My son saw a quote this week that said, “Metta World Peace is the dirtiest player since Ron Artest.”  We both laughed about that one.  But just claiming a name like World Peace or Low Maintenance Team, does not ensure you act like your title.

Look, I am not a genius or a visionary guru who developed this Low Maintenance Team (LMT) in theory and then put processes in place to prove the theory.  Most of the processes I implemented came from making mistakes that made my life more difficult.

I was looking for solutions that would make my life easier while increasing productivity.  Any leader who doesn’t want to a simpler life with a more productive team is deranged.  That was my goal.  That is how I came up with the solutions I am sharing here.

LMT Leaders: Get To Work!

LMT Rigid Flexibility

Rigid flexibility may sound contradictory.  But, I would express to my team my willingness to adapt based on their suggestions.  My one caveat was we could be flexible in our methods but not on our values

As a result, team members felt empowered to suggest new ideas and processes that would streamline our LMT even more.  Yearly, I would conduct a Start, Stop, and Continue workshop to solicit new ideas from the team.

  • Start:  What do we need to start doing?
  • Stop:  What do we need to stop doing?
  • Continue:  What do we need to continue doing?

These workshops often spawned some of our best ideas for improving our LMT.  Just as often, they informed me I was doing something that hurt their productivity or morale.  Sometimes that stung.  But I was grateful for the candid feedback and made the necessary changes.  These workshops and the candor of my people made me a better leader.

LMT Decisions

One of the best side effects of developing a Low Maintenance Team was I rarely had to make day to day decisions for members of my team.  Because I followed the principles of Surrendering Self, Hiring Character, and Marinating My People, I had teams that functioned well without me.

Another key element was my attitudes towards meetings.  There is never a reason for a meeting unless action items result.  Too many meetings can be informational and do nothing to move a team forward.  Information is why Al Gore created the internet! Use email!  Action items are the litmus test to a necessary meeting.

LMT Coaching

Prioritize Strengths:  On a scale of 1-10 people can be a 3 in some tasks and a 7 in others.  As a leader, I believe I am good enough to add 2 points through my coaching.

That means I can get someone who is a 3 in something up to a 5.  They will never be the best on my team in that skill, but they must meet the minimum standard.

On the flip side, moving someone from a solid 7 to a 9 makes them hugely valuable and impactful for my team and for the larger organization.

When someone is a 9, they get raises and promotions and can help teach that skill to others.  This is where I tried to spend the majority of my time coaching as I led Low Maintenance Teams.

Chain of Command:  The buck stops with me, the leader. But, I always established an informal chain of command.  Due to my hiring practices and culture building efforts, my influence leaders often handled internal team issues and solved everyday problems.

This left me to tend to strategic thinking and other areas only the leader could accomplish.  I was not in their way, nor doing their jobs because there were peer leaders in the group that stepped up to lead.

On-boarding:  I maintained a check list of items I would do with every new hire.  For the first 6 months in their position, each hire had specific things I did for them, things they did for me, and things they did with others.

  • I discussed our Vision, Mission and Values with them on Day 1.
  • I developed a 90 Day Plan with them to guide all their activities and reviewed their progress on that plan every 30 days. This plan had 3-4 goals with clear actionable steps involved.
  • I assigned a peer mentor who epitomized everything a LMT member should be.
  • I planned days for me to observe their work and coach as well as days for them to watch and learn from experienced peers.
  • I applauded well-intentioned mistakes and coached problem-solving.

The Bottom Line:

As a leader of a Low Maintenance Team, I developed certain processes and practices that in hindsight, kept my team from getting bogged down.  I made sure that the processes and practices of my teams were in alignment with the principles and values we claimed.

While developing and being a Low Maintenance Team is a mindset, these are practical steps that will help your team BECOME AN LMT.

To become an LMT the leader and the led must continuously be looking for a better way to do everything.  That is the final item Low Maintenance Teams do differently:  LMT’s Grow Constantly.  I will cover that in my next post.

Question:

What other practices can a leader of a LMT put to stay in alignment with their values?