Refocus Your Team in 27 Ways

Summary: Rescue your team from the deep-end by using one, all or several of these tips that can realign their focus with the company.

You may think you have a great team that will never let you down. You have worked hard to build and develop your team members into quality employees and teammates. Despite your hard work, there will be times that your team slips and falters. Through these tips, you may discover that one person is the problem or that the entire team is out-of-whack. Help your team get back on track to making their goals and finishing tasks so that you can all go back to a good work environment.

Observe – You must quietly observe what your team is doing to learn where they have gone wrong.

Ask – Ask your team if they need help figuring out the problem or if they are able to do it on their own.

Care – Determine if the members of your team even care to figure the problem out.

Retrace – Direct your team to physically retrace the steps that have led to their problems. Have them list those steps out.

Back-Up – Direct the team to go back to the point when things were working. Have them list the steps out.

Hear – Ask them to listen to each other. Have personal feelings been hurt or offended?

Sticky – Put sticky notes in a timeline of where certain events occurred.

Draw – Try to draw out the events that led up the problem with markers, visual graphics, or other terms.

Lego’s – You can use Lego’s with your group, directing them to put together the perfect team. Discuss what is missing from their team.

Acknowledge – Lead the team to a point where they can acknowledge the problem themselves.

Find – Locate others that can look in on the team and help them fix the problem.

Meditate – Mediation techniques can be effective in getting everyone heard and to find a solution for the team.

Mix – Try mixing-up how the team members view each other and the tasks given.

Replace – You may have to replace members of your team in order to get it back to a successful team.

Hear – Active listening and hearing skills are important to have so maybe next time the problem can be avoided before it gets serious.

Find – Discover and identify the strengths of each team member.

Confront – Invite team members to take on any attitudes or behaviors that hold themselves back.

Look – Once you get the problems taken care, keep moving forward. Don’t look back and let the team slide back into that position.

Record – Make an agreement of what each team member agrees to do, signing the agreement as a covenant for team unity.

Document – Keep record of the progress the team makes. If they revert back to their bad ways, you will be able to point out the things they already accomplished.

Goals – Make team goals as a team.

Set – Establish team rules and responsibilities.

Draw – Draw the plans out and make them visible at all times.

Expect – Expect that positive changes will come.

Mentor – Turn to positive mentors that can help guide the team in the right direction.

Model – It all starts with the leadership. Model what a positive team environment should be like and let them see what other positive teams look like.

Build – Trash the team and start over.

How do you refocus your team? Share any things that have worked for you with us in the comments below.

To learn more about how to strengthen your team, read these articles:

• Top 10 Ways to Effectively Manage a Team
• Want to Be a Great Leader? Learn to Listen
• Learn Better Ways of Managing Your Teams

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