team is ineffective, that leaves you to bear the burden. To prevent your team from keeping you broke, it’s important to understand how you can optimize your workforce.

4 Team Member Archetypes Keeping You Broke

If you’ve assessed your cash flow and determined that you, as a business owner, are not taking too much from the honey jar, it may be time to look to your team. Although your team members likely aren’t blatantly stealing from you, they could be keeping your business from thriving. By identifying potential points of weakness, you can either help these employees improve their work ethic or ultimately cut them loose.  Keep an eye out for these signs of team members who need some extra guidance or correction:

The Chaotic or Distracted Team Member

If an employee serves as a source of distraction to the entire team, they are likely negatively affecting your bottom line. Distractors may sing out loud with their headphones on or hit reply-all with unnecessary memes. This chaotic teammate may not realize that what they’re doing is intrusive, but others have noticed. And it’s making them cranky. It is your responsibility to approach the distractor for the sake of your team’s sanity and your revenue. 

The Lazy and Nonchalant Employee

The service that an employee provides is of financial value to the business. If a team member is producing mediocre or subpar services, it costs you money. This employee may fail to meet deadlines, call in sick too frequently, or have a poor attitude toward customers. Quickly address these behaviors to ensure other team members don’t follow suit.

The Financially Ambiguous Teammate

A financially ambiguous team member isn’t outwardly stealing from the company, but they are vague regarding business funds. They may not return unused funds left over from a trip or order the most expensive wine when using the company card for a lunch meeting. Financial ambiguity is challenging to catch. Be sure to keep an eye out for your team’s spending habits if they are on the company’s dime.

The Bad Manager

Unfortunately, this category is likely directed toward you, the entrepreneur. You are still a member of the team, and your business decisions significantly impact the business. Be sure to differentiate between personal finances and business-related funds, as this is a problem that most entrepreneurs face. Although you may need to take a salary cut during a slow month, try to avoid giving yourself unnecessary bonuses. This can quickly lead to you and your business going broke.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Although you may care for your team members as if they were family, you must still protect yourself and your business. By identifying these potential weak points in your workforce, you can provide your employees with the coaching they need. If you need support in developing your team, work with me. Reach out to learn how I can optimize your team’s productivity. Interested in reading more about why your team could be keeping you broke? Download the e-book here.

22 Jan
Team Management

What Does it Cost When You Don’t Onboard Your Team Properly

Many make this misnomer that proper onboarding means a detailed orientation; instead, it focuses on employees’ success and productivity. As a business owner, the continuous review and development of your team is a prerequisite for success. But what does it cost when you don’t onboard your team correctly?

Team Development

Team development is crucial in ensuring the efficiency and improved productivity of your team. If your team isn’t well developed, you will find your workforce operating far below its full potential.

It is one thing to know the benefits of team development and identifies it as a necessity. However, knowing how to go about developing your team is even more critical. Without proper knowledge of organizing and implementing your team’s development, you might end up wasting your team’s time rather than improving cooperation and attaining synergy.

Stages of Team Development

The first thing to note about team development is that there are stages. Identifying the stage your team currently occupies, and the next step in your team’s progress would give the process of your team’s development focus and direction. As an entrepreneur, you are the captain of your team. Therefore, knowing your team’s roadmap and destination is necessary for taking your team to greater heights.

Team development is known as the effective process of learning to work together. According to Bruce Tuckman, an educational psychologist, there are five stages of team development, namely:

Forming

Forming is the first stage in team development. Here team members are just getting to know each other; This is when the team members find out their roles and other team members’ roles. During the stage, your team’s basic structure is developed; This is crucial in your team’s development. It would be best if you orientate your team regarding their duties and how they fit in with the responsibilities of other team members.

This is also your first time of proving yourself as a competent leader. This stage requires you to convince every team member that you have a plan and their careers are in good hands. If you are working with an old team, then a structure would have been established. In a situation whereby your team’s structure isn’t optimum for productivity, you might have to go back to this stage and make some necessary reforms.

