4 Steps To Giving Your Team The Time They Need
Are you taking the proper time to communicate and connect with your team?
According to a study conducted by Leadership IQ entitled “Optimal Hours with the Boss,” most leaders spend only half the time they should be spending with their boss. However, employees who do spend an optimal number of hours interacting with their direct leader (six hours per week) are 29% more inspired, 30% more engaged, 16% more innovative, and 15% more intrinsically motivated than those who spend only one hour per week.
I hear many leaders talk about how drastically they want their team more inspired, engaged, innovative, and motivated, but fail to see they themselves may be the problem. According to this study, and many others like it, the amount of time you invest into your team directly impacts their performance. You can’t expect your team to output if you aren’t doing enough input.
In an ever-increasing load of responsibility and duties, leaders find themselves sacrificing time with the team in the name of trying to get more done. However, this backfires in the long run, because the less time you spend with the team the more you’ll find you have to do in order to pick up their lack of performance. It’s a never-ending cycle of neglecting time connecting with your team which then requires you to spend more time with them; you’ll never get ahead.
So how do you give your team the time they need? Here are four steps to follow that will help you and your team.
1) Ask Them What They Need
The simplest, yet rarely done thing to do is ask your team what they need from you as the leader. How can you know what they need if you don’t ask? How can you properly assess if you’re leading them well if you don’t ask them? Every person and every team is different. You have to have open conversations about how much time is needed with team members and the quality of that time as well. Simply open the door and start inquiring with each team member what kind of time commitment would be valuable to them and then negotiate and navigate how to make it happen. Some will require more, some will require less, but you have to discover the threshold that gets the best results.
2) Allot Time For Connecting
If your schedule is redlining with tasks, duties, projects, and other meetings you’ll never have time to connect with your team. If you only give them what’s leftover, there will never be any. And even if there is…it will probably be given with the least amount of energy, focus, and care you have left. You need to carve out time for your team as you would any other important thing on your schedule. You should be incredibly intentional about giving your team some of your best times. If you neglect your team they will eventually lose their way. Great leaders give a good portion of their time investing into their team’s development and this comes first on their schedule.
3) Be Fully Present
Studies have shown us the average iPhone user touches their phone 2,617 times per day. And that number is nearly doubled for Millennials. If not careful, we are drifting from our ability to be fully present with the people we are with. And in the context of leadership that proves to be a dangerous trend that will inhibit successfully working together. When you are with your team, be fully there. Don’t allow your mind to wander and be distracted by all the other things you could be doing. Nothing communicates a lack of value than to give the vibe you don’t want to be there. Eliminate all distractions and focus on them above all else. Bring your energy and excitement to the moment. Do whatever it takes to get yourself in a great mood when you’re going to be with your team members.
4) Meet With Purpose
Be purposeful with the time you invest with your team. This isn’t just shooting the breeze type of time, it’s time to add value and move the needle forward. Make sure you identify what the most important thing is you can do with the time allotted. I see many leaders squander their time with others by either being too laid back or sometimes too stuck in their own monologues. You must engage with the other person and give them exactly what it is they need to move forward. Don’t dominate the conversation with your own agenda without their involvement. And certainly don’t sit back so much that you miss an opportunity to inspire them. Always be evaluating if your meetings are getting the most value possible, if they aren’t…change it quickly and then repeat step one and walk through the steps again.
