Group or Team?

Do you work as a group or within a team? The term "team" is overused in organizational environments. I have the advantage of observing a variety of workplace venues, and in my travels into the inner corporate and government sanctums, I witness many more groups than teams, despite the names of the work divisions. One of my coaching clients speaks of his colleagues whose supervisor calls them her "team," almost as if she wishes it and wants it to be, it will. As she micromanages her department by insisting ALL emails go through her, she misses the opportunity to build trust among the members. An employee may respond with "Am I so incompetent that you need to review every communication I produce?" (In responsible management, a supervisor may want certain emails copied with their name, such as upward messages, yet all email seems a waste of time for veteran and competent employees.) One valued and essential charateristic of a team is trust. If the leader displays a lack of trust through micromanaging all the employees, it may be impossible to even forge a group into a team. Groups are made from the outside-- Person A, Person B, Person C, and Person D are assigned to "work together" on Task X. If each person works independently toward the Task completion and under the micromanaging supervisor, the task may get accomplished--but not by a team. A newsworthy insight: Teams are made from the inside out! Shared struggles, strengths, and successes; member accountability; and seamless communication among the members and managerial support for resources will hone a group into a team. The advantage is a team is more efficient than a group. Simply calling a group a team does not make a team.

An Attitude or a Language Adjustment?

Professionals in Human Resource circles have known for a long time that we cannot dictate attitude in the workplace. We can influence it, but not force it. Too often I hear, "So-and-so needs an attitude adjustment!" If the attitude is manifesting inappropriate behavior and/or language in the workplace, then a change is advised--but not in attitude! The individual is entitled to his/her own attitudes according to the American way of life and our diversity guidelines in business. It is the observable behavior, including language use and non-verbal actions, that must be monitored. Clear expectations of acceptable behavior and language must be modeled and enforced to maintain morale and order in the workplace. Yet, we must also remember the two irrefutable areas of individual processing are experiences and feelings. So, discounting either will create a wall of attitude in the other person. Frequently, our experiences and feelings intertwine with our behavorial and linguistic choices. Consequently, helping an individual maintain his/her integrity and dignity through the "adjustment intervention" demonstrates clear expectations to the entire workforce: You have a right to your attitude, your experiences, and your emotions; you do not have a right to behave, speak, or write in a way that abuses anyone else's rights.

Customer Service Reviews or Manipulations?

In the past couple of years I have had encounters with Angie's List and Better Business Bureau that make me question their purpose. Both of these businesses have built their reputations on facilitating customer responses to a variety of businesses-for-hire. Angie's List claims to serve potential customers in finding reliable service and product providers who cannot sway the publicity; yet, when I purchased a vehicle, the dealership wanted to reward me with free oil changes if I agreed to post a good review! Investigating the service, I discovered that Angie's List wanted me to pay them a fee to read or to post information. What would keep anyone from posting a fake review for personal benefit--positive publicity for one's own company or for negative publicity for a competitor? Another time, I uncovered a scam out of an operation in NYC and contacted the BBB there. The scammers threatened to harm my credit rating if I did not pay them what they wanted. The BBB could not help because the scammers would not reply to the BBB. Soon after, the BBB notified me that they recorded my claim as their success because I had not continued to follow-up, and, therefore, must be content with the outcome! In another BBB encounter with the KC office, a client's former customer made a bogus claim. I agreed to mediate the claim through the BBB. The customer lied about the circumstances of the claim and the content of the signed contract to the BBB. Regrettably, attorneys were required and my client settled out of court just to relieve his dwindling resources caused by attorney fees and days of lost work. The BBB said they would rate my client's business a B+ for three years as a result of the claim. I asked why not an A and was told that that might happen if my client were to join the BBB for a fee. Again, the BBB took credit for a successful outcome. Then the BBB called to ask me to pay them for my company to join! The manipulation of customer service expectations makes me question the validity of these sites. Beware!