For those of you who have management / leadership experience (employee, credit, collecting)
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As a way to motivate employees and keep them interested in our company and the products/services we offer our customers, we will soon have an online skills competition where pre-selected teams will cooperate with each other to perform various challenges, do exercises, etc. The competition will showcase both individual knowledge and teamwork skills. Now to get us ready for the competition which will have several rounds lasting a few weeks, management asked us to get our teams (a handful of people) to appoint a leader, get ready by discussing strategies, coming up with a team name, organizing logistics ready (we have to register, etc.) and so forth. The team members were selected randomly and I've ended up with colleagues I rarely see, but as a supervisor said, it will be an opportunity to forge relationships with these people, learn from each other, etc.
Since our company is spread out across a few floors and we have different schedules (not everyone is Mon-Fri 9-5), I figured I'd IM (send a message by instant messenger for those not familiar) my team mates and see if we could get together. I asked others if they would like to be the team leader and they all said no, they thought I should be the one. OK, no problem. So I checked our collective schedules and it seemed that today was the common day we were all here. As a result I emailed our team on Monday suggesting we meet for a strategy/organizational meeting today in the afternoon when I thought everyone was available. The afternoon rolls around and guess what?
No one contacts me, no one replies to the email. So I IM one guy and tell him ,hey Steve, I'm back from lunch now, want to meet up? Guess what he replied? Sorry I'm about to leave and I'm going on vacation until next week, and besides another team mate is busy now.
So I'm thinking, ummm... thanks a lot buddy! Why couldn't you have replied to the email I sent on Monday? How was I supposed to know the afternoon meeting time suggestion didn't work for him if he keeps silent? His colleague on the same floor was just as rude - no reply either. What's wrong with this people? Absolutely no courtesy whatsoever. They appointed me the leader, I sent an email to everyone with a proposed day/time and get no reply.
Then it turned out a 3rd guy had a meeting around the time I suggested for our team meeting. When he returned he said, hey why don't I just email the group with some strategies? Umm, management specifically instructed us to appoint a leader and make sure we meet before the competition starts. Also I don't want to email strategies which could be forwarded to other colleagues who can then benefit in future competitions down the line. I'd prefer to do it verbally. Moving on, I decided to email the group again and suggested that whomever is there on Friday (the next common day when at least 3 of us are there) is invited to meet then.
Now my question to CDers who have management/leadership experience:
How do you motivate team members to participate/show up to a meeting if they don't even reply? Maybe I should send an official Outlook invitation where they're required to reply and accept or propose a new time. Of course I could also march up to the 2 stragglers' floor and talk face to face, but I feel like I'm pulling teeth with these guys. I did not choose them as team mates and they voluntarily chose to register for the competition, plus appointed me as the leader. The least they can do is be responsive. Any tips?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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If I call a meeting my staff shows up, if they don't I'll be looking for them to find out why. It's different with co-workers, though. Especially for something like this which many, if not most employees will consider a waste of time that they don't want to bother with.
If you really want to do team building, it should be off-site, with free food, and mandatory. I even took mine to a conference in Las Vegas in April, and their work since we returned has been 200% better. Of course I only have 6, that may not be practical for several hundred.
If I call a meeting my staff shows up, if they don't I'll be looking for them to find out why. It's different with co-workers, though. Especially for something like this which many, if not most employees will consider a waste of time that they don't want to bother with.
If you really want to do team building, it should be off-site, with free food, and mandatory. I even took mine to a conference in Las Vegas in April, and their work since we returned has been 200% better. Of course I only have 6, that may not be practical for several hundred.
Your point is well understood. The OP is a part-time employee and is not a manager. He has no authority at all.
The company "game" is something he raised beforehand in a previous post when he was miffed about his final standing - but with all due respect I'm not inclined to sift through his history to find that particular reference.
As a boss, of course your employees had better show up to a scheduled meeting. That's a given.
My thinking on this issue is that this very mediocre company with very mediocre sales and with no advancement opportunities is trying to create some inspiration throughout their mediocre staff by getting them to engage in a very mediocre and generic online sales game.
Obviously many of them aren't falling for it. VAW, hope your job search is going well and your new apartment search likewise.
Admire your interest in this contest!
I always use outlook calendar
People only really respond to the old WIITFM (What's In It For Me). When they are your subordinates, a lot is in it for them to respond. When they are your team members, there's the challenge. If you come up with the incentives, they will respond. What is the benefit of winning this competition? What is the immediate incentive for attending the meeting?
I've worked with groups like this. They only appointed you leader because you showed some initiative by sending out that first email. Now they figure, why not let you do everything and they'll take the credit. If you are a manager, it' different because you have been designated authority. But in this case you really have none, so you have no way to compel them to participate or pull their weight on the team.
