Rebuilding Morale and Engagement: Creating a Happy, Committed Workforce

About Morale and Engagement

According to sociologist Alexander Leighton, "morale is the capacity of a group of people to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a common purpose."

For your organization or team to thrive, it's essential to take the time to develop good morale and engagement.

Almost by definition, organizations or teams with high morale experience higher productivity and staff engagement, they show lower employee turnover and absenteeism, and they have a happier workforce. What's more, they find it easier to attract and retain the best talent.

While "raising morale" can seem to be a nebulous goal, many of these other effects are measurable, and directly affect the bottom line.

Last but not least, it feels great to work in an organization where morale is high!

Why Morale and Engagement Suffers

There are many things that can cause team morale to dip. For example:

·        Poor leadership.

·        Poor communication.

·        Lack of empowerment or autonomy.

·        Inflexible working conditions.

·        Damage to the organization's reputation or public image.

·        Losing a big contract or client.

·        Difficult co-workers.

·        Heavy workloads or stress, with no reward or gratitude.

·        No sense of social value to the work being done, or a negative impact on the wider society.

·        Layoffs and restructuring.

·        Cancellation of team benefits.

Signs  of  Low  Engagement  and  Morale

Too often, managers don't realize that morale is poor. Whether or not your team or organization is facing any of the scenarios above, watch out for the following clues that morale may be slipping:

·        Obvious unhappiness.

·        Indifference towards customers.

·        Increased complaints about work, or other team members.

·        Increased absenteeism.

·        An increase in conflict between team members.

·        Insubordination or unruliness.

·        Disorganized work environments.

·        Increased employee turnover.

·        Decreased productivity.

·        Lack of enthusiasm.

Leader  Engagement

Keep in mind that, if you're a leader or manager, your team's morale starts with you. It's up to you to be a good role model for your team. If your own morale is suffering, then it's vital that you work on rebuilding your own outlook and attitude first.

Start by identifying why your own morale is low, and then come up with ways to adjust your mental attitude.

Often, this starts with action. For instance, perhaps your morale is down because your boss is pressuring you to do a good job, and is threatening to fire you if you don't perform. You can make yourself feel more positive and in control of the situation by getting organized, and by achieving measurable goals that will put your boss at ease.

Work on rebuilding your self-confidence. Remember, your team is always watching you: if you're feeling positive and confident, they will too. Quick wins will also help build confidence - for you, and your team.

 

Team Morale and Engagement

If your team's morale needs rebuilding, there are several strategies that you can use. However, just as you did with your own morale, you need to start by understanding the problem. This helps you choose strategies that best fit your situation, which may include:

1. Reconnecting With Your Team

Morale is higher in situations where team members feel close to their managers. You can create this type of environment by developing good relationships with your team, and by reconnecting whenever possible.

Practice Management by Walking Around so you can "touch base" with team members often. With regular contact and communication, you can reestablish trust and rapport with your team.

It also helps to develop your emotional intelligence: the better you can sense the emotions and needs of those around you, the better you will be as a leader.

Keep in mind that lack of appreciation is often cited as one of the root causes of low morale. So, do whatever you can to show your people that you appreciate them. Reward your team by saying "thank you" for a job well done, or by offering benefits such as extra days off, or flexible scheduling when key goals are met.

You'll also want to give everyone regular feedback on their work. (See our blog on feedback - once a year just isn't enough!)

2. Developing Your Team

Another way of improving morale, especially after a round of layoffs, is by helping people develop their skills.

So make sure that you're offering your people opportunities for learning and development, as a way of helping them feel more secure and committed to the organization.

You can do this by understanding their developmental needs, and by using Training Needs Assessments to make sure that everyone is properly trained.

Cross-Training is another great way of building morale, and improving productivity, just as long as you explain why you're doing it. (Some may see it as a sign that layoffs are on the way!)

3. Improving the Workplace

Sometimes, morale can suffer because of the physical environment that your team has to work in.

Take a look at the offices, conference rooms, and break rooms that your team uses. Are these rooms safe and clean? Is the air quality good? Are the rooms bright and energizing? Do team members have the tools and resources they need to work effectively? Do what you can to improve the offices and other rooms your team uses every day.

You can also use Herzberg’s Motivational and Hygiene Factors to address the factors that cause dissatisfaction in your team.

4. Improving Communication

Poor communication can be another common root cause of low morale.

