My Previous Team Situation
The Management Committee (SLT team) is the leadership team in my organization and is the SLT comprising of department leaders of Finance, Business Development, Human Resources and Operations. As I work in the Human Resources department in my organization, myself and my internal team felt like our efforts to develop strategies to increase employee morale and to reduce employee turnover had not succeeded, because there was not a unified direction in my organization. For example, I would share my exit interviews with my Manager who would share with his SLT, but I know there was never any change or lessons learned that came out of the exit interviews, because feedback was never shared with managers who would be responsible for employees who resigned. There was never any feedback loop. The strategy would be to hire a “better person” or hire quickly so the vacancy does not run empty very long which caused me to believe we are facing a challenge that would never be resolved
My Present Team and Organizational Direction
Recently, the SLT team and my organization has acquired a Vice President who is responsible to lead direction and accountability to the SLT and to our organization. Within the last few months, the Vice President has seen evidence of our neglected culture and understands our organizational teamwork practices are not very strong. He has also seen quarterly employee surveys, exit interviews, turnover numbers and has spoken to management members. As a result, he has directed for all organizational departments to report on operational, client, HR and Health and Safety direction, progress and monthly reporting. He is genuinely interested in seeing metrics on absenteeism and turnover as well. Historically, the SLT has been very dysfunctional and there has been a gap in communication across our organisation, so our Vice President has developed two committees. The first committee comprises of senior operational managers, finance, health and safety and Human resources (myself) to meet every month and to craft and create a management report together (with current number metrics, explanations and charts) to bring communication closer. This strategy promotes accountability to all team members and it almost “forces” our people to come together to collaborate and work more closely with one another. At the end of the month, all leadership team members come together to present their sections of the report and it is an open forum for questions and comments to discuss results and goals. The second committee is a leadership committee comprising of 15 individuals who were voted by managers in my organization and who are seen as leadership potential in my organization. The leadership team comprises of a group of managers, supervisors and support employees (including myself as well) to meet quarterly to discuss organizational initiatives, brainstorm ideas at an offsite/remote location for a day each quarterly period to discuss organizational direction, to provide feedback and to formulate strategies collaboratively to move our organization to become employer of choice.
The Effectiveness and Impact of Our New Leadership Shift
Personally, I believe the Vice Presidents’ strategy is brilliant and it demonstrates accountability and shared team leadership for our organizations’ future. His strategy allows for team members with unique diverse skills, education, competencies and different age groups to have the ability to collaborate ideas and to make decisions together. Lepsinger (2010) indicates “to make good decisions, you must seek out the perspectives of a wide range of people. Involving people in decisions gets them focused on generating solutions to problems rather than complaining or waiting to be told what to do” (p. 14). Our leadership team comprises of a Housekeeping Manager, to a Procurement Specialist to myself (HR Generalist) who all vary in age, skill-sets and ideas. The fact that the Vice President is providing shared ownership in collaborating ideas and initiatives at our off site meetings and to build onto our employee engagement is very smart.
Now, with new leadership and a leadership team in my organization, I can confidently believe the SLT can work under one direction now, because they are being held accountable due to the leadership paradigm. Most importantly, our leadership structure is changing from a top down structure to a flatter organization where group decision-making and collaborating is bridging together. Team members feel like they are being heard and get the opportunity to transform change and voice their opinions. Lepsinger (2010) reveals “your employees shouldn’t feel like they exist only to help your company make huge profits. They need to feel respected as key players with valid viewpoints” (p. 14). Therefore, our leadership team has the opportunity to collect viewpoints from their employees and are able to speak on behalf of their employees and themselves as well.
As one of the youngest members of the leadership team, I was initially nervous in sharing my ideas and speaking up to the Vice President, but now; I feel if I do not speak up or share my ideas, I will not be able to be able to contribute to change in my organization and that is my goal. I like the challenge to be heard.
