We all know what it’s like to feel stretched thin. You’re slammed with work, but you still have to meet your deadlines. You’re juggling multiple priorities, trying to keep everything moving forward while the world around you continues to change. Most of us have been living with this dynamic for at least two years now.
So when a performance issue emerges in your team, it can feel like an added burden. Getting to the root cause of what’s happening is essential. As you begin to investigate, don’t be too quick to assume that your team member is really “quiet quitting” or choosing to do less, or simply isn’t listening or following instructions.
As I regularly coach leaders to address team performance issues, I recommend that they investigate these three areas.
Stress
When team members are under too much pressure for too long, they will be more prone to making mistakes as fatigue takes a toll. They may also find it difficult to focus or communicate as effectively. You may keep seeing similar patterns and performance issues arise despite your good advice and best efforts to coach your employees. Remember that when team members are burned out, their resourcefulness plummets and they may not be able to fully “hear” your guidance.
To determine if stress is the culprit, pay attention to the pace that your team has been keeping, their workload, and the degree of uncertainty in the environment. Also ask about what else they have going on personally. If people are working and living in a way that is not sustainable, that must be addressed first to elevate performance. Don’t underestimate the importance of this.
And remember to check in with yourself. How are you showing up and what do you personally need to lead your team effectively?
Clarity
When you and others are moving quickly, effective communication can easily fall through the cracks. As a leader, take a moment to make your expectations clear to your team. How well have you articulated your biggest priorities, and changes to them as the landscape has evolved? Does your team know what success or “good” looks like, at a high level and for their areas of responsibility?
Without the right level of clarity and direction from you, your team will have difficulty delivering on your goals and it will be much harder for you to hold them accountable. By taking a few minutes on the front end to map out the work and establish checkpoints to ensure that you stay aligned, you can save hours of inefficiency and frustration for you and your team.
Changes in the role
In our white paper, “Leadership Development for a Changing World,” we summarize the magnitude of change that employees and companies have experienced in the past couple of years. It is quite striking. With the rapid pace of change in the workplace, many organizations have put interim staffing solutions in place to make it through shortages. Some employees have been asked to take on more or stretch to perform roles they are not quite ready for–not to mention that their work location may now be remote or hybrid.
With this degree of change and complexity, it’s important to notice how well each of your team members has transitioned and whether their strengths still play to the demands of their revised jobs. If not, it’s time to identify the most critical gaps and develop strategies to address them, whether that’s through training and development opportunities or other creative solutions.
When you invest the time to get to the bottom of what’s causing lower performance on your team, coming up with solutions will be much easier. Sit down with your team and ask them candidly about any challenges they’re facing and how that may be impacting their work. Once you better understand the issues at hand, you can put together a plan to help everyone get back on track.
Neena Newberry is the president of Newberry Solutions and adjunct faculty member at SMU Executive Education.
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