Storming

Storming is the second stage of team development. In this stage, your conflict resolution skills as a leader would be put to the test. This stage is filled with conflict and competition. The initial politeness fades, and your team members reveal their real personalities. This stage is quite problematic, and in most cases, production is greatly affected negatively. It is your job to ensure that no conflict or clash goes unresolved or unaddressed. Seeds of discord that lead to long term damage in the team are sown at this stage. Failure to address disagreements at this stage would stunt the growth and development of your team. Most business owners find it challenging to handle this stage of team development. However, once you cross this stage, your team would develop at a fast pace.

Norming

This stage involves your teammates adjusting to their roles. Unity and cohesion begin to emerge as team members find it easy to corporate. They are familiar with their roles as well as the personalities of their team members. However, this isn’t a guarantee of peace and progress. The norming stage is a stage of fragile peace and unity. Now and then, little spats might spring up, and old conflicts might reemerge. It is important to note that the norming stage is not a guarantee that a team cannot fall back to the storming stage. The norming stage marks the beginning of synergy. However, this fragile stage must be protected and guided with care and intention.

Performing

At this stage, you have finally developed your team into the dream team. Production is at its peak, and cooperation is smooth and seamless. Few issues might arise, but at this stage, your team has developed simple conflict resolution strategies. All efforts of your team members are geared towards the success of the firm. Productivity and efficiency are rarely affected by distractions and conflict.

Adjourning

This isn’t a stage in the usual sense of the word. We can tag the adjourning stage as the review stage. There should be a scheduled meeting in which the team’s progress is evaluated; This usually entails acknowledging the team’s progress and awarding praises to team members that had performed exceptionally well. This is also the perfect time to discuss ways to move the team forward and new strategies for further development. The Adjourning stage is necessary to keep your team performing at optimum. Neglecting this stage could lead to your team slipping back into a state of chaos and storm.

New Hire Onboarding Digital Tool

New Hire Onboarding

Conclusion

Team development is a continuous process that requires constant and intentional effort. Properly developing your team ensures that your team members work at optimum capacity while enjoying happiness and fulfillment in their careers.

02 Nov
Team Management

What are The Five Stages of Team Development?

Team development is crucial in ensuring the efficiency and improved productivity of your team. If your team isn’t well developed, you will find your workforce operating far below its full potential. 

The benefits of team development are numerous. As a business owner, the continuous review and development of your team is a prerequisite for success.

It is one thing to know the benefits of team development and identifies it as a necessity. However, knowing how to go about developing your team is even more critical. 

Without proper knowledge of organizing and implementing your team’s development, you might end up wasting your team’s time rather than improving cooperation and attaining synergy.

The first thing to note about team development is that there are stages. Identifying the set your team currently occupies and the next step in your team’s progress would give the process of your team’s development focus and direction.

As an entrepreneur, you are the captain of your team. Therefore, knowing your team’s roadmap and destination is necessary for taking your team to greater heights.

Stages of Team Development

Team development is known as the effective process of learning to work together. According to Bruce Tuckman, an educational psychologist, there are five stages of team development, namely:

What are The Five Stages of Team Development?

Forming

Forming is the first stage in team development. Here team members are just getting to know each other—the stage where the team members find out their roles and other team members’ roles. During the stage, the basic structure of your team is developed. 

The stage is a very crucial point in the development of your team. It would be best to orientate your team’s duties and how they fit in with other team members’ responsibilities.

This is also your first time proofing yourself as a competent leader. This stage requires you to convince every team member that you have a plan and their careers are in good hands.

If you are working with an old team, then a structure would have been established. In a situation whereby your team’s structure isn’t optimum for productivity, you might have to go back to this stage and make some necessary reforms.

Storming

Storming is the second stage of team development. In this stage, your conflict resolution skills as a leader would be put to the test. This stage is filled with conflict and competition. 

