Allow Your Team to Purge

We all know them: those little irritations that get under our skin, free-floating around our psyche until there are enough of them to begin undermining our sense of place and purpose within our work. Just as the build-up of barnacles on the hull cause corrosion and make ships heavier and harder to steer, just as the build-up of static electricity within some gas pipes can eventually cause an explosion - the build-up of irritations, frustrations and offenses within a work-team may lead to destructive behaviours for the workplace and the workers.

Barnacles need to be cleaned away. Gas pipes need to be earthed to dissipate the static charge.

A senior team leader I've enjoyed coaching was chatting with me about improving the way he ran meetings with his key staff. This had been our main focus for coaching for weeks because he believed (and was subsequently proven correct) that a small amount of focussed effort on creatively preparing these meetings would yield high results. During this particular conversation he was reflecting on the success he'd achieved by outlining his ingredients of the highly effective meeting, when he made the following comment:

"Somewhere somehow staff need a safe place where they can purge themselves of their frustrations."

That wonderful phrase struck a chord with me. Don't we all need some forum where we can "purge" ourselves of our gripes, disappointments, worries - those matters that vex us, like stones in our shoes?

When the gripes simmer away for long enough, they may cause the team-member to start looking for greener grass elsewhere. Soon the team leader has to train a new "sheep" looking for grass that's greener than their last workplace. 

In 2005, Monster Inc (a leading global careers and personnel agency) published a study designed to aid companies in maintaining both high productivity and high retention rates among their staff. See Retention Report . In it, they made the following comment:

"Having a real-time and continuous practise to monitor employee sentiment regarding their jobs is becoming a necessity in a workplace expected to become more competitive"

This flies in the face of the following two cultural norms within workplaces: 

·          maintain a code of silence (keeping your thoughts and feelings completely to yourself), or

·          air your frustrations somewhere where the boss can't hear you and the problems can't be dealt with.

I was excited to hear a manager speaking the way this team leader did. To allow and encourage staff to air the issues, to talk them through - with some process attached and with a mechanism in place to follow-through on them - is forward thinking, empowering, courageous. It's already helping this man's team perform with higher morale, energy and creativity.

If this strikes a chord with you - if you think your own office needs this - take a sheet of paper now and jot down the first thoughts that the following questions prompt.

1.  What are the names of the people who most need to get stuff off their chest in your team?

2.  Generally speaking, what would make it safe for them to do so? What would they need from you?

3.  Looking over the names again, what benefits would you expect to gain for enabling them to “purge”?

4.  How can you experiment with a process for this - without it either becoming a major focus or turning your own office into a counselling centre?

5.  How could you further use this process to empower your staff to grow in responsibility and empathy?

6. Where and when can you start?

In any case, we build companies out of people. People require as much maintenance and realignment as do computers, forklifts and databases. As with any type of change, this process and concept should be introduced carefully and intentionally – perhaps piloted with a smaller team or a select few. To truly retain the best of our staff members and gain the best from our staff members, allowing them to purge once in a while is a must.