When a team is going through a transformation that is painful and they are hitting points of friction, typically have two choices:
- Power through and stick to the plan (a.k.a. the right fork) or
- Fall back to what was done before (a.k.a. the left fort)
It is very hard to do something new on top of doing something well and to expectations. There is a comfort in the left fork, even if wrong or just less efficient, in the way you have ‘always’ been doing them. It feels like it is ‘one less thing’ to consider and will still take the team to the logical end; it also gives the team something to blame when things aren’t working and the team is [being asked to] work long hours to compensate. How you break habits and find power in the right fork and transformation as a whole is critical to long-term, team success with taking the best road.
Reinforce the vision
You have to continue to remind the team what the vision and goals of picking the right path are. Even your most senior leaders need a refresher every once in a while; a good idea is to leverage your regular team meetings (if you don’t have those, you should consider having them) to highlight the key aspects of your transformation and/or focus on an aspect of it that you know multiple team members are struggling with.
Solution with the team with a focus on progress
In picking the right path, the team might need help in meeting everyone’s expectations. Always be available to the team to help them triage situations; helping them see how one might balance all the expectations reminding them that the path the team is taking is just as important as getting the job done. Progress, no matter how big or small, has value to the vision.
Stand up for the right path in public
It is easy to push the team from behind to educate them on a better way of doing things and putting your leaders in positions where they can evangelize and advocate. In reality, that will always hit plateaus (e.g. a very senior leader requests something that breaks the process) and showing your team that in those times you are still pushing the right path even in these times of potentially greater friction.
Staying on task when things get tough is a hard thing to do. Making sure that the team remembers what the overall goal(s) are and that you are always there for them in support, both in doing and supporting things, is crucial to the success and longevity of the team.