Regaining The Room
Introduction
In sports, there’s a common saying when a team has given up on a coach/manager: the coach/manager has “lost the room.” When someone has lost the room, that’s a sign that the current state of the team is beyond salvation and only a complete rebuild is going to get things back on track.
Unlike sports franchises, everyday companies don’t have millions of dollars to throw around to do a fire sale. In this case, it’s important that people have the overall awareness that they’ve potentially lost their team and that they need to find a way to recover it.
Recently, I’ve come to realize I might be in this same boat with the teams I help coordinate from a tech lead perspective. Yes, I am quite overly-dramatic (as someone who watches Stephen A. Smith on a regular basis, it’s too easy), but I wouldn’t say this is a gut reaction either. Here’s why I think this has happened and how I plan to get as much back as possible.
The Symptoms
Ever since I joined my current company, I’ve tried to ignite a culture change within my area. It didn’t take me too long to notice that we were too reactionary when it came to work and too work-focused when it came to everything else in general. The first half of that statement has undergone a significant improvement compared to before. Work-wise, I do feel that we have a good rhythm going, overall.
It’s the second part that I haven’t been able to get right, though, and that’s what bugs me. I’m not one of those “our team is a family” managers who tries to sell off some BS workplace culture, but I also don’t want us to be petal to the metal all the time either (a bit ironic coming from someone who works 60+ hours a week, but that’s a rant for another time).
I’ve had two meetings on the calendar that I feel have been an utter failure in my 2+ years in my current role:
- A monthly KT series: I created this for more team-specific KT as the org-wide ones didn’t necessarily always apply to us. Ideally, I’d want to see people volunteer to participate, but that hasn’t really been the case (and I’m sure people are sick of hearing me present at this point).
- Monthly social call: Basically what the title says: a meeting where work talk is off-limits. We get some participation (and making this meeting mandatory is a no-go of course), but I still feel it could be better.
How To Improve
I’ve said in the past that I’m big on having 1:1 meetings with everyone on my team, and I do want those discussions to be productive and full of feedback, on both sides. I’m not sure if that has been the case though, and that’s probably my fault. Instead of focusing on work (since this is what standup should be used for), I should be focusing on questions like these:
- What should we be doing better as a team? What do you see as potential areas of improvement?
- How do you want to grow in your career? What can I do to help you get to that point?
It’s the second question that I need to be doing a better job of making a regular part of my meetings. We all as engineers have our own visions of self-growth and where we want to wind up in x number of years, and a good lead is someone who owns that and helps provide that opportunity for their team. If I see others continuing to excel on their journey, then I know I’m being a useful part of that process for them.
A Harsh Reality?
Within my team, we have a mixture of both FTEs and contractors. What I’m still trying to understand is whether that actually matters with some of my concerns above. While I’d want to say no in an ideal world, my gut tells me that isn’t the case either. I really want to break down those walls since at the end of the day, every team member is an important part of our team, regardless of employment status.
Are my feelings of “losing the room” a result of power imbalance? Do people think of me differently because I’m technically senior or work an unfathomable amount? I don’t want that to be the case. I want to be considered someone who is approachable and part of the team just like anyone else.
If anyone has any suggestions on what I can do to help break down these walls, I’d be happy to hear them. Because I do feel stuck there at times.
Conclusion
As someone who believes in transparency, I’ll be sure to report on my progress in a few minutes. Thanks for all the suggestions in advance!
