Getting a teammate to engage in team discussions is critical to starting a dialog, exchanging thoughts, and actually having a team. In order for there to be a “team” there must be some collaboration. A group of people all doing their own thing, are just a bunch of individuals occupying the same space; they are not a team. Like several of the other STEM questions before, this topic can affect the team dynamic, morale, and trust. Why won’t some people engage? Are they new? Are they shy? Are they lazy? Are they having issues? A good teammate and leader may need to spend some time to diagnose this and take steps to problem solve it.
If it’s a new member, they may need some time to settle in and get comfortable. That is understandable and could be reasonably expected. Some people are naturally shy. I get that too. I have a very quiet personality and don’t care to be the center of attention. Other teammates may need to work a little harder on building rapport in both of these scenarios and establishing trust so these members feel welcome, as well as willing to participate. Ultimately, if there is no increase in engagement by that teammate, it must be addressed that they are not pulling their weight or being a productive member. Alternate problem solving may need to be done to fix the issue. The same goes for teammates who were collaborative, productive, contributing members who shut down at some point. This needs to be address and hopefully resolved.
When diagnosing my DiSC profile, I am very task orientated and less people orientated. There are a lot of times that I prefer to work on my own. But, I have also functioned very well on teams throughout my entire life. I think that is because I am always willing to engage and do my part.
Curtis, I didn't even consider levels of experience in my response to this statement. What you pointed out makes perfect sense. I have a hard time considering unique personalities and having empathy for individual people. You make a great point. Moving forward, I will try and be more creative in the way I approach varying officers when asking them to engage.
Curtice, I agree completely! I like how you mentioned that a good team leader will diagnose the issue and try and determine what is going on with the team member. I was thinking of when we first all met each other and how much more reserved we were than now. Once that initial shyness wears off, true collaboration can result. Even though you have a quiet personality your viewpoints are crucial and valued Curt!
Curtice, I definitely agree with you, that you need to figure out why a teammate may not be engaging. It may not be what you are thinking that they are just being lazy. There are so many factors that could come into play with this issue and a good teammate and leader needs to find these reasons out. They must do so be creating engaging productive dialogue and use that trust factor that you mentioned. Often times, people can just be quiet and shy or even intimidated, so they simply do not want to share their opinion. A true teammate and leader in that group needs to make the unproductive partner feel comfortable enough to get them to share their opinion. This will inevitably lead to an increase in success for the team and an increase in comfort and productivity for that non engaging member.
Getting a teammate to engage in team discussion is imperative to the overall success of the team. Some people do not like to give their opinions on things because they have been ridiculed for something they have said before. As a team, we need to keep two things in mind; do not make fun of others for their ideas, and letting people say even the most off the wall things could elicit outstanding ideas.
I know that I have been in groups where people do not say anything. After asking why, they always say something like "Why would I, no one cares anyway." As Chief, I have staff meetings every month with the sergeants and lieutenants. There was one sergeant that would not talk. Even after I address him personally, he says he has nothing to add. I talked to him about it and he said that there was a senior sergeant that would always cut him off when he tried to speak so he just stopped. I had a discussion with the entire group the next meeting. I told everyone to be adults and everyone at the table has a valid opinion. This sergeant was able to start participating and actually showed to be one of the more knowledgeable sergeants.
I run into the same problem you described when I have meetings with my officers. I always ask what their needs and wants are or what we could be doing better. Typically, officers do not reply and act as if everything going on is great. Unfortunately, within seconds of ending the meeting officers start talking amongst themselves. During these conversations, they complain and come up with different things they need. I have found that engaging officers in smaller groups in an informal manner allows me to get much better feedback from them.
It is much more difficult to get people to open up the higher your rank is. As chief everyone wants to show you rainbows and butterflies or are to scared to talk. Every quarter I meet with all officers one on one. This is a time that they can speak freely. The first couple times, very little actually spoke freely. The more I did it, the more comfortable they became. I think the first hurdle to get over was the trust that what they say will not be held against them. They waited until others said something outlandish to see what would happen. I also have to act on what I say. If they bring something up and I tell them I will do something about it, I must do something about it. This has brought a lot of growth to our department.
