For most managers working with Ploomo, this will be the first time they have access to sentiment data on each of their team members. Seeing the data for the first time can sometimes leave managers feeling uncomfortable and unsure of how to proceed. The key thing that we like to emphasise at this early stage of the program is the importance of creating a safe environment.
Low sentiment scores can have many different causes, and it’s designed to pick up on issues and trends early before they become problems. While you may feel hurt or take it personally when you see a team member with a low sentiment score, reacting emotionally or confronting them to address the issue immediately can have unintended consequences.
To use this data to help build a high-performing team over the long term, it’s important that your team members know you value their feedback and that there will be no repercussions for reporting stress or dissatisfaction. Instead, by carefully assessing the data and having a more strategic approach to open up genuine conversations, you can help your team members feel supported and continue to receive the valuable data you need to improve your team’s performance.
Working Through the Data
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The approach we recommend when seeing the sentiment data for the first time is to ask yourself, “Did I expect this?”. If you’re already spending a lot of time engaging in 1-1’s or managing a small team, it’s quite likely that you already have a reasonably accurate read of how most of your team members are feeling. In these cases, the sentiment scores can give you more confidence that you know what’s going on and also help you track trends in each individual’s engagement to help minimise and address sustained periods of disengagement.
For team members with unexpectedly low sentiment scores, particularly in the first few weeks of the program, the best approach can be to simply observe their interactions to try to understand the root causes before speaking with them. A few questions you can ask yourself:
- Is it just a short-term issue? e.g. an upcoming project deadline or presentation
- Are they mentioning feeling frustrated or bored with their current project?
- Has there been any change in how they’re interacting with their colleagues?
- Are they mentioning something going on in their personal life, like a family situation?
- You may also want to look at their Brain Profile or their role fit to help you better understand their perspective
Once you’ve gathered more information on the situation, you can start a conversation with to align with your team member and make sure you understand their perspective. Depending on the root causes you identify together, you can make a plan together on how to move forward. This could be as simple as acknowledging their frustrations or a deeper change like re-organising responsibilities across the team to place them in a role that’s more suited to them.
These conversations can be difficult for managers to navigate, especially if they’re new in their role. If you’re feeling unsure about how to approach these conversations, feel free to reach out to us directly via the portal. We also offer 4 month, 1-1 leadership development program’s for more intensive coaching.
