Why your team is still underperforming

No matter what your business is, chances are it currently falls into one of the following cases: either you are not satisfied about your team’s performance, or you are satisfied, and you are already looking for the next level. Typically 70%-80% of business leaders will say they are currently looking for ways to improve their team productivity, efficiency or engagement. That is exactly what I would like to have you covered here.

"Only three things happen naturally in organizations: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership." - Peter Drucker.

Although there are several reasons why your team (or company) may be seeing competitors ahead of you, I sincerely and respectfully want to call your attention to the most important and crucial origin of underperformance: MISCOMMUNICATION. It usually happens:

·        When the leader does not communicate enthusiastically with words the core values of the company

·        When the leader does not communicate with his/her behavior how those core values take place in the daily grind

·        When the leader does not communicate positive reinforcement about good-performance moments of the team

·        When the leader does not communicate in a clear way and safe environment about the expectations he/she has for a particular team member

We cannot overrate the importance and power of COMMUNICATION. Some of the basic neurobiological human needs are the needs to be heard and feel appreciated, and it is up to the leader to foster an environment of belonging and growth for the staff (which directly affects the business and customers as well). Still, history tells us of great changes and achievements carried out by leaders who communicated with passion and details about their vision, their plans, their dreams – you yourself may have your very own favorite models of Leaders, right?

When coaching my clients, they usually come across 2 words at this point: COURAGE and PREPARATION. The first one, courage, in order to step up against challenges and really make conversations happen in the workplace. The second one, preparation, in order to understand that even the simplest conversations can benefit from a brief prep (setting a clear goal for each talk, organizing ideas, follow-up strategies).

As a wrap-up, provocative idea, I would recommend you listed 2 or 3 conversations that you have been avoiding or postponing. Then, gather up just the right amount of courage and preparation, and go for it! It might feel unnatural in the beginning, but practice makes perfect and soon you will be seeing more and more positive impact simply because you decided to effectively communicate and took action upon it. That can really be game-changing for you, your team and your customers.

Ready for it? Let me know about it in the comments below.