Using principles from Hughes et al. (2014) p. 213, I will assess my organizations’ present leadership team situation to determine if they support, trust and are honest with each other. Hughes(2014) reveals “ team members need to a level of trust that allows them to feel supported when they do take the risk to be honest” (p. 212).
“Is this SLT encouraged to experiment with new or different ways of doing things? Does this SLT work well together?” (Hughes et al, 2014, p. 2013).
The SLT is encouraged to experiment new ways of doing things by having the structure of the two committees present in my organization. Under the Vice President’s leadership direction, there is an opportunity for more individuals to generate ideas and to come together to build innovative and collaborative ideas. For example, this afternoon; I sat at the board room table with the three (3) of the SLTs and senior operational management team for five hours going through our management reports. Please note, my Manager (an SLT member) does not attend nor prepares these monthly reports as he has given ownership to me). In these meetings, each team member is responsible to facilitate their sections of the reports with facts but also their ideas as well. The way the meeting was structured, was that we were in a round table with the Vice President present on the screen and we would take turns presenting to him and to everyone else. After presenting our own sections, the room was open to ideas and communication. In my particular section, I was responsible to present my HR section(s) and had the ability to facilitate my section of the report but also recommended initiatives that would strengthen challenges we are currently facing. For example, absenteeism is a concern and I acknowledged having an attendance management program may be a consideration our organization should be looking at. The Vice president liked the idea alongside the rest of the team. I believe by having a structured monthly meeting like this one, it allows for experimentation of ideas.
Additionally, the quarterly offsite meetings allow for 15 of our diverse team members who have been identified as leadership potential to shine their personalities through and to voice their opinions through several brainstorming sessions on particular topics (like what do we do to provide the client a better service? How do we become employer of choice and how can we retain our employees?
Does the SLT have constructive interactions with other groups across the organization?
The SLT team members have constructive conversations with their own departmental teams, but are starting to develop more interaction with various departments that they normally wouldn’t have interacted with. For example, at the offsite meetings, our Finance SLT team member has spoken with our Quality Manager (who he never interacted with before) and the Business Development SLT team member speaks to the Housekeeping director who he wouldn’t have any business need (normally) to interact with. By having multiple levels of engagement with team members outside ones’ comfort level, it creates SLTS to be more diverse. (Hughes et al) describes “in order for an SLT to perform effectively, it’s important that the team have access to diverse strategic perspectives” (p. 213).
Is there a positive sense of energy and excitement around here?
I would say no; but I am trying to foster the work environment to be more positive and to be friendly to all managers and employees I interact with. Within the SLT team, I overhear a bit of laughter in their meetings down the hall in our head office, but what I mostly hear is seriousness, blaming tones and frustration which hopefully will change.
Does the organization foster executive growth and development?
My organization fosters internal promotions only when there are vacancies. Due to the newness of the organization (being ten years old in Canada) emphasises the fact we have a small budget for professional growth and development. However, due to the new leadership shift, skills and competencies of the team members will be emphasised and seen by the SLT for future growth potential. What I think the SLT should consider is providing the team members an opportunity to be innovative on their own. For example, at Google; “one way they keep their ears open to grass root ideas is by allowing engineers to spend at least one day a week working on their own pet projects. The company uses smaller teams to develop new concepts- sometimes assigning only three or four people to a team” (p. 15). By developing smaller sub-teams and assigning those to have the ability to meet once per month may allow for further innovation and new skills which will help foster executive growth and development.
Does this SLT work well together?
The SLT do not work as a collaborative team (specifically, my Manager doesn’t like the Business Development nor Operations SLT members yet he doesn’t mind the Finance SLT member). My Manager tells me when he sits in meetings with his members, there will be silence at times where it is very awkward and there are other times where there is shouting as well. He tells me he often leaves the meetings with a migraine and will converse with his Finance Management Committee team member to vent about their counterparts (Operations) and sometimes Business Development and complain about the occurrences in the meetings.