The initial politeness fades, and your team members reveal their real personalities. This stage is quite problematic, and in most cases, production is greatly affected negatively. 

It is your job to ensure that no conflict or clash goes unresolved or unaddressed. Seeds of discord that lead to long term damage in the team are sown at this stage. Failure to address disagreements at this stage would stunt the growth and development of your team. 

Most business owners find it challenging to handle this stage of team development. However, once you cross this stage, your team would develop at a fast pace.

Norming

This stage involves your teammates adjusting to their roles. Unity and cohesion begin to emerge as team members find it easy to corporate. They are familiar with their roles as well as the personalities of their team members. 

However, this isn’t a guarantee of peace and progress. The norming stage is a stage of fragile peace and unity. Now and then, little spats might spring up, and old conflicts might reemerge. 

It is important to note that the norming stage is not a guarantee that a team cannot fall back to the storming stage. The norming stage marks the beginning of synergy. However, this fragile stage must be protected and guided with care and intention.

Performing

At this stage, you have finally developed your team into the dream team. Production is at its peak, and cooperation is smooth and seamless. Few issues might arise, but at this stage, your team has developed simple conflict resolution strategies.

All efforts of your team members are geared towards the success of the firm. Productivity and efficiency are rarely affected by distractions and conflict.

Adjourning

This isn’t a stage in the normal sense of the word. We can tag the adjourning stage as the review stage. There should be a scheduled meeting in which the progress of the team is reviewed. 

This usually entails acknowledging the team’s progress and awarding praises to team members who performed exceptionally well. This is also the perfect time to discuss ways to move the team forward and new strategies for further development. 

The Adjourning stage is necessary to keep your team performing at optimum. Neglecting this stage could lead to your team slipping back into a state of chaos and storm.

Conclusion

Team development is a continuous process that requires constant and intentional effort. Properly developing your team ensures that your team members work at optimum capacity while enjoying happiness and fulfillment in their careers. 

Position to Profit Membership

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26 Oct
calendar management, Team Management

4 Problems That Occur With Poor Management Skills

Is your organization facing poor management issues? Wish to improve the overall management skills of your business? Lack of proper management in a business organization could impose a long-lasting impact while affecting the entire organization. 

The results could be toxic, misleading, and lack of commitment across the organization. The given factor could even affect employee retention; this is why Allison Todd –Founder & Chief Executive at SiMar –a leading business coaching agency, unfold the importance of ensuring proper management skills for improved results.

On the other hand, when an organization features strong leaders having good management skill, it tends to impact a firm in multiple ways positively.

Some of the potential benefits that we can observe are reduced turnover time, empowering employees to deliver more productivity, improving overall morale, etc.

Management is expected to lead the employees by proper example while creating a positive working environment for the workforce to deliver performance at their best-ever capacity.

Problems That Occur With Poor Management Skills

If your organization features poor management skills, here are some of the problems that could occur. The issues also dictate how effective management strategies could help in solving workplace issues.

Here are some problems to look out for:

Avoiding Recognition:

When the organization’s employees are not recognized or accredited for their roles in the organization, it is a clear sign of poor management. When the employees are only criticized for their respective shortcomings, they might not feel valued and would always work in a state of fear to avoid mistakes. 

In such a situation, proper management skills come into play. It should promote the notion of communicating correctly. The given ability is not just about delegating.

It should also include the efforts towards allowing employees to know that their roles are being valued in the organization. You should ensure proper & constant communication with the employees to receive useful feedback. Simultaneously, it is the team managers’ responsibility to guide subordinates upon boosting the employees’ overall morale.

Executing Poor Meetings:

Meetings in an organizational setup are not always what it is meant to be. While the managers are keen upon staying in the loop and delegating tasks, the employees, on the other hand, are looking for ways to stay away from such situations.

For the administrative staff, meetings are mostly perceived as some sort of hassle. To avoid such a case, visiting organized turns out to be one of the top management skills for running a successful company.

