Shape Your Team to Get the Job Done

Rita's Dilemma:

Rita is the Sales Manager for an athletic apparel company. Her team was under-performing and everyone knew it. Sales quotas were not being met, new leads were not converting, and the team just wasn't working well together. She had done her best to set the tone and vision for the team, but they simply weren’t buying in.

The VP of Sales was watching Rita’s performance, and she was beginning to lose confidence. “Do I really have what it takes to lead this team?” she began to ask herself. Was her team the problem, or was it her?

Do I really have what it takes to lead this team?

She had high hopes for this team when she became Sales Manager a year ago, but their performance fell far short of her expectations. Did she misjudge their abilities, or did she just fail to inspire them to be the best they could be?

Somewhere along the way, a sense of team had been lost. It was 'every person for themself', and it was clear to Rita that some of them didn’t even want to be there. She resolved she might have to let a few people go. Not only were they consistently under-performing, some of them were oozing negativity and low morale.

Could she be a boss who didn’t compromise on goals and performance, but also be compassionate?

Rita's Goal:

First, Rita needed to identify the root of the problem. Second, she needed to find a way to get everyone on board with a shared vision. Third, she wanted to go about doing all of this as a compassionate boss who was concerned not only about the numbers, but also about the lives and well being of her team.

If she did end up having to let someone go, she wanted to make sure she did it compassionately and in a way that ultimately helped them find a position that fit.

She gave herself six months to reshape and rebuild her team into the high performing sales department she envisioned it could be.

The Solution:

Rita decided to give the Sweet Spot Effect a try after hearing about it from a colleague. She had each member of her team take the survey. It revealed that consistently, the employees who were doing well were working in a role that matched their Sweet Spot. On the other hand, the employees who were under-performing were not.

Additionally, Rita realized first hand that a person could have all the hard skills required for the job, but still be all wrong for it because of their Sweet Spot profile.

For example, the sales analyst position required someone who could churn out analytical reports week after week. While this work was crucial to the team, it was also very detail-oriented and rather monotonous. The role required a Stabilizer, but she realized the person she hired for the role was an Optimizer. This meant they wouldn’t be happy for very long without helping build systems to carry out the vision.

Once Rita realized this, she didn’t remove the employee from that position, because they definitely had the hard skills for job. Instead, she decided to give them an additional task of helping her build a system to increase the team's productivity.

This boosted their morale and productivity. Their work now included more tasks that aligned with their Sweet Spot. Rita did the same for other members of the team.

Ultimately, Rita lost two employees after taking the Sweet Spot survey, but they knew they would be happier somewhere else. In fact, they thanked Rita for introducing them to the Sweet Spot because now they could find the job they were wired for.

Rita’s bosses were impressed by the enthusiasm of her team, and the team members were recharged and more fulfilled by their work.