Is Something Quietly Undermining Your Team's Morale?

I have been working in Leadership Training and Coaching for 13 years.

Since starting as a Communication Trainer and working my way up to a (Team) Coach for senior executive teams, I've learned a lot about "the secret recipes" it takes to solve some of the biggest problems leaders face. In fact, they are a lot easier to solve than most people think. You just need to change how you're thinking about them.

Why should you care, you might say?

Because according to a Gallup study, disengaged employees have a 37% higher absenteeism rate and 18% lower productivity. This disengagement can spread to others, affecting the entire team's output.

Moreover, a study by the University of Warwick found that happier workers are 12% more productive. Conversely, teams with low morale can experience a decline in the quality of their work, leading to increased error rates, customer complaints, and a higher need for rework.

And last, but not least, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that low morale leads to 50% higher voluntary turnover rates. I'm guessing you already know how that can disrupt team dynamics, result in the loss of institutional knowledge, and increase recruitment and training costs.

So here are the silent killers, and some questions to get you moving towards solutions:

1. Unresolved conflict:

   • When is the last time you pretended not to see the frowning faces or not to hear the grunting, instead of asking "What's up and what do you need?".

   • How have you agreed in your team you would be dealing with conflict, when it arises?

   • If you haven't spoken about it until now, the next best time is now. The worst possible time is "when you get the chance".

     
     

2. Lack of recognition:

   • When is the last time you praised, thanked or even commented on the (good/ great/ excellent) work of one of your team members, outside of a scheduled one-on-one session?

   • How often do (you think) your team members do it with their team(s)?

   • When did you last ask them about this?

     
     

3. Poor communication:

   • When is the last time your team members took turns to speak during meetings, without interrupting the speaker?

   • When is the last time they were reminded-either by you or even by one of them- why it's important to take turns when speaking?

   • How often do you think they remind their teams of the importance of listening and taking turns to talk?

   • How often do your team members say what they specifically need instead of complaining of what isn't working?

   • How likely are they to ask their team-members "What do you need?"?

     
     

4. Emotional disconnect:

   • How often do people say what they need instead of silently waiting for others to say something?

   • How often do concerns (maybe phrased as complaints) get discounted with a solution from you instead of exploration?

   • How do you think your team members handle concerns and challenges that arise in their teams?

   • Do they listen and engage the thinking of the "complainer"? Or do they fix it to move on as "you're on a tight schedule"?

     
     

Before you close this window...

... thinking you're (I hope) inspired yet (very possibly) confused, answers these:

1. Rank the above "silent killers" from the most significant right now in your team, to the least significant.

2. Then rank them from the easiest to tackle to most difficult to tackle.

3. Choose one action to take this week.

4. Now go do it.

   
   

See? That wasn't so hard.

Now over to you: how do silent killers show up in your team?

p.s. I'm sure you noticed the "silent killers" often show up together. One way of hitting several targets with one throw is to have (more) constructive feedback conversations. Here's a prep-list to get you started.

Thanks for reading and see you next time!