Article on Leadership Skills:

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Source: www.what-are-good-leadership-skills.com, ©Emily A. Sterrett, Ph.D. Reprinted with permission.

Building Teamwork

The company was small and growing. They did good work and were committed to the mission of serving customers. Over the last 20 years they had grown slowly and steadily through referral business because of their good service to customers. In the last two years, they had grown dramatically. But there were also a few problems. The owner-founder felt very responsible for the company. He had continued to try to be everything to all people and be involved in everyday decisions. He was stretched and exhausted. And employees were frustrated. Decisions were slow, conflict was common, and morale was poor. Suspicion and protection of “turf” were common, and lack of teamwork was an acknowledged problem.

In the last few years these issues even seemed to be affecting customer service. A recent customer survey revealed some problems in customer service that had not been evident in previous years. Despite growth in demand, customer and employee retention was an increasing problem.

Does any of this sound familiar? Low morale? Lack of teamwork? Turnover problems? Any problems you observe in these areas may be for different reasons than my client, but whatever the reasons these problems are rather commonplace.

A Simple Solution for Teambuilding

In addition to the owner relinquishing some of the day-to-day decisions and developing capable others to take over certain responsibilities, the company decided to focus on teamwork. We looked at several options for how to do this, including assessment of working styles, training, and coaching. These teambuilding solutions, along with structure and operations changes, were helpful in moving the organization in the direction it needed to go, but in order to maintain the gains we had made, we decided on a simple strategy.

We devised a rotation plan to help employees maintain a high level of trust and collaboration with those in other departments. For one hour per week, many employees would trade roles with one another. Because late Friday afternoons for this company tended to be the slowest time of the week, 4-5 p.m. on Friday was the time they chose to carry out the plan. During this time, if you were on the rotation schedule, you would substitute in another department and fulfill the role of another employee. It was your responsibility to meet during the week with the employee whose job you would fill to get a briefing on how to cover the main responsibilities of the job. The actual job incumbent or co-workers could always be called if you were the substitute and you got really stuck.

Despite initial reluctance and sometimes getting stuck and having to call the person whose job they were filling, most employees reported positive experiences with this program. People learned things about the company’s internal workings they had not known before. Their appreciation for the position and the department they substituted in grew. Gradually there was a renewed sense of connectedness and a sense of “we” rather than “us-them.” Six months later, team effectiveness ratings (as completed by employees) improved, as did morale. The turnover rate even moved slightly in the right direction and is expected to continue to do so.

Could this idea work for you? While there are certainly organizations where job rotation would not be possible, don’t completely dismiss this idea without considering if you might adapt it. On a limited and monitored basis and with selected employees, this can be a very effective teambuilding tool. Could the shipping clerk substitute for the receptionist, the receptionist for the customer service rep, and the customer service rep for the shipping clerk? A one-to-one trade is even simpler: shipping clerk and receptionist trade jobs each Friday in the month of February; next month there is a new pairing.

Filling someone else’s shoes, especially when coupled with other efforts to build greater teamwork, can reinforce teamwork and mutual appreciation as little else can.

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