At one point in my career I had a CEO tell me after I started my new job that I had “the most dysfunctional team he had ever seen.” I thought, “what did I get myself into?” Most managers will, at some point in their career, have to deal with dysfunction on a team at work. You may be part of a dysfunctioning management team, or you may inherit a team that was not set up for success. Even with a degree in Business and a Masters in Technology Management I, like most business professionals, was never formally trained to deal with dysfunctioning teams. So what do you do when confronted with a team that doesn’t trust, doesn’t commit and simply doesn’t work because of the dysfunction?
MANAGING A BUSINESS is a lot like downhill skiing. If you are skilled and have the right equipment you enjoy the rush of racing to the finish. When you hit that goal you feel slightly exhausted yet exhilarated and eagerly anticipate the next run. Of course there are many factors that will impact your business much in the same way there are factors that will impact your ability to navigate the black diamond slopes and reach your goal.
Training employees is smart business. But what if you are working for, or running, a small to mid-sized company that has no established employee training program? If you are spearheading this initiative, you will probably have a limited budget until you can prove the return on investment for training.
How do you get started, and how do you do you create effective training on a limited budget? At a minimum you will need the following for a successful training program:
The first task is to get a sponsor, if you are not the sponsor and you will need to use resources from other departments this step is critical. While the other work can be delegated this first step is a prerequisite to moving forward and it is up to you to get this approval first.