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Any decent highway has proper traffic signs for entry and
exit points. This is not new wisdom, but it is somehow astonishing how big is the
difference between the theory and practice when modeling teams as highways.
I strongly believe in two of the new management ideas:
enable people to act and
self organizing teams. I enjoy when I see teams who
share this and it would be more likely to join on of them. For each of the
individuals to join a team, there is the need of orientation. People who share
same values, principles, who are alike would join together. At least, this is
what Cialdini promises when explaining about the
six principle of influence.
They would be more likely interested to join such teams or organizations when
the traffic signs convey the traffic to your team and the traffic outside the
team is controlled in order to not generate disruptions. The egress from such
constructions should obviously be smooth in order to keep the rest of the
traffic at same speed.
Let’s take one by one.
Getting traffic to your highway.
Every highway is connected to the regular roads in a
systematic manner. This is my hope. Assimilate the ingress with recruiting and
attracting people in your organization. Think how your highway connects the
current position of the team member and his destination. Destination is unique,
with tons of possible roads. I don’t want to change your destination, my only
goal is to make you my partner for the part of our journeys that match together.
Speak about what you value most, what are your most valuable
experiences that you can share during the journey. Put there some ideas about
what makes unique a journey on your highway. Be consistent in your public
expressions. Your team member will follow you and they will replicate the
wisdom around. Their journeys are sometimes running on normal roads (like
personal projects, family things). These roads can convey other traffic, other
journeys into your highway. It's a matter of values and interests. Consistent
and genuine. You are not fooled by big words. Others, neither.
Restart past collaborations
The journeys are not the same for all. But the journeys can
share parts of the routes. For a while, being part of your team is not relevant
for one's route. Than, it might become relevant again. There might be
improvement to your highway as well, there might be changes in the destination.
Anyway, you share values and the connection is somewhat made. You can imagine a
faster lane, a better road, nicer vehicles on the road or best buddies
You are not static
Once I heard a saying: "Don't be irreplaceable. Thus,
you won’t be ever promoted." Every manager wants to be promoted at a
certain moment in time. To make a lateral change to extend his experience. It
is rarely the case to have the same position over 10 or 15 years. The highway
might be other, but the administrator is the same. It's personal branding that
brings in traffic and conveys routes to a certain highway. Some people like you
better than others. Sympathy on one hand, coming from the others. Empathy, from
you to the others. Close the circle.
It's not easy to restart collaborations. The leave and
returning are governed by pride, by dreams, by perception, by sentiments. It's
never black or white and no one is really right. In some extend, it's a little
bit like in marriage. At least, these days when management is changing slightly
its paradigms.
Reasons for separation
Try to understand why people are leaving your team. There
are hundreds of possibilities and you need to understand where has been the turning
point. The easiest approach is to consider that nothing could have been done.
It might be the case, but you still can learn how to predict these situations
and prepare emergency scenarios before looking how the team member is leaving.
Don’t be hard-hearted. People are not replaceable tools or
resources. Approaching professional relationships like a relation with your car
prevent you to learn. Communication is bi-directional. Don’t be like a radio,
broadcasting but not receiving the feedback.
Learn and improve
Every event like this is a great chance to learn and to
improve. Understand; assume mistakes in case you did some. Managers are not
IronMan, with an invincible steel plate. It’s more what the free gift of
feedback can bring to the development of the team. Sometimes it’s the lack of
attention one got. Sometimes it’s the missing opportunity to grasp. Next time
could be the type of activity some is enrolled. It’s never too late to learn
something new.
Don't blame the "company". There are some humans
behind. This way is just passing the guilt and refusing to accept real facts.
Like the state, company does not exist by itself. People are running it and
they are doing specific actions that might trigger discontentment. Passing the
blame to system wont make system running better. This situation does not occur
in small companies. There, people know each other and don’t use these big
words.
Support the progress
Be ready to shift team members to another team. Highways, at
least in bigger companies, should be interconnected. Make sure that your
connection to other highways is optimum and gets also some traffic back. Make
sure that the entrance is always to a good lane, to a nice highway. Build
competences that are meaningful in the big picture, not only in your small
ecosystem. As I said in the beginning, people spread the word and this can convey
traffic to your highway. When you prepare the changes, you have two huge
advantages: you control the moment when a change is done and people perceive
you as partner in their journeys. Great things, both!
Communication of change
It’s natural that people leave teams. Be careful how you
explain this. Don’t hide it. Don’t blame the guy who is leaving. Explain, as
transparent as possible, the reasons and the context. Insist on context. If you
are not an asshole, the context is important in such a change. What is relevant for one might not be for
another. When hiding the situation, people have the tendency to start making
assumptions. Even when situation is not in your favor, you can turn into a
positive fact by admitting a mistake and show the improvement plan.
Trust
Trust the one who are actually leaving the team. Their route
is now changing. They can even contribute from outside with opinions, lobby or
just to spread the word about what great things you accomplished together. Showing trust, you just gained more respect
from people working with you. They can expect this behavior more as they are
with you. People are not static; you will meet them sometimes in the future.
This is another idea to bear in mind.
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