Rumors can spread quickly in the workplace, and these can destroy morale. This is why it's important to give people accurate, timely information, especially if sales are down, or if the company is restructuring or downsizing. (Just make sure that your communications are coordinated with those of other managers.)

Identify ways that you can keep your team in the loop. Perhaps you could send a weekly email with important updates, or devote a few minutes in your regular meetings to keeping people up to speed with what's going on. Communicate fully with your team, and explain how any changes or decisions will affect them.

Remember, the flow of information should go both ways. Encourage your team to come to you any time they have questions or concerns. Listen actively to what they have to say, and respond in a timely manner to problems or suggestions. If rumors do begin to fly around the office, address them immediately.

5. Setting Measurable Goals

Morale can fall when your people are unclear about what they should be doing, or what your expectations are. This lack of direction is disheartening, and disorienting.

Make sure that your people are aware of your organization's mission and vision, and of how their work contributes towards these. Understanding these gives members of your team a clear and (hopefully) inspiring view of what the organization expects, and helps them think about how they can use their own talents and skills to fulfill the organization's mission.

Next, look at the tasks and responsibilities of each team member. Set SMART goals for everyone on your team using Management By Objectives - having clear, achievable goals will help to motivate people, and will help them know what they should be doing.

6. Rebuilding Confidence

Perhaps your team just lost an important contract or project. If this is the case, people's confidence may be shaken.

Learn how to build confidence in other people. One great way to do this is to give them more autonomy to make decisions. Delegate tasks and responsibilities, and push them to work towards challenging but achievable goals. And when someone on your team has a success, celebrate it!

7. Focusing on Talent Management

If times are tough for your organization, you might have a problem keeping your best people, or enticing good new people to join your team. This is another reason why rebuilding morale is so important: if morale is reduced, your most talented team members are likely to be the first to walk. (After all, they'll find it easiest to get new jobs.)

Use talent management strategies to ensure that your people stay interested in your organization. For instance, use job crafting to make sure that their roles use their talents and skills fully.

8. Keeping People Motivated

Once you've rebuilt morale and engagement, it's important to keep people motivated so that your team can reach its objectives. Also remember that morale can be affected even when times are good. Regularly look for signs of low-morale, and revisit the strategies above when necessary.

Key Points

Team morale and engagement can suffer for many reasons, including downsizing, poor leadership, poor communication, or difficulty with co-workers. If you suspect that your team's morale is not what it should be, there are several strategies that you can use to rebuild it.

First, focus on your own morale and engagement. Then identify why team morale is low, and choose appropriate strategies for rebuilding it.

These can include:

1. Reconnecting with your team.
2. Developing your team.
3. Improving the workplace.
4. Improving communication.
5. Setting measurable goals.
6. Rebuilding confidence.
7. Focusing on talent management.
8. Motivating your people effectively.

All the success!

PM in the AM

Want to Improve Engagement? Learn from Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon loves his job. And it shows! He loves to make people laugh and he likes being a member of a creative team, working with writers and honing his craft.

That is a good lesson for anyone in management: Share your enthusiasm for what you do!

Life is tough, goes the adage, but work does not need to be so hard all the time. Research reveals that employees look to management to help provide meaning for what they do. One of the best ways managers can do this is to generate enthusiasm

Here are some suggestions on how to spread enthusiasm:

Speak up. Employees need to know their supervisor cares about the work. Some managers are very vocal; they are like middle school coaches, always teaching and always spreading cheer. Other managers are soft-spoken preferring to chat one to one with employees about what they do and how it matters to the team. It doesn’t matter which approach you choose–but employees need to hear it from you.

 

Show employees their work has meaning: To take satisfaction in your work, you need to know it has meaning. Help your employees discover the meaning by connecting their work to the mission. Talk about how what they do makes a difference. You can have them visit customers to see how their product or service performs, for instance.

Celebrate the outcomes. When things are going well, make certain you mark the milestones. Spring for a lunch for the team, or have an after-work social hour. Spread the atta-boys and atta-girls around by praising people for individual actions they took to help the project succeed. [If you don’t tie the praise to specific actions, it loses impact.]

The Limits of Enthusiasm

Obviously, managers who do not like their work, or the people in it, will not do well at generating a positive mood in the workplace. No workplace is perfect; and work is hard. But that cannot be an excuse for badmouthing “the corporation” or dissing “management.” We are all responsible for finding satisfaction in our work. And if the work we do does not measure up, it may be a sign we would be happier doing something else.