Personally, I see this as a very serious problem as team members should not be talking behind each other’s’ backs especially at the senior level who are leading the direction of our organization. The senior leadership team is not effective and team leadership should be practiced with trust, accountability and respect. I think there relationships will strengthen due to the accountability they must adhere to now towards the Vice President and the interactions of other fellow team members.
Does getting ahead here depend on performance, not politics?
Moving up in my organization depends on both. If a team member is well respected and liked in my organization and are seen as credible, they have the ability to move up. However, performance, willingness to work hard and achieve results are all contributing factors that allows for promotional opportunities. The only disadvantage is that positions are quite hierarchical, and if a senior leader is planning on being in the company for years, their direct report may have to wait years to move into that position.
Is there an appropriate level of risk-taking encouraged?
Being a newer organization, there is not a lot of risk that is involved. Being part of the organization for five years, I have seen organizational restructure but only to support operational and client needs. This risk is more responsive rather than being proactive. Research reveals “Proactive risk management consists of focusing on mitigating the risks of threat events before these might possibly occur and negatively impact the organization. Organizations, whose focus is proactive risk management, plan to protect mission critical assets including applications ahead of potential threats targeting them” (O, 2017, para 2).
Are there few undiscussable subjects here? Are different opinions welcome?
There are few undiscussable subjects in our SLT. Today, at our monthly board meeting, we discussed the financial state of our organization. Particular numbers were not shared and when mentioned, the tone seemed like it was a “hush hush” scenario. I felt a bit curious and yet uncomfortable to determine if information is being hidden and I question, why is it being hidden? I can understand confidentiality but wonder why there is a lack of trust or communication in this area.
Is information shared well within this SLT and with others across the organization?
My organization facilitates quarterly town-hall meetings at public locations where all levels of employees and managers are invited to attend. The town-hall meetings were historically facilitated by the SLT team only but last month, the town-hall meeting was facilitated by all of the SLT team members, myself, the Occupational Health and Safety Specialist, Finance Manager and the Business Development Coordinator. I felt this opportunity to facilitate was not only a privilege but it was a strong message to convey to all of the employees because it allowed for them to see that communication CAN come from others than the SLT team. I emphasised our organizational strengths, our opportunities to be an inclusive culture, our internal promotions and our employee stories (why they like working for Bouygues). Lepsinger (2010) indicate “you must build employee involvement and engagement into your company’s culture” (p. 14).
Another communication tool we have implemented is a monthly team brief email that describes all departmental updates in newsletter template which is emailed to all employees. The disadvantage of this communication method is our hourly employees do not have computers, but to mitigate this barrier, we have asked for administration team members to print out the template on site boards for employees to view.
As you work with teams in your present work environment and your team in this course, how do you build a sense of ownership and involvement?
I think it is very important to connect as a team prior to committing to goals and tasks. Having brief introductions on ones’ personal vision, mission and values is key. Ungerer (2016) indicate “vision, mission and values break down into strategic themes and fact-based SWOTS which allows for us to set strategic goals and prioritize strategic goals” (p.225). Another aspect of working successfully in teams is integrating roles. Galbraith (2014) reveals “integrating roles create the truly multidimensional organization. There is a need for these roles when a company wants to attain functional excellence, generate new products and services and be responsive to customers. This capacity is a requirement for some businesses in a complex, changing world” (p. 99). Other key important aspects to ensure the delivery and consistency of a team is communication (consistent), respect, adhering to deadlines and being transparent.
What are some of the limiting factors in the team systems you’ve worked with or work with presently?
The limiting factors that affect team systems are toxic teams, ego, dismissing feedback, blaming others, avoiding conflict, unclear expectations and obtaining trust. According to Bernier (2014), there are passive aggressiveness and gossip when teams agree to decisions in meetings and then re-open decisions when the meeting is over with selected team members. The human ego can harm the dynamics of a team as well. In particular, team leaders can use their position power to lead their teams in a harmful way. As a result of egotistical actions, team members can feel unmotivated, unproductive and most likely will want to leave their organization in order to feel valued at their next employer. The ego is a powerful mechanism used in organizations and can damage the corporate culture, the team and its people around them. In addition, the ego can also cause employees to underperform and to not maximize their skills or potential. Personally, I have experienced working within teams in the corporate world that are like this, and the best strategy is to avoid it is to have clear expectations, communication, accountability and to keep the relationship business and team focused.
