A little less whining and we could get more done. Seriously. Rather than whining about everything, teams would do well to find solutions to issues that arise and take a positive approach to their work. I was working with a team recently that had a number of problems thrown at them. And I’ll admit there were some thorny problems to deal with! However, immediately in a team meeting the whining began. OK…I can accept some whining for a short period of time. We are all a bit frustrated. I get it. Especially this team, they have had many issues over the few months on this project. But it just kept going on – lots of “poor me’s.” Time to put an end to that! It is unproductive and unprofessional.
Here are a few tips to move past the whining and get down to some serious problem solving. First, though, I do think you need to give people a bit of time to get it out of their system. Most especially when there have been many issues or communications have been lacking. Not long…just 5 – 10 minutes is sufficient. I worked with one client who had, unfortunately, started a large change initiative within the organization without socializing what was happening with the employees. I went in to get the team past the issues (they were, understandably upset) and begin to get their suggestions on how best to move forward with the changes that had to happen. We spent 10 minutes “getting it out of our systems.” And that is exactly how I phrased it. I acknowledged the approach was wrong but it happened and we all make mistakes. So I told them to spend the next 10 minutes just venting. And then we move on to planning. Worked like a charm.
Tip Number 1: Have a problem to solve? Get the team together and start brainstorming options. Don’t consider what has not worked in the past; not relevant (and if you go down that road you open up the gates to whining again.) Ask them to be creative and innovative! Look at the opportunities that the problem brings to the table; the challenge of solving it.
Tip Number 2: Generally, be positive! If you are positive, the team will be positive. Here is a short story to illustrate the importance of a positive attitude on the part of the team leader:
A client asked me to come in and evaluate two project managers – one did a really great job (we’ll call him Project Manager A) with his team – they were productive and engaged and consistently upbeat. The other (we’ll call him Project Manager B) didn’t do such a great job. His team was not engaged, obviously seems distracted and “beaten down” and were desperately trying to get off his projects. Both project managers were working on key projects that had many, many changes on a fairly regular basis. Here is what I observed with both project managers:
| Project Manager A |
Project Manager B |
|
Scenario: Telling team about another change necessary for the project. |
Scenario: Telling team about another change necessary for the project. |
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Project Manager A walks into the team meeting and begins his conversation: “Hey group – we have got quite an opportunity ahead of us. I just got out of a meeting with the stakeholders and we have an opportunity to do some great things on this project. I’m so excited to tell you about it!” |
Project Manager B walks into the team meeting and begins his conversation : “Oh my gosh! You will not believe it. We have yet another change to the project. This is ridiculous and I have no idea how we will accomplish it. I’ll tell you something – it’s not just me who is going to look bad, you all will also if we can’t pull this off.” |
Who are you going to want to work with? Who is challenging you, getting you excited about the opportunities and has a contagious positive attitude? Project Manager A, of course. You can’t get away from Project Manager B quick enough!
Tip Number 3: Communicate frequently. Frequent communication cuts down on gossip and eliminates distractions in the job. When you communicate frequently with employees, team members and others in the organization, you keep them engaged and you open up the doors for when questions arise. People are more likely to come forward with questions or concerns when there is frequent communication within the business.
Tip Number 4: Address the issues. If you have a few employees who are the “problem children” – frequently whining about the job – address the problem with them one-on-one. They may have legitimate concerns that need to be addressed. However, whining about the problem simply contributes to the problem, not the solution. Rather, have employees take the lead role in solving the problem, working with others. We don’t want employees to just whine about what’s not working – we want them to participate in the solution. Besides solving the problem, team leadership skills are developed in the process!
How about you? What are some of your tips and best practices for handling whiners? How do you get them back on track?