Good point Brian. There can often be that one overbearing voice in a group that some quieter members can find it hard to compete with. If that overbearing member doesn't realize this, or doesn't seem to care, it may fall on someone else in the group to pull that person aside and have a chat about being respectful and inclusive. And when the quieter member does finally speak up, it’s just as important to make sure there are not made to feel stupid.
Great points Brian. I specifically like how you mentioned "do not make fun of others for their ideas, and letting people say even the most off the wall things could elicit outstanding ideas." This is so true. Sometimes just keeping an open mind into what people are saying can bring out the most unique, creative ideas.
This is a great point Brian, that when people get cut off, they completely stop engaging. We currently have a Lieutenant that does this, and it is incredibly frustrating talking to him. You know that people like this have no intention of listening to what you have to say, they just want to respond and only care about their own thoughts. It certainly shuts you down. It is our responsibility as leaders to make sure this doesn't happen. We will always lose efficiency and productivity if members of our team aren't participating.
Getting a teammate to engage in team discussions is very beneficial for the growth of the team. In order for collaboration and gaining different ideas/insight into issues, all team members need to provide their thoughts. I do however, think this needs to be a healthy balance between team members. If a team member shuts down the ideas of others then that individual is bound to not provide their input into discussions.
Likewise, if a teammates ideas are always disregarded, then they likely will not continue to provide their thoughts. As a group, we have a shared responsibility to allow for everyone to contribute their thoughts and share information. If a team member is not providing ideas or input into discussions I also think it is important to let them know that their thoughts are valued and we would like to hear their perspective. Buy in is important, and once people trust that their viewpoints are being heard I feel they are more providing. We are fortunate on team platinum because everyone provides their ideas which allows for us to collaborate efficiently and come up with the best solutions.
I agree that we need to give everyone an opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas. We also need to understand when a member is not knowledgeable on a topic and as a group we need to pivot and focus that member in an area they are knowledgeable on. Like if the team is looking at finding an area with an elementary school and a member chooses their area to conduct the project, however that member does not know the name of any school in their area. We as a team need to pivot and point that member to another area of the project and be successful.
Getting a teammate to engage in team discussions can greatly impact team performance and cohesion. When everybody on the team contributes, ideas are shared freely, leading to better decision-making and more creative solutions. Every member of a team brings his or her own experience and knowledge to the team. For example, at the beginning of this course, I knew of only one way to create slide show presentations, PowerPoint. Over the past few weeks various members of my team have introduced new technologies and AI tools to assist in my presentations. I do not work a lot with AI, nor do I do a lot of PowerPoint presentations in my current position. I would have never known about the new and improved ways of creating a PowerPoint presentation had my teammates not been in engaged in team discussions.
Another benefit of everyone on the team engaging in team discussions is the trust it builds. If one person on the team is not engaging in the conversation, other members may look at them as not committed or unwilling to help. The judgment can cause a divide in the team and cause a member to be ostracized. Whereas, if all members are engaging, it ensures accountability. Furthermore, getting each teammate to engage allows the team to provide feedback. Positive feedback builds morale and confidence among members. The back-and-forth communication amongst a fully engaged team deters miscommunication and ensures the team is focused on the same task. In the book “It’s Your Ship,” The commander achieved much of his success by getting all members of his team to engage in conversation. He went so far as to change the location where he ate lunch to ensure he allowed for engagement with everyone.
Overall, getting every teammate to engage is what creates successful communication. We discussed in previous group conversations that communication is the foundation of a successful team. A good leader will ensure that all teammates are engaged in a discussion, thus promoting efficient forward progress.
Kelly, I believe you are correct in cohesion being an important aspect of a team's success in that it helps the overall performance of the team. I completely agree with your point of slides and PowerPoint. From someone who has never created one from start to finish, the last few months have been eye opening to me. I openly communicated this to several teammates, and you all have been very gracious in helping me with this. I felt comfortable talking about my fear of putting one together and it was my teammates who helped me overcome this fear. You are correct in that judgement can divide a team as I have witnessed this happen and it stifles the productivity of the team. I totally forgot about the book "It's Your Ship" until you brought it up. However, you are correct in that this is an excellent example of achieving team success. Opening the lines of communication to everyone is important. I try to do this at work by taking officers, cadets, and sergeants out to lunch as well as showing up at roll calls. This helps to give me a perspective from everyone involved so that our police department operates more successfully.
