Are you dealing with a 'Black Hole' team?

Many years ago now, I chose a secondment into a team in crisis. Front facing their customer satisfaction stats were very poor and their manager was approaching a breakdown. Relationships were poor and sickness absence was high. I'll be honest, its my idea of a dream job! A year on, we were well on the road to success and they gave me the job permanently, along with a promotion. My new manager told me that the team had been referred to amongst senior leaders as 'the black hole' - they just sucked endless resource into their darkness.

Black hole

I'm delighted to say the team are not, and never were, a black hole, they were just poorly led. The manager had been left to sink, when what they needed was support to address the issues. They were a perfect example of when leaders and managers duck the 'people' issues and ignore the micro behaviours that bring the culture of an organisation down. All it really took was a willingness to call out those things that were not ok. Everyone had the same choice - behave in an acceptable way or move on. No one is indispensable!

Now there were times when I felt nervous about quite how things would go, and I learned some valuable lessons. Sickness absence levels were high. There was one colleague in particular who simply could not maintain a level of attendance that was acceptable. Every reasonable adjustment was put in place, but nothing changed. Ultimately they were appropriately managed out of the organisation. To my surprise the response from the team was gratitude. They recognised their colleague had been treated with dignity and respect, and quite simply felt it should have happened several years ago rather than being allowed to drag on. Feeling that everyone is treated fairly is so important, and that includes applying policies equitably.

The team were also my first experience of suspending and dismissing colleagues for disciplinary issues. Key lessons - investigate thoroughly and listen carefully to any mitigation. Not everything is as it first appears and it is a time to avoid making assumptions and jumping to conclusions. Apart from the inherent fairness of a thorough investigation, when it ultimately comes to any disciplinary meeting it is essential.

The culture of an organisation is made up of the micro-behaviours that go on there, at all levels. If you want a healthy culture then as a leader you must address the behaviours that are at odds with that. They generally feel tougher to tackle than they actually are. Begin by listening to colleagues, really listening to them, and asking questions with curiosity, about how they feel about their work culture. What they love and what they hate. Ask them what the one thing is they would rather not tell you. Be prepared to own whatever they tell you. Reflect, and then take action.

Be the change. You've heard it before, and there is no escaping that when you want to others to change nothing is more powerful than modelling those behaviours first. Hypocrisy will get called out very quickly and you will have stalled before you even get started. Remember that we are all perfectly imperfect, so when you slip up, own up and apologise. Demonstrate that mistakes are human nature and its ok to make them, learn from them, and grow as a result.

If you know that there are issues with your culture at work and are considering your next steps, contact us about the support we can offer. Whether that is part of facilitating the conversations, or providing executive coaching to maintain your approach.