Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Addition by Subtraction - Developing Internal Teams

As a people manager or team leader you may have been faced with the challenge of having an underperforming team member. Often that team member has been with the company for some time and is an old hand at their job with the company. The challenge is that if you need to have an optimally performing team, what do you do with the underperforming member?

Logically there are several things you could do including ignore the situation hoping that it goes away…however, you’ll probably have a performance review with built in improvement indicators to support a progressive disciplinary action in the future with adequate documentation. On the other hand, you might have a chance to meet an immediate need and have enough “history” of underperforming to make a change.

Rarely is making a change in these circumstances elegant, but it can be an opportunity for addition by subtraction. Underperforming team members take a huge toll on the entire team as well on the productivity of the unit/division/department. By moving the underperforming member out of the group (and perhaps out of the company) the remaining members have an opportunity for raising the bar without the worry of how to pull up the underperformer. Over time, the team will rebuild their efficiencies and may experience such growth that the removed player is replaced with another member who again “raises” the bar so the team's performance is adjusted twice raising optimally in both instances. That is where the magic of addition by subtraction makes the most sense. When the team's performance is doubly enhanced as a result of making changes and “swapping” underperformers for those who may even raise the bar higher!

Cheers to the new math!

Best wishes in successful team building.

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