Instilling a Sense of Fear:

Poor managers are known to threaten the overall job security of the employees. When employees fear their job, it leads to a lack of confidence and trust in the given organization. On the other hand, you should aim at creating an environment of trust and honesty. 

Creation of Negative Environments:

When managers tend to commit some of the traditional leadership mistakes, they create a hostile environment in the office space. Managers should aim at treating the employees as equals.

16 Oct
Team Management

Four Ways Your Team is Keeping you Broke

Almost every entrepreneur has one or two stories to tell when it comes to cash flow and burn rate. Sometimes, your business is making a lot of money but manages to spend even more.

The first thing to assess is yourself. Are you taking too much from the honey jar? If the answer is ‘no,’ then you have to look into your business. A glance at your financial records might not reveal what is keeping your business broke.

In black and white, every expense looks legitimate, even necessary. You might not be responsible for what’s keeping your business broke. Surprisingly, fixing your cash flow problem may require you to assess your team and their actions. 

In many cases, it’s your team.

Before we list the four ways your team is keeping you broke, we must clarify a crucial point. The fact that a team member could be the cause of your declining revenue is both surprising and repairable. And this doesn’t make them a bad employee. We all have our shortcomings, sometimes a bit of guidance and correction is all that is needed.

Laziness and Nonchalance

Four Ways Your Team is Keeping you Broke

To put this in perspective, you have to see your employee’s service as something with financial value. As an entrepreneur, your success comes when the value you get from your staff is more than the amount you pay for their services. When an employee provides mediocre or reduced services, you are bound to lose money.

This can present itself as calling in sick too often, not meeting up with deadlines, poor attitude towards customers, etc. All these actions can hurt your business and keep you broke.

Chaos and Distractions

Four Ways Your Team is Keeping you Broke

Some employees can be termed agents of chaos. Perhaps that phrase might be too harsh. However, some employees cause many distractions that make it hard for other team members to function.

This could lead to your entire team acting below capacity and costing you money instead of making money. That employee who likes to sing out loud with his headphones on is doing more damage than you think.

Distractions make people cranky. Cranky employees can’t think straight and tend to lash out at customers and other employees. In most cases, employees responsible for constituting a nuisance might be oblivious to the havoc they are wrecking. It is your job to find the problem in your team and straighten him or her out.

Financial Ambiguity

Four Ways Your Team is Keeping you Broke

Financial ambiguity comes in many forms. Generally, it means when a member of the team isn’t very straightforward with money. It ranges from ordering the most expensive wine when on an official lunch to not reimbursing funds that were not used during a trip or mission.

This is very hard to catch as it doesn’t show up on the record books and is often not technically seen as stealing. However, it is important to note that a little here a little there makes a lot.  Beware of your team’s wasteful habits and make efforts to stop these habits from ruining your business.

Bad Management

Four Ways Your Team is Keeping you Broke

As a micropreneur, this finger is most likely pointing to you. The financial situation of you and your business largely depends on your decisions. One major problem most entrepreneurs face is differentiating business finances from personal finances.

This can leave you and your business spending more than you earn. As a micropreneur, you are a member of your team. And like every other member of your team, you should earn a predetermined salary. Tough months might have you taking a salary cut, but you should highly avoid taking bonuses unnecessarily.

Taking a bonus every now and then is a slippery slope to brokenness. Businesses have cycles. When things are looking up, it isn’t time to get a new car. No, its time to reinvest or save up for the rainy days.

Measuring your business’s current stage and the right compensation for you and every member of your team is crucial to keep your business afloat come rain come shine.

Conclusion

As a micropreneur, keeping your business alive is a full-time job, especially in the beginning. Irrespective of how profitable your business currently is, a bad employee can put you in a bad financial position. Out rightly stealing from the company is easy to detect with a keen eye.

However, some things that cost your business have to be sensed not seen. Sometimes discovering the leak in your cash flow might require a critical look at your team members.