Admire your interest in this contest!
What is the benefit of winning this competition? What is the immediate incentive for attending the meeting?
Thanks, I try. I noticed that ever since management sent out the memo (email) that the competition was just around the corner, the team mates remained silent. The top prize is a mystery to be revealed soon but last time the winning team was taken out to dinner on the company dime.
If they attend the meeting then we will be able to work more closely as a team and have a shot at placing well. In fact they created an extra performance incentive whereby if we outscore management AND win the competition, another prize is awarded. So it's in the team's best interests, IMO, to buckle down and come together before the start. This is not every man for himself, it's really a team effort.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kodaka
Honestly? I would step down as leader.
I've worked with groups like this. They only appointed you leader because you showed some initiative by sending out that first email. Now they figure, why not let you do everything and they'll take the credit. If you are a manager, it' different because you have been designated authority. But in this case you really have none, so you have no way to compel them to participate or pull their weight on the team.
It's like group projects in school. They suck.
It's beginning to feel like college all over again. I did have a straggler who sat back in a group project, was always unavailable and tried to take credit at the end. We had to report the slacker to the professor and her grade got docked in the end.
Unfortunately it doesn't seem possible to step down though. The competition starts next week and I already committed to the duty. I did inform my own supervisor about the fact the meeting didn't take place today asking her for advice...she advised just to try to reschedule and meet with whomever is available next time. I know one of the guys who I chatted with on IM is rather knowledgeable in the materials we'll be tested on and while he claimed that he'd be "honored" to be leader, he suggested I do it.
I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet, but the frustration level is rising. Emailing and expecting a reply may not be the best tactic though. Plus I can't really offer any incentives for them to participate as I'm not a manager. But going out for lunch together might make the meeting more enticing, they would just have to pay for their own meals.
Maybe I should send an official Outlook invitation where they're required to reply and accept or propose a new time.
This right here. I'm an operations manager and so I lead a monthly call with some of our logistics personnel. I always send out an email with notes about the call, and an official Outlook calendar invite. Not all of them use Outlook, but those who do can accept/deny the invite.
It does sound like your teammates are taking a lack of interest in this competition. What kind of incentives are provided by the company to participate? Is it mandatory to participate? If this could end up hurting your reputation at the company, I might take it up a level and talk to some supervisors/managers.
Also, you know what else always seems to bring people together no matter what? Happy Hour! Maybe get together for some drinks after work and discuss this. The fact that it would be in a more relaxed (fun) setting may be the incentive you need to get these people to participate. Also, a lunch get-together might work. Good luck and let us know what happens.
OK, in the first place, I don't understand why you did an 'informal' IM instead of an 'official' email requesting receipt. If this is so important to you and to the company, it seems that it should be done officially, not informally.
Secondly, the other posts about "happy hour" or "mandatory with free food" are right on.
It sounds like - just from your post - that people agreed with you just to silence you, and wanted you to be the leader so that they could avoid responsibility. Forgive me for reading into this, but it sounds like your employers do this sort of thing a lot - i.e., "OK, we need to come up with some ideas for this next competition, 'you people' do it and we'll see what works and what doesn't. If it works, you'll be the heroes - but if it doesn't, you'll be the goats." Have these folks been goats before? several times? If so, I'll bet they're not willing to stick their necks out again - but are more than willing for YOU to.
Many corporations have really p-poor management skills, especially middle management skills, and the generalities of this competition (of course, that could just be your non-specificity in your post) sound unchallenging at best, and lackadaisical and repetitive at worst.
Ex. Have you ever seen the 'group cheers' at a WalMart store? Management requires them, everyone who can show up is required to. Only a handful of people actively participate; most hang back, whispering and laughing while the 'cheerleaders' expose themselves. The others just want to get back to their jobs, get their lunch break, and go home. Unless you can give people a good reason for showing up to your brainstorming meetings, they'll figure it's just another cheerleading meeting, one that won't help their pocketbooks and actually interferes with their daily tasks. They'll be more than happy to let you cheerlead, while they get their work done.
So, what to do? Well, first I would listen - in person - to some of the people on your team. Find out what their needs are -no, not a drink or a hot date, but their work needs - are. Then use this competition to address those needs. Get them to talk to you about what their frustrations are with their tasks, what they are sad/angry/hopeless about. And inspire them with what this competition can do for them... IF it can. You need more than one person (you) to have buy-in to the goals of the corporation. If their ideas and work efforts have been ignored in the past, you will have twice as hard a path. Everyone knows what will make ther job easier, faster, and better. Listening to them - one on one, or one on two or three - will give you a better conception of what their abilities and goals are. Then you can tie them together and say, "Well, what about if we take Sam's idea and Cheryl's idea, and make them our goals - how will we reach them?"
