We’ve all seen it before – the team’s star performer is promoted to Team Leader. The department manager has high hopes for them, but for some reason they don’t fulfil their potential. The team continues to underperform and the service to the customer doesn’t improve.
We know they are both willing and able, so why do we not see results?
The answer is simple – they haven’t been given the training, the tools, and the support they need to transition from great team member to great Team Leader.
New Team Leaders tend to have minimal management experience and most immediate training is often focused on HR process and organisation procedures. They find themselves juggling conflicting priorities – improving performance, reducing cost, improving quality and coping with backlogs of work.
But they are rarely equipped to take on the task. Add in the stress of managing large teams, often composed of their peer group and friends, is it any wonder so many underachieve and often burnout.
So, what can senior leaders do to help Team Leaders perform and achieve their potential?
1. Tools
To manage a team or department effectively you need to have tools in place to provide you with accurate and timely Management Information (MI) at the touch of a button. How much work is coming in? How quickly are you processing it? Does your team have the capacity it needs to meet your service levels? Do you have a plan that prioritises scarce resources?
2. Training
Assuming you have timely and accurate data do you know how to interpret it? Can you identify where your team is underperforming? Have you been given a set of proven practices that will address any issues you find? Do you know how to proactively address issues before they have an impact on the customer?
3. Coaching Skills
If your data highlights a team member who is underperforming do you have the coaching skills to find the root cause, identify solutions and coach that person back to an acceptable level of performance? Teams are not homogenous groups, each person has their own strengths and weaknesses. Do your leaders have the skills they need to bring out the best in each one of them?
4. Autonomy
has the team leader been given the space they need to try new things, backed up by a system that shows them if they made the right decision so they can fail fast and learn from their experience?
At Xcentuate we can provide your back-office leaders with the tools, training and proven methodology needed to optimise their performance.
We can help uplift the capability of your team leader population while at the same time reducing your business costs and improving your customer experience.
