|
How to Turn
Around a
Dysfunctional
Department
As the
economy
starts to
improve, you
may be
considering
changing
jobs. If you
are in a
management
role, most
opportunities
will have
considerable
challenges,
including
“turning
around a
dysfunctional
department.”
What would
you do if
faced with
this
particular
type of
situation?
While the
person in
this article
is a first
line
manager, the
advice
provided
could easily
apply to a
vice
president or
CEO.
Jim Sullivan
had never
been more
excited in
his entire
career.
Today is his
first day in
a new job as
manager of
an R & D
department
for one of
the
country’s
leading
medical
device
companies.
His new
boss, Tom
Browning,
had
mentioned in
the
employment
interview
that there
were a few
problems to
be addressed
with the
staff, but
what
department
doesn’t have
problems?
Flash
forward four
weeks and
Jim is
having
serious
buyer’s
remorse.
His
department
is behind on
almost every
metric. His
best
engineer
just
resigned to
join a
competitor.
After
reviewing
the files of
every
employee,
Jim
discovered
that four
out of the
eight
engineers
received a
“Does not
meet
standards”
on their
most recent
performance
appraisals.
What would
you do in
this
situation?
Sure it
would be
tempting to
bail and go
somewhere
else. But
what would
you say to a
prospective
employer? As
an executive
coach, I
have helped
a number of
individuals
in similar
situations.
The purpose
of this
article is
to recommend
a
Five-step
Process
intended to
bring about
positive
results in a
reasonable
period of
time. I know
that this is
a tough
challenge,
but like all
of us, Jim
will face
many
challenges
in his
career and
there may be
valuable
lessons to
be learned
from this
situation.
Here are my
recommendations
for Jim:
Caveat: The
degree to
which Jim
can move
aggressively
in this
situation
will be
dictated by
the
organization’s
culture. If
his initial
attempts
meet with
strong
resistance,
he will need
to develop a
schedule for
change that
is spread
out over a
longer
period of
time.
1.
Pull
together
performance
data
Before Jim
can devise a
turnaround
plan, he
needs to
have all of
the facts
available
regarding
his team's
performance.
As part of
his data
gathering,
Jim should
meet with
his internal
customers
and
encourage
them to be
brutally
honest in
their
evaluation
of his
department.
Let them
know that he
will meet
with them
again once
his
turn-around
plan is
completed.
Caveat:
Jim should
be prepared
for strong
criticism
from his
internal
customers.
If his
department's
performance
has been as
bad as he
suspects,
then he will
have to
suffer
through
feedback on
what has
gone wrong
in the past.
Jim should
stay calm,
listen and
take notes.
There is
nothing to
be gained
from getting
defensive
with these
individuals.
2.
Meet
individually
with direct
reports
Jim should
go into
these
meeting with
an open mind
and listen
more than he
talks. He
should ask
for an
analysis of
the
department's
performance
from each
individual
and
suggestions
for making
improvements.
While he is
conducting
these
meetings,
Jim will be
making an
assessment
of the
quality of
individuals
he has
inherited.
He should be
looking for
possible
leadership
talent as
well as
people who
may have to
leave.
Caveat:
There may be
situations
where
employees
are "thrown
under the
bus" by
colleagues.
It's Jim's
job to
separate
fact from
fiction and
not to make
snap
judgments.
Over time he
will be able
to identify
the good
performers
from the
poor.
3.
Compile a
written
department
assessment
and
improvement
plan
Up to this
point there
have been a
lot of
people
watching Jim
waiting to
see what he
will do. It
is now time
for him to
meet with
his boss,
Tom
Browning,
and layout
his findings
and
recommendations.
This meeting
will tell
Jim a lot
about his
boss and the
type of
support he
can expect
in executing
his plan.
Let's assume
that this
meeting goes
well and
that Jim has
Tom's full
support.
4.
Present
findings and
recommendations
to team
This is a
critical
meeting
where Jim
will quickly
find out the
difficulty
of his
challenge
and how
aggressive
he may need
to act. His
plan may
involve a
re-design of
roles and
responsibilities.
It may also
consist of
new control
systems to
measure
performance
on a more
frequent
basis. Over
the next
several
weeks Jim
will be able
to measure
individual
performance
with his own
eyes. If
some people
are failing,
he will need
to quickly
put them on
a
performance
plan. He
will also be
determining
who has
leadership
qualities
and who
could be
appointed as
group
leaders.
Caveat:
This will
not be an
easy
process. He
may receive
push-back
from people
outside his
department,
when he
takes strong
action with
an
underperforming
employee.
This will be
an important
test of
character
for Jim.
5.
Follow up
relentlessly
It will be
important
for Jim to
meet weekly
with his
team and
frequently
with his
internal
customers.
If he has
appointed
group
leaders, he
can have
them give
status
reports at
the team
meetings.
Over a
period of
time, Jim
may be able
to recruit
talented and
motivated
people into
his
department.
It will be
important
for him to
develop a
good support
system,
including
friends and
family,
outside of
his work
environment.
It is easy
to get
burned out
in a
turn-around
effort. A
good support
system will
help Jim
take time to
forget about
work and
renew him
for this
difficult
challenge.
TOP OF PAGE
|