Getting a teammate to engage in team discussions is critical for overall group success. It is often easy for someone to not participate when challenges or problems comes up. A highly successful team will always have full participation from all members of the team. Everyone on a team brings something different to the table and when you have all member participation, the outcome will always be greater. It can become easy for a member of a team to become complacent and begin to slack off especially when the team is being successful. They can begin to feel like their participation isn't needed and the team may not initially see a decline in success, but it will over time. I believe it is the responsibility of the entire team to keep everyone accountable for the overall success of the team. If someone isn't pulling their weight, this is something that needs to be addressed. I don't necessarily believe that it is the responsibility of the team leader or supervisors to have to say something. This is something that can be addressed by any member of the team since the overall success relies on everyone's participation. Communication is one of the most important factors inside of the team. And this statement posed dives directly into that. Each member of the team needs to be able to communicate freely and openly especially when problems occur or an area is established that needs to be improved up.
Nate, I agree with your points of team engagement and communication. When every team member actively participates, it not only makes collaboration, but also builds a sense of shared responsibility. Sustained success does require consistent effort from everyone. Your point of accountability is spot on and that it is not just the responsibility of those in leadership, it is the responsibility of everyone on the team. I rely on this quite a bit as a supervisor by telling the officers to try and handle things themselves, if it still can't be resolved that's when I step in. To your point of communication, you are spot on with it being a vital aspect of a successful team. The success of a team is a collaborative effort that requires constant communication coupled with accountability.
Getting a teammate to engage in team discussions is essential for the team's overall success and progress. Every individual within the group holds valuable knowledge, ideas, and experience. This can contribute to solving problems, generating solutions, or moving the team forward in a positive direction. However, sometimes this input doesn’t come forward as freely as it should, and teammates may need to gently prompt or encourage one another to share their insights. In other cases, team members may willingly contribute without needing any coaxing. Regardless of how it happens, it's crucial that every team member contributes in some capacity.
Much like in a sports team, no player’s role is insignificant. Even if each person has their own unique strengths, skills, or areas of expertise, there are no roles that the team can afford to be without. Everyone’s voice and perspective play a vital part in the larger conversation. It’s important to recognize that everyone brings something unique to the table. Whether it’s technical knowledge, a fresh viewpoint, or an understanding of the bigger picture, each teammate has valuable information. For example in Major Leave Basebeall, some of the best managers were backup catchers pior to transitioning into a coaching role.
When a teammate hasn't contributed to the discussion, there could be several underlying reasons. It’s possible they may feel their opinions have been overlooked or dismissed in the past, leading them to hesitate or withdraw from future discussions. Alternatively, they might not felt confident enough in their knowledge of the current topic. Or they could be uncertain about how their input fits into the conversation. Sometimes, the issue might stem from a lack of trust within the team, or from a fear that their ideas might be criticized.
As team members, it’s important to approach these situations with empathy and understanding instead of making assumptions. It’s better to create an environment where teammates feel comfortable and supported in sharing their thoughts. This can be done through open communication, asking for input in non-threatening ways, and reinforcing that everyone’s contributions are valuable.
I like your sports team analogy Todd. Some of the best players wouldn't necessarily be the best coaches. Its not always a one-to-one relationship. I was a very good athlete, but I just knew my role(s) and new that I had to give it my all for the success of the team. I did not know the intricacies of the other positions, so I never would've been that good of a coach. It can be tied back to Emotional Intelligence and your self-awareness. You WILL have something of value to offer your team, but you will also have some areas that you won't be the best at. Even if you work on those areas of deficiency, they may never really be your strong suit. Those are the areas where your team needs to lift you up. It takes a strong team to make sure everyone knows they are vital in the team's overall success and that they need everyone to engage all the time.
Todd, Great analogies. I like how you mentioned "Much like in a sports team, no player’s role is insignificant." and how in baseball "some of the best managers were backup catchers." I did not know this, but it makes complete sense. Even the smallest of roles, or ones that do not get used much at all, can have major significance.