Generating enthusiasm is not always easy but managers who can generate a sense of excitement about making a positive difference can create a work environment where people actually want to belong.

All the success,

PM in the AM

9 Tips for Team Building: How to Build Successful Work Teams

People in every workplace talk about building the team, working as a team, and my team, but few understand how to create the experience of team work or how to develop an effective team. Belonging to a team, in the broadest sense, is a result of feeling part of something larger than yourself.

It has a lot to do with your understanding of the mission or objectives of your organization.

In a team-oriented environment, you contribute to the overall success of the organization. You work with fellow members of the organization to produce these results. Even though you have a specific job function and you belong to a specific department, you are unified with other organization members to accomplish the overall objectives. The bigger picture drives your actions; your function exists to serve the bigger picture.

You need to differentiate this overall sense of teamwork from the task of developing an effective intact team that is formed to accomplish a specific goal. People confuse the two team building objectives. This is why so many team building seminars, meetings, retreats and activities are deemed failures by their participants. Leaders failed to define the team they wanted to build. Developing an overall sense of team work is different from building an effective, focused work team when you consider team building approaches.

Few organizations, however, are totally pleased with the results their team improvement efforts produce. If your team improvement efforts are not living up to your expectations, this self-diagnosing checklist may tell you why. Successful team building, that creates effective, focused work teams, requires attention to each of the following.

·    Clear Expectations: Has leadership clearly communicated  its expectations for the team’s performance and expected outcomes? Do team members understand why the team was created? Is the organization demonstrating constancy of purpose in supporting the team with resources of people, time and money? Does the work of the team receive sufficient emphasis as a priority in terms of the time, discussion, attention and interest directed its way by executive leaders?

·    Commitment: Do team members want to participate on the team? Do team members feel the team mission is important? Are members committed to accomplishing the team mission and expected outcomes? Do team members perceive their service as valuable to the organization and to their own careers? Do team members anticipate recognition for their contributions? Do team members expect their skills to grow and develop on the team? Are team members excited and challenged by the team opportunity?

·    Competence: Does the team feel that it has the appropriate people participating? (As an example, in a process improvement, is each step of the process represented on the team?) Does the team feel that its members have the knowledge, skill and capability to address the issues for which the team was formed? If not, does the team have access to the help it needs? Does the team feel it has the resources, strategies and support needed to accomplish its mission?

·    Control: Does the team have enough freedom  and empowerment to feel the ownership necessary to accomplish its charter? At the same time, do team members clearly understand their boundaries? How far may members go in pursuit of solutions? Are limitations (i.e. monetary and time resources) defined at the beginning of the project before the team experiences barriers and rework?

Is the team’s reporting relationship and accountability understood by all members of the organization? Has the organization defined the team’s authority? To make recommendations? To implement its plan? Is there a defined review process so both the team and the organization are consistently aligned in direction and purpose? Do team members hold each other accountable for project timelines, commitments and results? Does the organization have a plan to increase opportunities for self-management among organization members?

·    Collaboration: Does the team understand team and group process? Do members understand the stages of group development? Are team members working together effectively interpersonally? Do all team members understand the roles and responsibilities of team members? team leaders? team recorders? Can the team approach problem solving, process improvement, goal setting and measurement jointly? Do team members cooperate to accomplish the team charter? Has the team established group norms or rules of conduct in areas such as conflict resolution, consensus decision making and meeting management? Is the team using an appropriate strategy to accomplish its action plan?

·    Communication: Are team members clear about the priority of their tasks? Is there an established method for the teams to give feedback and receive  feedback regularly? Does the organization provide important business information regularly? Do the teams understand the complete context for their existence? Do team members communicate clearly and honestly with each other? Do team members bring diverse opinions to the table? Are necessary conflicts raised and addressed?

·    Creative Innovation: Is the organization really interested in change? Does it value creative thinking and unique solutions? Does it reward people who take reasonable risks to make improvements? Or does it reward the people who fit in and maintain the status quo? Does it provide the training, education, access to books and films, and field trips necessary to stimulate new thinking?

·    Consequences: Do team members feel responsible and accountable for team achievements? Are rewards and recognition applied when teams are successful? Is reasonable risk respected and encouraged in the organization? Do team members fear reprisal? Do team members spend their time finger pointing rather than resolving problems? Is the organization designing reward systems that recognize both team and individual performance? Is the organization planning to share gains and increased profitability with team and individual contributors? Can contributors see their impact on increased organization success?

