| I see three variations of flat teams who are 'over it' all the time.
Number 1 - “By the way, it’s urgent kthanks!”
Senior people smash through other work on a regular basis. Or suddenly the goalposts have changed, again. Everything is always last minute and urgent.
Number 2 - “Could you just move this mountain for me?”
Teams asked to do a project with impossible constraints. I met a senior engineer a while back who, when handed a new client project brief, would say “ok, which law of physics does this one break?”
Number 3 - “I can always rely on you to sort it out”
Teams that have become ‘glue people’ who will fix up problems, take up the slack and keep the show on the road because someone else won’t make a hard decision.
Teams get totally de-energised in these three scenarios.
I know, I know - your team isn’t hard done by! Your team has a fair brief, enough resources and lots of support. So why are they so flat?
All teams become ‘over it’ when this equation is broken:
(Ask + Constraints + Friction) / Connection = Effort + emotional energy required
Friction is what is slowing people down - back to back meetings, conflict under the surface, unclear roles (there is a pretty endless list of these things!)
Connection means feeling listened to, feeling valued and feeling genuinely supportive of the bigger goal.
The bigger the ask and the constraints and the lower their sense of connection, the greater the draw down on effort and emotional energy. When the demand on these two power sources is simply too great, too often - that’s when teams wear out.
Here’s what I think you can do, if that equation is breaking at the seams.
First, stop breaking all the rules (i.e. reduce the ask or the constraints)
If you can, the first thing I would do is stop breaking the laws of physics! A little reduction in the ask or constraints in some way, this goes a long way.
In his book Slow Productivity, Professor Cal Newport says: “I want to rescue knowledge work from its increasingly untenable freneticism and rebuild it into something more sustainable and humane.”
Is there a lever you can pull to reduce the ‘untenable freneticism’ in some small way? If so, do it.
Impact on:
Effort required - medium (a bit less to do)
Emotional energy required - large (someone considered us)
If you can’t pull this lever 👆, try this one 👇
Next, take away some friction
You might not be able to shift whole deadlines but can you reduce some friction?
- Can you get people out of some meetings?
- Could you find a meeting free half day for the team?
- Can you streamline Teams chat messaging?
- Can you bottom out something that’s unsaid but stressing people out?
- Can you introduce BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front)
Here are 5 friction-reducing norms I use in teams all the time.
Now, here’s how to build up connection
Connection is the thing you have a LOT of influence over and you can see from the equation that it plays a central role.
If a team is fer-lat, I would get straight to the heart of it.
Acknowledge: “The ask is big. Things feel off the scale.”
Coach: “What would restore some sanity for you right now?”
And problem solve together. People get it. They will find something that works for them within the constraints, if you give them some room to do it.
(You can make it clear what’s on and off the table, if that makes you feel better.)
Impact on:
Effort required - small (probably still have to do the same work!)
Emotional energy required - large (people feel seen)
And while you’re at it...
Have a think about your own role in the situation (gulp)
You care so much and you’ve probably stretched yourself thin trying to support the team, keep momentum, hold the line.
But even with the best intentions, we are all contributing to the systems we’re in.
Here are a few questions you might ask yourself:
- Have I overloaded them with priorities without being willing to make hard calls?
- Have I kept the tone upbeat when what’s needed is a bit more honest acknowledgment of the ask?
- Have I got involved in everything in the spirit of being hands on and supportive - but actually got in the way?
The drama triangle is a really helpful way to understand how we contribute to problems in teams and you can read my guide here.
By coincidence, product leader coach, Caroline Clark, shared these 5 simple ways to creating calm in your teams today and I think you'll like it a lot.
That's all for this week, let me know what you think... |
