3 Reasons Team Engagement Could Be Down and What You Can Do About It

3 Reasons Team Engagement Could Be Down and What You Can Do About It

Executives I work with often struggle with team engagement as one of their biggest yet most illusive problems.  Often they view engagement as the responsibility of the employee and push for solutions that are centered around the employee.  But in almost all cases of low employee engagement the cause can be linked directly to management style and practices.  

This is not to say that those managers who struggle with employee engagement are bad managers.  Often times they are not aware that some of their behaviors and stylistic approaches to solving problems create mixed signals or confusion to heir employees which can lead to disengagement.  The fix can be as simple as understanding and observing these behaviors and replacing them with behaviors that encourage and inspire employee engagement.  Here are three things that could be causing employee disengagement and some ideas to fix them.

1. Inconsistency

This is probably one of the most frustrating engagement killers out there and it is so easy sometimes to get caught up in this because it has so many ways it can manifest.  This can range from favoring certain employees whom you like over that problem employee who just always rubs you the wrong way to frequently changing the expectations, scope or deadlines of that project you have everyone working on diligently.  This can also stem from excessive moodiness where employeees may not know how you will respond to problems from day to day or even inconsistency with constructive criticism and praise.

The solution to this is pretty simple, but not easy.  Consistency is an important trait for any leader to have.  It is what allows the people who report to you to know and understand your expectations and how they can succeed.  Not knowing what is expected from your manager, seeing inconsistent attitudes towards others in the team as well as yourself and constantly changing projects, deadlines and work loads will keep an employee from fully engaging in their job.

2. Micromanagement

I see this a lot with new managers or executives that were superior as a technology master but struggle when tasked to lead other technology employees.  The thought of being more hands off on the actual completion of tasks and more in the business of directing and delegating is often unnatural to these brilliant technologists.  They have spent their entire career improving their craft in order to move up and now everything they knew almost works against them.  Often this leads to a certain level of insecurity and a desire to want to control outcomes of their direct reports.  It is sometimes difficult to change from relying on yourself to succeed vs. your success being based around how well you can drive others to succeed.  In my executive coaching practice I  focus very heavily on this mental and professional shift in new executives and how to make this transition.

The solution here is to build and strengthen trust of your employees.  Understand that everyone does things differently and that does not make it right or wrong.  Be more focused on results rather than methods and provide guidance with the intent to have them succeed in their own way.  There are many different paths that lead to success and you have only walked one of them.

3. Distractions and burnout       

I have included these two together because they can exist individually but usually one leads to and feeds the other.These particular issues have become more evident through the recent pandemic where many businesses were not only forced to downsize but also convert to a remote working environment.  Now you have people working from home who may not have a private office area who are surrounded by an incredible amount of distractions and those same people are now having to pick up the slack for a smaller team size.  Depression, alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide all increased during the pandemic and all this playing together pushed team engagement to a staggering low.

The solution here is for you to engage more with your employees.  You need to take time to really get to know the people that work for you.  Weekly 1 on 1 discussions to discuss problems, aspirations and goals helps to bring you a little closer to your employees so they feel like you are genuinely concerned about their well-being and success.  Take the time to talk about hobbies, family, etc. if they are willing to open up to attempt to relate to them on a more personal level.  Professional does not have to be completely devoid of personal.  Understanding your employees more will help you to be a better leader and also a better professional advocate for them.

How is your team engagement?  Do you feel you have a fully engaged team, or are you frustrated with their level of engagement.  Post a reply in the comments and let us know.