Has your team at work started the new year flat? Are they complacent, at best? Meredith Garcia, of Up A Notch Consulting, suggests this is a good time to evaluate your team to ensure that they provide the value necessary to flourish in your organization. Garcia presented tips in her talk, “Preparing for 2012: Is Your Team Where You Want Them to Be?” for a McCombs Alumni Network Career Resources webinar on Dec 15.

Garcia says team members may be coasting for a variety of reasons. They might have had a recent success or enjoyed the completion of a project. They may lack leadership or be off track due to organizational changes or personal problems.

She recommends a process called Team Needs Analysis to redirect and revitalize a team. Garcia suggests team leaders first assess where they are and look at where they want to be--then the Needs Analysis will enable them to fill this gap.

The four elements of Team Needs Analysis are:

1. Clearly defined expectations of a job
2. Measurement scale (are vs. need to be)
3. Plan to fill the gap
4. Definition of ideal

According to Garcia, a trusting environment is a required foundation for this analysis. The team leader must genuinely “want to set (team members) up for success” and he must demonstrate a sincere interest in the employee’s growth and development.

She says employers must also make the tools readily available to address the gap in performance and team members must be held responsible for implementing the plan. Their commitment and progress should be monitored on a regular basis.

Garcia admits that the Needs Analysis process can be time consuming but insists the results are worth it. She says it “demonstrates your commitment to the team’s success, (your) expectations will be clearly defined and measured. It “takes the guesswork out of accountability and performance reviews and forces you to clearly identify where you are and where you want to be.”

She says it is essential for a team leader to “own the responsibilities of people management.” Garcia suggests that one cannot be a successful leader without being a good people manager.

Meredith Garcia has more than 17 years of experience training, coaching and leading teams in private, public and non-profit organizations. She works with teams and individuals to improve performance through executive coaching, career counseling, needs analysis, situational consulting, presentations, and training.

Visit the Listen Now! tab of the Alumni Career Resources website to listen to the complete webinar and view Garcia's presentation slides.