·    Coordination: Are teams coordinated by a central leadership team that assists the groups to obtain what they need for success? Have priorities and resource allocation been planned across departments? Do teams understand the concept of the internal customer—the next process, anyone to whom they provide a product or a service? Are cross-functional and multi-department teams common and working together effectively? Is the organization developing a customer-focused process-focused orientation and moving away from traditional departmental thinking?

·    Cultural Change: Does the organization recognize that the team-based, collaborative, empowering, enabling organizational culture of the future is different than the traditional, hierarchical organization it may currently be? Is the organization planning to or in the process of changing how it rewards, recognizes, appraises, hires, develops, plans with, motivates and manages the people it employs?

Does the organization plan to use failures for learning and support reasonable risk? Does the organization recognize that the more it can change its climate to support teams, the more it will receive in pay back from the work of the teams?

Spend time and attention on each of these twelve tips to ensure your work teams contribute most effectively to your business success. Your team members will love you, your business will soar, and empowered people will "own" and be responsible for their work processes. Can your work life get any better than this?

All the Success,

PM in the PM

Confronting Sarcasm on Your Team

From the Leader's Digest Mailbag

Dear Leader’s Digest,

I lead a team of six supervisors. Several of the supervisors use irony and humor to downplay their colleagues, and I strongly feel that this creates a bad atmosphere because most of the colleagues do not appreciate this way of talking. Should I confront the issue with the entire group or should I deal with the misbehaving supervisors individually?

Wisecrack manager

Dear Wisecrack,

This is an interesting challenge because it deals with the use of humor at its worst—humor used as a tool for taking shots at people, but done in a way that maintains plausible deniability.

"Hey, I was just kidding, can't you take a joke?"

I know a fair amount about this particular tactic because it was a huge part of my influence repertoire during, say, the first thirty years of my life. I—like most of my close friends—developed keen skills in the use of sarcasm and irony. It was a huge part of my identity. Then, one day, after my wife stumbled awkwardly and I retorted, "Smooth move, did you enjoy the trip?" she responded: "You know what? If you never again use sarcasm—until the day I die—that would be just fine with me. I don't like it and there's no place for it in our home."

"Hey! Who died and left you in charge?" I shouted boldly and firmly within the confines of my mind as a way of testing out my response before actually putting my foot in my mouth. Then I thought better and whined: "But I really like being sarcastic."

As the conversation unfolded, I learned that it's actually quite difficult to defend your right to take cheap shots, dole out insults, and cut people down—all in the name of humor. Trust me. You never want to be the defense attorney when sarcasm goes to court. So, maybe I needed to reconsider my stance. Perhaps, getting a laugh at the expense of a coworker, colleague, friend, or loved one isn't nearly as endearing as I had once thought it was.

Now, to your question as to whether you should bring up the problem individually or in a group. It's tempting to say something to the entire team. That way you don't have to accuse anyone directly, plus it's efficient. One conversation replaces five or six. But then again, you take several risks when you hold a team problem-solving discussion.

First, as you talk with a group, one or more of the people who abuse humor might conclude that you aren't talking to them. They, after all, are actually quite funny and their cute remarks are loved and appreciated by all. Or so they think.

Second, those who don't fall into the trap of abusing humor won't like being thrown into the pot with the actual offenders. Nobody likes being accused of a crime they haven't committed.

Third, it's hard to anchor your discussion in facts by pointing to the last instance of abusive humor when you're talking in general terms. When it comes to discussing problems in an effective way, you need to point to actual instances, preferably on the heels of the occurrence, so the person understands the exact nature of the offense.

It will take longer, but you need to talk to the offenders one-on-one.

Assume the best of others. Perhaps others do think they're only having fun and they're unaware that their use of humor can be hurtful. Respectfully and unemotionally describe the last instance, focusing on specific behaviors.

Ask if others see the problem differently. If others seem unmoved to drop their use of sarcasm and irony, explain the consequences of their actions in detail. Talk about how it has affected you. Suggest an alternative means of dealing with the issues.

Discuss the pros and cons. Jointly discuss the benefits of honestly and openly addressing problems rather than approaching them obliquely and possibly at the expense of others.

Thank others for their efforts. End by thanking them for the frank conversation and express your appreciation for their willingness to drop harsh humor from their repertoire.

