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TEAM FIRST
ED SCHELL | HD SUPPLY
THOUGHTS
LEAP THOUGHTS is a new series of commentaries written by AAMD Leadership on Teamwork and Team Excellence
Communication is Key in Leading a Great Team
Some of the components of a team include a common goal , interdependency , coordinated activity , and results oriented competition . Communication is what links all of these together . If any of these components is missing there is not really a team , and if communication is not robust , the team will not perform well . Good communication takes time , attention and effort , and when you have good communication your team will appreciate that you are putting the team first !
The business teams I currently work with have all of these components and we emphasize communication . As with many multifamily management and owner structures we cover large geographic regions which can be a challenge to building and maintaining a team . Healthy and robust communication will improve any team and is essential for a remote team .
There are many “ Dos and Don ’ ts ” when communication with remote teams . Don ’ t leave communication to an “ open door policy ” and don ’ t be comfortable with the thoughts that “ I haven ’ t heard anything so all must be okay ”! Instead , you should
be proactive , sincere , and personal . And you should pick up the phone .
I think we have all caught ourselves saying “ my door is always open ”. In my experience saying that “ my door is always open ” rarely causes people to cross the threshold or to make the call . Team members tend to talk with the people closest to them , and don ’ t seek out contact with the remote supervisors .
Don ’ t get caught in the comfort of “ I haven ’ t heard anything so all must be okay ”. Most employees want to fix problems on their own and will
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only make the call when a problem has escalated to a much more involved situation .
I do two things with my teams to keep out of these traps . First , we use a method we call “ skip level calling ”. This is a series of scheduled calls with employees at least two levels down on the organizational chart . The call is about
30 minutes and is designed to talk about things that are not in the usual communication stream . It is a great method to build relationships and gain information from different perspectives .
I think we all get caught in cycle of e-mail and text , so secondly , I will recommend that at least once a day , break an e-mail or text cycle and pick up the phone . I find that this is always well received , and often get things going much more quickly .
Be proactive . Make good communication a priority . Ask for feedback from your team on how to improve communication . They do always know how you can make it better . Be sincere in your communication . People don ’ t tend to like robots and respond best to sincere communication .
Be personal . Avoid presenting to groups . Group e-mails often just become background noise . Take the time to personalize communication , even if that is only using a person ’ s name and the team will respond .
Most importantly - set aside e-mail , text , Skype , etc ., and pick up the phone . The time spent for the personal contact will have a huge return on the investement in your team , and in your business .
Do you have a story or idea about developing at Team First approach in your organization ? Send it to us for publication consideration at cdean @ aamdhq . org www . aamdhq . org FEBRUARY 2017 • TRENDS | 31