How do you identify bottlenecks in your present team situation or course team environment? How do you address those issues without shutting down team creativity, efficiency or cohesiveness?
Working in my Human Resources department, we have a lot of responsibilities that pertain to experience and competency level. For example, when I go on vacation or am sick, my role is not entirely covered by my team and it causes a backlog when I return. For example, the management reports I prepare for our monthly meetings, my team member does not know how to do them nor wants to learn to do them which causes an issue. To unlock the bottle neck, I can make the choice to train her which would add capability to the bottleneck or I could determine why the process is a bottleneck as well.
Using the Formal Groups section of Galbraith’s Designing Organizations text, identify the design choices in your present working environment and compare it to the design choices you made for the function of your teams in this course?
Galbraith (2014) reveals “ formal groups augment the efforts of voluntary processes and all groups, no matter what type, are subject to the same design choices” (p. 90). In the following chart, I will compare the factors:
| Design Choices | My Organization | My Team (BT1) |
| Bases | Function and service | Function |
| Charter | To create a better life for our buildings we run and maintain and to sustain innovation | To function and perform together learning about strategic leadership |
| Staffing | The leadership team was chosen by managers in my organization who they see as “leadership potential” | The teams were chosen by stream and by our professor |
| Conflict | Conflict is managed by HR and Operations in my organization through coaching and investigations | Conflict is maintained and managed by a conflict resolution tool the team chooses to utilize and follow. The team may set up boundaries as well |
| Rewards | Monetary bonuses and raises are offered once a year (contingent on budget and performance) | Team performance will be measured and rewarded by peer reviews and instructor marking |
| Leader Role | HR team leader | Rotating leaders for blog and team assignments |
The similarities I see within my organizational and educational groups are the opportunity to be innovative, strategic, team centred and to work as a collaborative team. What I see most similar in both contexts are lateral teams. Galbraith (2014) indicate “management must set priorities about where talent and other resources need to be invested. These priorities should set the strategic direction and focus the organization” (p. 90). What I see in my organization is a new leadership paradigm that is shifting the investment of competencies and skills (in the staffing design) to be favourable for the organization. In my educational context, I see by having ownership of the team leader on a rotating basis allows for us to seek out of our comfort zone and lead our teams we are responsible to lead.
In terms of making the two teams more effective, I would recommend using the STRAT Tool as “the strategic team review and action tool (STRAT) consists of questions designed to survey a strategic leadership team within an organization” (Hughes et al, 2014, p. 285).
In order to build an effective strategic leadership team in my present environment, I think it is important to overcome the barriers of what makes a team dysfunctional (like the lack of trust, ego, toxic teams) and be a fair, strategic and team player type leader who can work with their peers in a collaborative way and fight through the chains of command (like in my personal employer).
Team- What would you do?
Thank you so much for reading and I look forward to your thoughts!
References:
Bernier, L. (2014). When teams turn toxic. Canadian HR Reporter, 27(8), 10-12. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca/login?url=https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca:3254/docview/1521707749?accountid=14411
Galbraith, J. (2014). Designing organizations: Strategy, structure, and process at the business unit and enterprise levels. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Hughes R., Colarelli-Beatty K. & Dinwoodie D. (2014) Becoming a strategic leader. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Second Edition.
Lepsinger, R. (2010). Closing the execution gap. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
- (2017, June 8). Proactive Vs. Reactive Risk Management. Retrieved October 15, 2017, from https://www.opsfolio.com/responsibilitycenter/proactive-vs-reactive-risk-management/
Ungerer, M., Ungerer, G, & Herholdt, J. (2016). Navigating strategic possibilities: Strategy formulation and execution practices to flourish. Randburg: KR Publishing.