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IT Management: Tips for Energizing Your Teams

By Dennis McCafferty on 2011-04-29


The negative energy of a single team member can impact your entire organization. In the book “Fully Charged: How Great Leaders Boost Their Organization’s Energy and Ignite High Performance” (Harvard Business Review Press/Available now), authors Heike Bruch and Bernd Vogel contend that CIOs and other top executives must constantly monitor their department's energy level. One problem: Far too many senior managers invest in motivating the individual, rather than the whole group. Creating a lasting culture of energy requires constant watch for trouble signs and reinforcement of energy-sparking strategies, the authors say. Uncertainty within the ranks, for example, must be recognized and addressed with a sincere effort toward transparency. Bruch, a professor of leadership at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, is founder and research director of the Organizational Energy Program. Vogel is assistant professor of leadership and organizational behavior at the Henley Business School at the University of Reading in the U.K.

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What is organizational energy?

It is the extent to which an organization, division or team has mobilized its emotional, cognitive and behavioral potential to pursue goals.

Five signs that organizational energy is low:

Increasing departuresAbsenteeismBlown deadlines Reduction in quality of workPoor customer satisfaction

Collective energy

Leaders must focus on unleashing collective energy, as opposed to individual energy.

Collective energy

Why? A collective, dynamic force of energy within an organization or department is much stronger than one energetic individual.

Three organizational energy traps

Trap 1: Complacency. Lulled by success, members lose alertness, passion and readiness to go the limit.

Three organizational energy traps

Remedy 1: Create existential threats and compelling opportunities in a constant, ongoing manner.

Three organizational energy traps

Trap 2: Corrosion. Success breeds resentment as employees feel left out of rewards and/or derailed from essential, future roles. Trust of leadership, and alignment with organizational goals are threatened.

Three organizational energy traps

Remedy 2: Designate a handler who can help you define the root cause of resentment. Work to re-channel negative energies into positive ones to achieve meaningful goals for the entire group.

Three organizational energy traps

Trap 3: Acceleration. Success fuels leaders to seek ever more, overwhelming employees and ignoring their individual needs and limits

Three organizational energy traps

Remedy 3: Orchestrate high-energy phases and regeneration phases. After a high-speed push, allow time for low-energy assessment, celebration, or a preparation period for refueling.

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