“If your team is stalled and unable to move forward, try “pop-starting” the team’s engine.” -Rum

We all sometimes find our teams stalling on something important. They can appear frozen…seemingly stuck in the sand and unable to move forward. There could be a thousand reasons why…maybe there is an issue with another team that our team depends on. Or maybe our team is beginning to work on an initiative that they haven’t worked on before. Or maybe, everyone on the team is burned out after a “barn burner” of a project.

Regardless of the reason for the stall, it’s critical to get the team moving forward again. As a leader, sometimes you need to “pop-start” the engine of the team. We live in an automatic transmission world now, so for those that don’t know the term, “pop starting” the engine means pushing a stick-shift car down the road and then engaging the clutch in first gear to start the engine. It’s a useful tactic if you are in said stick-shift car and your battery has died or your starter motor went to heaven.

So, if your team is stalled, meaning they are unable to move forward, try “pop-starting” the team’s engine. Here is how to do it.

The first step is to diagnose what factors are in play. When a team is stalled, there are three factors to examine.

• The first is the HILL factor, which are the external issues that could stall a team. Even if the team is functioning normally, a HILL factor can come along and block the team from being productive. Think disruptions in supply chains, dependencies on other teams, failure of senior leaders to make decisions and set priorities, etc.
• The second is the SKILL factor, which is the knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience needed by team members to be successful. If a team needs to market their product online, then they need deep knowledge and expertise in online marketing. When a team doesn’t have the SKILL that is critical to proceed, teams stall and productivity plummets.
• Finally, the third is the WILL factor, which is what team members need to see the work through. Think motivation, resilience, and grit. When a team doesn’t have the WILL to proceed, teams also stall.

Once the diagnosis is made, the next step is for leaders to take action to get the team unstuck and out of its stall.

• If it’s a HILL factor (i.e., an issue outside the team), then the leader and the team need to figure out what the external issues are and to problem-solve and coordinate with other outside stakeholders to get the team moving again.
• If it’s a SKILL issue, then the leader needs to focus attention on developing the critical know-how within the team. Think training, and a lot of instruction and development activities. The leader may also consider bringing in outside talent, temporarily or permanently, to bridge the skill gap.
• Finally, if it’s a WILL issue, the leader needs to focus on building engagement into the work and the team. This is done through a restorative leadership style that both energizes people and encourages their emotional investment in the work, but also sets the team up for sustaining that engagement over time.

In the real world where most of us habituate, leaders dealing with a stalled team are usually working through a combination of these factors. For example, imagine a team where there has been a significant, disruptive organizational restructuring that has disrupted workflows (HILL factor), that requires team members to be experts in a new program or process (SKILL factor), and that the team is just not having it, given all the disruption and ambiguity going on (WILL factor).

In this scenario, this leader should:

• Start with clearing up the most critical issues outside of the team (the HILL factor). For example, figuring out what needs to be done to reconnect and revive existing workstreams (or building new workstreams) that have dependencies with other teams.
• While doing that, using a very directive leadership style that focuses people on learning and doing the smallest steps necessary to be successful in the new program or process being rolled out in the team (the SKILL factor). Think micromanaging, but in a way that teaches people exactly what they need to know and gives them experience to build on. Though time-consuming and resource intensive on the leader’s part, this approach begins to budge the team slightly out of its stall, and any forward movement is a success.
• Finally, focus on connecting people on the team to the work being done in ways that energize them and build emotional investment and commitment (the WILL factor). This focus on restorative leadership floods the team with the motivation to move forward at a faster and sustained rate, effectively exiting them out of the stall.

So that is how you “pop-start” your team if it is stalled.

Take Action!

If your team has stalled, consider taking these actions:

1. Assess: Take a moment to gather information about why your team has stalled.
2. Diagnose: Decide which factors are at play (i.e., HILL, SKILL, and/or WILL).
3. Execute: Implement the leadership behaviors that are critical to pop-start the team, including clearing up external issues, exhibiting a directive leadership style to budge the team forward, and then a restorative leadership style to energize the team and build emotional investment.

About the Research:
This research supports the Restore® Initiative, LRI’s campaign to encourage you to take a critical and constructive look at your own engagement (your Engage® Battery), and to learn about restorative leadership behaviors that help to recharge your own and others’ engagement (your Restore® Battery). For more information, email credible-leader@lri.com or click on www.credible-leader.com.