As Many Times as It Takes: Consistent Enforcement of Team Standards

I’m often confronted by leaders who, in a state of frustration ask me, “How many times do I have to correct the same mistake or enforce the same standard?”

No matter the situation, my answer is always the same: “As many times as it takes.”

When leaders have the courage to hold people accountable to established standards, they are demonstrating their commitment to the team. This demonstration allows a leader to maintain the trust they have earned with others. While trust is the foundation of all great teams, standards are the fiber that holds them together. Standards set the level of character and performance required to remain a productive member of the team.

A team member’s failure to achieve a standard typically stems from one of three things: unawareness, inability, or unwillingness.

· Unawareness: Leaders should fill this gap with education. Inform people of the standard and, most importantly, the “why” behind it. There is a lot of power packed into the “why.”

· Inability: Fill this gap with training. Equip people with necessary skills, and train or retrain if needed. If training doesn’t solve the problem, you must consider if that person is in the right position or if he/she should remain on the team at all.

· Unwillingness: Confront this problem head-on and face-to-face as soon as possible. When team members choose not to perform to a standard, they are sabotaging the team’s efforts. If counseling fails, you are left with two choices: change the standard to a new, lower one, or remove that member from the team.

Regardless of the situation, how you handle the problem matters. Being demanding without being demeaning is essential. When team members are committed, they expect to be held accountable, but they also expect to be treated with dignity and respect.

When leaders fail to show respect, team member commitment may wane and devolve to a merely compliant form of team participation. Compliant team members do only what they are told when they are told to do it — nothing more and nothing less. Team members who adopt a “simply compliant” attitude often drift into complacency.

Consider for a moment two definitions of complacency. One explains that complacency is a feeling of calm satisfaction with one’s own abilities that prevents trying harder. Another defines complacency as a dangerous state of self-satisfaction coupled with an unawareness of trouble or controversy. Regardless the definition, I know I don’t want complacency anywhere on my team — and you shouldn’t either.

I challenge you to reflect for a moment. Have you gotten tired of repeating yourself? Have you given up on certain standards because they seem too hard to enforce? Have you sold yourself on the idea that people aren’t listening or just don’t care? If so, consider what might change if you started enforcing those standards again. Have the courage to hold your team accountable to its standards — as many times as it takes.

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As Many Times as It Takes: Consistent Enforcement of Team Standards was originally published in Horizon Performance on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.