You may not do so well this time out; but at least if you start to LISTEN, not talk or email, you will understand your teammates better, and you can develop a rapport and a common ground with them. Then when the next competition comes around, you AND they will be better able AND more willing to address the purposes of it.
REAL leadership isn't endlessly running fruitless "excitement-building" projects over the heads of uninterested, or even bored or burned people, but in hearing their complaints, wants, needs, and ideas, and helping them learn to lead with them. When you enhance their own self-worth, you enhance everyone's.
It does sound like your teammates are taking a lack of interest in this competition. What kind of incentives are provided by the company to participate? Is it mandatory to participate? If this could end up hurting your reputation at the company, I might take it up a level and talk to some supervisors/managers.
Hey Z3N1TH , thanks for the input. The incentives to participate in the competition include prizes for beating out management, ongoing recognition with periodic updates on who's leading and a yet to be announced grand prize awarded to the winning team. Is participation mandatory? Yes it is if they voluntarily registered for the competition. In fact on the days they have the exercises where the teams compete against each other, if one member does not log into the application they're using that runs the competition, the team automatically loses points for each absentee. So it's in the team's collective best interest to both log in and be ready for action so to speak.
I'll definitely consider the happy hour or lunch ideas however what I'd ideally like to do is meet for no more than 30-60 minutes and if possible, spend as little or no money. I was originally considering just reserving a meeting room and we do it there during business hours (management allows it) so it's all in a day's work and no one has to stick around after work if they don't want to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SCGranny
OK, in the first place, I don't understand why you did an 'informal' IM instead of an 'official' email requesting receipt. If this is so important to you and to the company, it seems that it should be done officially, not informally.
Secondly, the other posts about "happy hour" or "mandatory with free food" are right on.
Hi SCGranny, thanks for offering your humble opinion.
To summarize the contact mediums and how it played out:
1. Since our team is scattered around the building but I have them on IM, I first IMed them asking if they thought about the competition, the team name, who wanted to be leader, their experience with the topics that were going to be tested, etc.
2. Via IM they all pointed to me to be the leader
3. Then I sent an email to everyone on Monday proposing a Tuesday meeting during a certain time range
4. No one replied
5. On Tuesday I IMed the guys and learned that one was leaving early, going on vacation while another colleague was busy and couldn't make it either. A third guy said he had a meeting of his own and encouraged me to email some strategies to the group in lieu of meeting
6. End of day Tuesday I sent a 2nd email suggesting we meet later this week, suggested 2 days and mentioned that it seems that the majority of our team is working, so we can work out it out then. My supervisor suggested our team just to an impromptu meeting, not structured.
So that's where I am now. IMs and emails were sent. Nothing face to face yet but that will be the next step if I don't get a reaction by Friday from anyone. Now the thing is, if we don't get organized by the weekend, it'll leave us scrambling to complete the preparations on time for the competition's start. I'd rather do it sooner than later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SCGranny
It sounds like - just from your post - that people agreed with you just to silence you, and wanted you to be the leader so that they could avoid responsibility. Forgive me for reading into this, but it sounds like your employers do this sort of thing a lot - i.e., "OK, we need to come up with some ideas for this next competition, 'you people' do it and we'll see what works and what doesn't. If it works, you'll be the heroes - but if it doesn't, you'll be the goats." Have these folks been goats before? several times? If so, I'll bet they're not willing to stick their necks out again - but are more than willing for YOU to.
Yes, they are definitely avoiding responsibility by appointing me as the leader AND not replying to the email, plus burying their heads in the sand.
Not sure what you mean by heroes and goats, can you explain it another way? The competition structure, content is set up, however it's true that management has delegated the actual team organization, planning to the employees, which is a rather lazy hands off approach to management, IMO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SCGranny
REAL leadership isn't endlessly running fruitless "excitement-building" projects over the heads of uninterested, or even bored or burned people, but in hearing their complaints, wants, needs, and ideas, and helping them learn to lead with them. When you enhance their own self-worth, you enhance everyone's.
JMHO.
I cut out most of what you wrote in this quote but just to clarify, the competition and my role as a leader does not involve collecting complaints, ideas, etc. on how to make the company better. It's more of a skills competition based on how the company works, the products/services we sell ,etc.
Last edited by ValueAddedWorker; 05-31-2011 at 11:31 PM..
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Absolutely no courtesy whatsoever. They appointed me the leader, I sent an email to everyone with a proposed day/time and get no reply. 
Maybe get together for some drinks after work and discuss this. The fact that it would be in a more relaxed (fun) setting may be the incentive you need to get these people to participate. Also, a lunch get-together might work. Good luck and let us know what happens.