Getting a teammate to engage in team discussions is critical to starting a dialog, exchanging thoughts, and actually having a team. In order for there to be a “team” there must be some collaboration. A group of people all doing their own thing, are just a bunch of individuals occupying the same space; they are not a team. Like several of the other STEM questions before, this topic can affect the team dynamic, morale, and trust. Why won’t some people engage? Are they new? Are they shy? Are they lazy? Are they having issues? A good teammate and leader may need to spend some time to diagnose this and take steps to problem solve it.
ReplyDeleteIf it’s a new member, they may need some time to settle in and get comfortable. That is understandable and could be reasonably expected. Some people are naturally shy. I get that too. I have a very quiet personality and don’t care to be the center of attention. Other teammates may need to work a little harder on building rapport in both of these scenarios and establishing trust so these members feel welcome, as well as willing to participate. Ultimately, if there is no increase in engagement by that teammate, it must be addressed that they are not pulling their weight or being a productive member. Alternate problem solving may need to be done to fix the issue. The same goes for teammates who were collaborative, productive, contributing members who shut down at some point. This needs to be address and hopefully resolved.
When diagnosing my DiSC profile, I am very task orientated and less people orientated. There are a lot of times that I prefer to work on my own. But, I have also functioned very well on teams throughout my entire life. I think that is because I am always willing to engage and do my part.
Curtis, I didn't even consider levels of experience in my response to this statement. What you pointed out makes perfect sense. I have a hard time considering unique personalities and having empathy for individual people. You make a great point. Moving forward, I will try and be more creative in the way I approach varying officers when asking them to engage.
DeleteCurtice,
DeleteI agree completely! I like how you mentioned that a good team leader will diagnose the issue and try and determine what is going on with the team member. I was thinking of when we first all met each other and how much more reserved we were than now. Once that initial shyness wears off, true collaboration can result. Even though you have a quiet personality your viewpoints are crucial and valued Curt!
Curtice,
DeleteI definitely agree with you, that you need to figure out why a teammate may not be engaging. It may not be what you are thinking that they are just being lazy. There are so many factors that could come into play with this issue and a good teammate and leader needs to find these reasons out. They must do so be creating engaging productive dialogue and use that trust factor that you mentioned. Often times, people can just be quiet and shy or even intimidated, so they simply do not want to share their opinion.
A true teammate and leader in that group needs to make the unproductive partner feel comfortable enough to get them to share their opinion. This will inevitably lead to an increase in success for the team and an increase in comfort and productivity for that non engaging member.
Getting a teammate to engage in team discussion is imperative to the overall success of the team. Some people do not like to give their opinions on things because they have been ridiculed for something they have said before. As a team, we need to keep two things in mind; do not make fun of others for their ideas, and letting people say even the most off the wall things could elicit outstanding ideas.
ReplyDeleteI know that I have been in groups where people do not say anything. After asking why, they always say something like "Why would I, no one cares anyway." As Chief, I have staff meetings every month with the sergeants and lieutenants. There was one sergeant that would not talk. Even after I address him personally, he says he has nothing to add. I talked to him about it and he said that there was a senior sergeant that would always cut him off when he tried to speak so he just stopped. I had a discussion with the entire group the next meeting. I told everyone to be adults and everyone at the table has a valid opinion. This sergeant was able to start participating and actually showed to be one of the more knowledgeable sergeants.
I run into the same problem you described when I have meetings with my officers. I always ask what their needs and wants are or what we could be doing better. Typically, officers do not reply and act as if everything going on is great. Unfortunately, within seconds of ending the meeting officers start talking amongst themselves. During these conversations, they complain and come up with different things they need. I have found that engaging officers in smaller groups in an informal manner allows me to get much better feedback from them.
DeleteIt is much more difficult to get people to open up the higher your rank is. As chief everyone wants to show you rainbows and butterflies or are to scared to talk. Every quarter I meet with all officers one on one. This is a time that they can speak freely. The first couple times, very little actually spoke freely. The more I did it, the more comfortable they became. I think the first hurdle to get over was the trust that what they say will not be held against them. They waited until others said something outlandish to see what would happen. I also have to act on what I say. If they bring something up and I tell them I will do something about it, I must do something about it. This has brought a lot of growth to our department.
