Mindset Matters. As a supervisor, you have to constantly evaluate the going-ons of your department, but that doesn’t stop at tasking. It’s your job to build a team that is well-rounded and capable. However, it’s more than a supervisor mindset. It’s about how to use mindset zones to build a better team.
If you or your team isn’t in the right mindset you are going to encounter a lot of problems that will take away from your leadership potential. We broke down the three mindset zones to help you determine where your team sits and how you can better them.
Fear Zone:
When your team member is in the fear zone they’ll often be seen as anxious, apprehensive, or even combative. They often won’t volunteer for anything and will avoid asking questions.
This is the time to build your team member up and gain some trust.
Try helping them to determine what is causing fear and help them work through the issue. Remember it’s all about the approach. You don’t run at an animal that’s backed into a corner. Same premise, you don’t make a team member that’s in the fear zone feel unsafe, incapable, or dumb.
I like asking questions that I know the team member is going to know or is confident about and building them up from there.
Learning Zone:
This is the team member that is often volunteering to do things they’ve never done before. They’re focusing on their tasks and trying to improve them.
When you have this type of mindset on your team it’s time to bring in new factors. Teach a new skill, develop a new training tip, and focus on tasking.
This is going to be a great team member for you as the supervisor to practice communicating and learning how this member learns.
Growth Zone:
This is the team member that is comfortable with all aspects of the job. They’re confident in their abilities, in you, and will be starting to think about their next steps career-wise.
This is where you develop your replacement for when YOU get promoted. Teach them how to lead, how to move forward in the department, career planning, and develop personal skills.
This shows them that you want what’s best for them and will help to avoid the “I’m stuck in a dead-end job” mentality. It shifts that toxic ideology to … “I may not be moving up anytime soon, but I’m learning how to so I’ll be ready when the time comes”
The Supervisor Mindset:
As a supervisor you have a job to do, a team to manage, a million pieces of paper, and reporting…lots of reporting. By determining the different zones that your team members are in you’re going to save your time by coaching efficiently.
Remember, these zones can be macro or micro but don’t waste your time on teaching certain things if your team member isn’t in the right zone.