You are right to confront this damaging behavior immediately, especially because a few supervisors are creating a bad atmosphere for the rest of your team. As you talk to each employee individually, don't let him or her use the excuse I mentioned above—"Hey, I was just kidding, can't you take a joke?" Make sure each employee is aware of the damage he or she is doing to morale, productivity, and results. Establish a zero tolerance policy and encourage employees to hold others accountable when they violate that policy.

All the success!

PM in the AM

Handling Personality Clashes: Lessons in Teamwork from the TV Show “Dual Survival”

Need some insights on how to foster collaboration between team members with clashing styles–say, the dominate (“D”) and analytical (“C”)? One place to get some insights is Discovery Channel’s survival reality series, Dual Survival.

In watching a few episodes, we saw why the show is reaping huge ratings with men, and how it inspires ideas about collaborative problem solving.  During testing, the producers were looking for chemistry and they found it with Dave and Cody. Most episodes are structured as scenarios, in fact–survival case studies.  Dave and Cody are given wilderness situations that have claimed lives. One episode places them in the Everglades in a stalled air boat under the blazing Florida sun; another shows how two lost hunters (it happens) can survive in the ultra-harsh climate of Tierra del Fuego, just 500 miles from Antartica.

 

No one is pretending that Cody and Dave aren’t getting out alive–the show’s disclaimer is refreshingly honest. However, we do learn how experts with different backgrounds, competencies, and learning styles effectively cooperate toward a concrete goal with a deadline: get rescued within a few days.  Here’s what we’ve picked up on their collaborative practices:

• Each accepts his own limitations and defers to his partner. Dave recognizes Cody’s skills at making fires, and building shelters, while Cody defers to Dave’s hunting prowess when food is needed. In setting up a survival campsite–a goal on the route to their objective–they divvy up big tasks according to strengths. When each guy can be the lead dog on a different task, the two personalities are given room to breathe. In an office team, consider giving your polarized personalities stand alone tasks playing to their strengths, so their edgier personalities don’t interfere with subtler workings of the project.

• They intimately know the other’s risk appetite: Dave will assume more risk than Cody to reach a desired destination faster.  In an episode shot on Montana’s Great Plains during winter, Dave favors a riskier straight descent down a steep, icy, hazardous slope to reach the river valley while Cody prefers a slower, circuitous path.  In another, Dave pushes Cody to take a short cut through a huge cave–and Cody agrees only after they talk through the costs and benefits of the alternatives. In a work team, colleagues with clashing styles need to learn who is more risk-averse. For example, in assigning deliverables, the more cautious team member can be given responsibility for a later phase of the project.
  

• They use humor to ease tension when styles clash. Dave and Cody each draw on humor at tough moments when they get on each other’s nerves. In one episode, Dave is disgusted by Cody’s decision to drink water filtered through the socks he’s been wearing.  Dave is authentically taken aback, but laughs, “there’s plenty enough water around I don’t need to suck my socks.”

• They are both fiercely committed–”we are not quitters”: While the narrative is artificial, Cody and Dave share a zeal and passion to finish the challenge.  “Me and Cody,” Canterbury said in their “Out of Africa” episode, “we’re not quitters. We don’t give up.”

• They’re ready to turn for help if a particular task is going poorly. When one of the guys runs into trouble, and the goal is at stake, he asks for help. This is a higher order practice in work teams, particularly among polar opposites, but it’s a key interpersonal skill.

• Above all, both take personal responsibility for surviving, learning, and adapting during an emergency. One distinction about the show is how eager Cody and Dave are to learn more about their craft.  In your workplace, focus on finding colleagues and direct reports who have the capability to learn on the job, self-teach, adapt and make adjustments–during this era of “creative destruction” in the economy and corporate life.

All the success!

PM in the AM

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is famous for his stirring speeches at MacWorld Expos. The author of "The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs" lays out four simple strategies that will improve your next presentation.

Click here:
http://www.bnet.com/videos/the-presentation-secrets-of-steve-jobs-the-live-one/6250335?promo=665&tag=nl.e665

Inteview with Carmine Gallo posted on the BNET web site.

Another Navy SEAL Lesson: Instill Pride without Chest Beating

Click here:
http://www.bnet.com/blog/leadership/another-navy-seal-lesson-instill-pride-without-chest-beating/309?tag=content;drawer-container

By John Baldoni

Posted on the BNET web site