DeleteGood point Brian. There can often be that one overbearing voice in a group that some quieter members can find it hard to compete with. If that overbearing member doesn't realize this, or doesn't seem to care, it may fall on someone else in the group to pull that person aside and have a chat about being respectful and inclusive. And when the quieter member does finally speak up, it’s just as important to make sure there are not made to feel stupid.
DeleteGreat points Brian. I specifically like how you mentioned "do not make fun of others for their ideas, and letting people say even the most off the wall things could elicit outstanding ideas." This is so true. Sometimes just keeping an open mind into what people are saying can bring out the most unique, creative ideas.
DeleteThis is a great point Brian, that when people get cut off, they completely stop engaging. We currently have a Lieutenant that does this, and it is incredibly frustrating talking to him. You know that people like this have no intention of listening to what you have to say, they just want to respond and only care about their own thoughts. It certainly shuts you down. It is our responsibility as leaders to make sure this doesn't happen. We will always lose efficiency and productivity if members of our team aren't participating.
DeleteGetting a teammate to engage in team discussions is very beneficial for the growth of the team. In order for collaboration and gaining different ideas/insight into issues, all team members need to provide their thoughts. I do however, think this needs to be a healthy balance between team members. If a team member shuts down the ideas of others then that individual is bound to not provide their input into discussions.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, if a teammates ideas are always disregarded, then they likely will not continue to provide their thoughts. As a group, we have a shared responsibility to allow for everyone to contribute their thoughts and share information. If a team member is not providing ideas or input into discussions I also think it is important to let them know that their thoughts are valued and we would like to hear their perspective. Buy in is important, and once people trust that their viewpoints are being heard I feel they are more providing. We are fortunate on team platinum because everyone provides their ideas which allows for us to collaborate efficiently and come up with the best solutions.
I agree that we need to give everyone an opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas. We also need to understand when a member is not knowledgeable on a topic and as a group we need to pivot and focus that member in an area they are knowledgeable on. Like if the team is looking at finding an area with an elementary school and a member chooses their area to conduct the project, however that member does not know the name of any school in their area. We as a team need to pivot and point that member to another area of the project and be successful.
DeleteGetting a teammate to engage in team discussions can greatly impact team performance and cohesion. When everybody on the team contributes, ideas are shared freely, leading to better decision-making and more creative solutions. Every member of a team brings his or her own experience and knowledge to the team. For example, at the beginning of this course, I knew of only one way to create slide show presentations, PowerPoint. Over the past few weeks various members of my team have introduced new technologies and AI tools to assist in my presentations. I do not work a lot with AI, nor do I do a lot of PowerPoint presentations in my current position. I would have never known about the new and improved ways of creating a PowerPoint presentation had my teammates not been in engaged in team discussions.
ReplyDeleteAnother benefit of everyone on the team engaging in team discussions is the trust it builds. If one person on the team is not engaging in the conversation, other members may look at them as not committed or unwilling to help. The judgment can cause a divide in the team and cause a member to be ostracized. Whereas, if all members are engaging, it ensures accountability. Furthermore, getting each teammate to engage allows the team to provide feedback. Positive feedback builds morale and confidence among members. The back-and-forth communication amongst a fully engaged team deters miscommunication and ensures the team is focused on the same task. In the book “It’s Your Ship,” The commander achieved much of his success by getting all members of his team to engage in conversation. He went so far as to change the location where he ate lunch to ensure he allowed for engagement with everyone.
Overall, getting every teammate to engage is what creates successful communication. We discussed in previous group conversations that communication is the foundation of a successful team. A good leader will ensure that all teammates are engaged in a discussion, thus promoting efficient forward progress.
Kelly, I believe you are correct in cohesion being an important aspect of a team's success in that it helps the overall performance of the team. I completely agree with your point of slides and PowerPoint. From someone who has never created one from start to finish, the last few months have been eye opening to me. I openly communicated this to several teammates, and you all have been very gracious in helping me with this. I felt comfortable talking about my fear of putting one together and it was my teammates who helped me overcome this fear. You are correct in that judgement can divide a team as I have witnessed this happen and it stifles the productivity of the team. I totally forgot about the book "It's Your Ship" until you brought it up. However, you are correct in that this is an excellent example of achieving team success. Opening the lines of communication to everyone is important. I try to do this at work by taking officers, cadets, and sergeants out to lunch as well as showing up at roll calls. This helps to give me a perspective from everyone involved so that our police department operates more successfully.
