Every team has that one person or small group of people who just do not get it.  What do you do?  There are three steps that you can take to get to where you need to be.  First, recognize that we all are “that guy” sometimes.  Then you get to the root of the problem and create a solution.  The final step is to follow-up on your created solution.

By recognizing that we ourselves are not perfect is a huge step.  All of us have been the slow person on the team at one point.  If you haven’t been then your leaders are not challenging you by placing you in areas out of your comfort zone.  This will stunt your growth.  When the same person on your team always seems to shine, then lift up his abilities and efforts to your boss.  They may be ready to climb to the next level on the hierarchy.

The second step is to get to the root of the problem.  Tom Lemon was my supervisor and mentor when I became a Crew Chief instructor.  He always used to tell me, “either you don’t know or you don’t care.”  Take his advice and determine if there is a lack of ability or simple laziness.  Once you know the root of the issue, create a solution that will fit the situation.  Sometimes people just do not know what they are doing.  In this situation you offer training.

If they know and just do not care then provide them with corrective training.  This can be anything from simple verbal corrections to the possibility of a firing or kicking off of the team.  Just make sure the penalty is appropriate.  Do not feel bad if you need to get rid of a lazy person or to be strict with them, you will only hurt the team by ignoring the problem.

Now you know the root cause and created a solution.  Here is your opportunity to utilize a very powerful tool: follow-up.  So many situations can be corrected much faster by simply following-up.  Check on the progress that is made and if there is none, start over.  Do this immediately after creating the solution.  If you wait too long the problem may still exist.  If the problem is fixed then give praise for the efforts and move on.

This process allows you to fix the problems and help the team members grow.  You may even be able to get your star performer’s efforts noticed.  When your leaders see that you allow people to lag, they associate you with their efforts.  Therefore, be sure to be strict when needed.  By using this simple three-step process you can move your team forward and ultimately allow yourself to move up to another level!