The Crisis Team Meeting - Blair McPherson

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The Crisis Team Meeting

Blair McPherson

Published Date9 Years Ago - 1179 Views

This was one of those team meetings, the kind where grievances are aired and frustrations expressed. Whether intentionally or not there's always the risk of being undermined as the manager. I've been here before as a team manger of front line staff, as a head of service and as a director. On one occasion it was a bad inspection report, on another a serious allegations of wide spread abuse and on one occasion the unpleasant and with no  prior warning discovery of a big hole in the budget. 

 

These people are professionals they may feel aggrieved at the way they have been reported, they may feel that those they placed their trust in have let them down but they know that they should have done better. Your job is to get them to take collective responsibility for putting things right. You need to make it clear that immediate improvement is required. They are a good team, skilful and experienced not lacking in character or commitment but a slackness has crept in a carelessness that threatens to derail our ambitions and destroy are credibility. This should not have happened, people know their role and responsibilities, they know what is expected of them. They are capable of brilliance but they must command and communicate better still. They should have done more to support each other, they should have recognised where staff were being over stretched and they should have monitored situations more closely. There should be no unpleasant surprises.

The mood was focused, a line drawn under the crippling disappointment of recent mistakes and an eagerness shared by every member of the team to work on this newfound and uncharacteristic frailty. This was no time to talk of crisis. As dramatic as recent events had been this was not who we are. 

 

Blair Mcpherson author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk 
 

leadership management

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