I am about to make a statement that might ruffle a few feathers. Do you make ‘judgements’ about your team and their performance?
I suspect you do.
It’s a common trait amongst many leaders. Understanding your employees and their style is one technique to help the situation. However, there is a stage before, and that relates to your team members ability and attitude related to their performance.
This is called the Skill Will Matrix and was made popular by Max Landsberg in his best-selling book,
The Tao Of Coaching.
Using this simple framework could completely change the results you and your team achieve, let me explain more.
How The Skill Will Matrix Works
The diagram below relates to where your team members are both in their skill development and motivation. Identifying this as a first step will then lead you towards the most appropriate management style to use with that individual to get the best results.
The Direct Quadrant
Here your employee has a lack of both skill and will that can be communicated as constant annoyance or frustration or both; for managers on the receiving end, this can be irritating! This is often a consequence of their lack of skill.
Employees in this quadrant need appropriate developmental training followed by encouragement and motivation. They also need to be fully aware of exactly what ‘good’ looks like when it comes to the task’s they are expected to perform.
Monitoring and feedback are important here.
The Guide Quadrant
This is what we ‘hope’ is our experience of our new hires or graduates moving into the organisation or a new role.
They are super keen, yet haven’t quite mastered the necessary skills to deliver the results they, and you want.
This is all about developing their capability. What is lovely about these individuals is they ‘soak up’ the training and guidance you give; new hires will hopefully fall into this category provided they tick all the criteria you set at interview. You will be surprised at how quickly; with the right support, these new team members deliver.
The Delegate Quadrant
This is every manager’s dream team member. Highly motivated and skilled, often your right-hand woman or man.
Finding and developing great talent in any organisation is a key priority. Therefore, if growth is on your radar, these individuals need to be motivated and developed as part of your talent pipeline.
Ask what is important to them, what else they want to be involved in?
These questions will give you a sign post about how to develop these individuals, so you manage your own succession plan.
Excite
Every manager, at some point in their career, will have this team member to deal with.
These employees have all the skills to do a great job. Getting them to a point where they are energised and using them is another matter.
A common phrase used to describe what this individual is going through centres around a lack of ‘mojo’ or energy and enthusiasm for the role they are performing.
Time to coach both their desire and will. Here are a few suggestions to get you going.
- When did the problem start? (Hint-You might want to check that everything is OK at home as the first point of call)
- What is causing the lack of motivation?
- What needs to change for you to be more motivated?
- What are your goals?
- Is a new challenge needed?
By asking these questions, you will get some answers which will then guide you through the next steps.
What Next?
We have a really useful tool that will help you handle these scenarios effectively and help you build a high-performing team.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_button link=”https://zenawiggins.co.uk/freetool/” color=”default” size=”” stretch=”” type=”” shape=”” target=”_self” title=”” gradient_colors=”|” gradient_hover_colors=”|” accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” bevel_color=”” border_width=”1px” icon=”fa-arrow-right” icon_divider=”no” icon_position=”right” modal=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”1″ animation_offset=”” alignment=”center” class=”zestfor_download_button” id=””]Yes please I’d like your free download Liberating Leadership High-Performance Decision Tree[/fusion_button]
Until next time,
Julia[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