DeleteGetting a teammate to engage in team discussions is critical for overall group success. It is often easy for someone to not participate when challenges or problems comes up. A highly successful team will always have full participation from all members of the team. Everyone on a team brings something different to the table and when you have all member participation, the outcome will always be greater. It can become easy for a member of a team to become complacent and begin to slack off especially when the team is being successful. They can begin to feel like their participation isn't needed and the team may not initially see a decline in success, but it will over time.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is the responsibility of the entire team to keep everyone accountable for the overall success of the team. If someone isn't pulling their weight, this is something that needs to be addressed. I don't necessarily believe that it is the responsibility of the team leader or supervisors to have to say something. This is something that can be addressed by any member of the team since the overall success relies on everyone's participation.
Communication is one of the most important factors inside of the team. And this statement posed dives directly into that. Each member of the team needs to be able to communicate freely and openly especially when problems occur or an area is established that needs to be improved up.
Nate, I agree with your points of team engagement and communication. When every team member actively participates, it not only makes collaboration, but also builds a sense of shared responsibility. Sustained success does require consistent effort from everyone. Your point of accountability is spot on and that it is not just the responsibility of those in leadership, it is the responsibility of everyone on the team. I rely on this quite a bit as a supervisor by telling the officers to try and handle things themselves, if it still can't be resolved that's when I step in. To your point of communication, you are spot on with it being a vital aspect of a successful team. The success of a team is a collaborative effort that requires constant communication coupled with accountability.
DeleteGetting a teammate to engage in team discussions is essential for the team's overall success and progress. Every individual within the group holds valuable knowledge, ideas, and experience. This can contribute to solving problems, generating solutions, or moving the team forward in a positive direction. However, sometimes this input doesn’t come forward as freely as it should, and teammates may need to gently prompt or encourage one another to share their insights. In other cases, team members may willingly contribute without needing any coaxing. Regardless of how it happens, it's crucial that every team member contributes in some capacity.
ReplyDeleteMuch like in a sports team, no player’s role is insignificant. Even if each person has their own unique strengths, skills, or areas of expertise, there are no roles that the team can afford to be without. Everyone’s voice and perspective play a vital part in the larger conversation. It’s important to recognize that everyone brings something unique to the table. Whether it’s technical knowledge, a fresh viewpoint, or an understanding of the bigger picture, each teammate has valuable information. For example in Major Leave Basebeall, some of the best managers were backup catchers pior to transitioning into a coaching role.
When a teammate hasn't contributed to the discussion, there could be several underlying reasons. It’s possible they may feel their opinions have been overlooked or dismissed in the past, leading them to hesitate or withdraw from future discussions. Alternatively, they might not felt confident enough in their knowledge of the current topic. Or they could be uncertain about how their input fits into the conversation. Sometimes, the issue might stem from a lack of trust within the team, or from a fear that their ideas might be criticized.
As team members, it’s important to approach these situations with empathy and understanding instead of making assumptions. It’s better to create an environment where teammates feel comfortable and supported in sharing their thoughts. This can be done through open communication, asking for input in non-threatening ways, and reinforcing that everyone’s contributions are valuable.
I like your sports team analogy Todd. Some of the best players wouldn't necessarily be the best coaches. Its not always a one-to-one relationship. I was a very good athlete, but I just knew my role(s) and new that I had to give it my all for the success of the team. I did not know the intricacies of the other positions, so I never would've been that good of a coach. It can be tied back to Emotional Intelligence and your self-awareness. You WILL have something of value to offer your team, but you will also have some areas that you won't be the best at. Even if you work on those areas of deficiency, they may never really be your strong suit. Those are the areas where your team needs to lift you up. It takes a strong team to make sure everyone knows they are vital in the team's overall success and that they need everyone to engage all the time.
DeleteTodd,
DeleteGreat analogies. I like how you mentioned "Much like in a sports team, no player’s role is insignificant." and how in baseball "some of the best managers were backup catchers." I did not know this, but it makes complete sense. Even the smallest of roles, or ones that do not get used much at all, can have major significance.