Having to work with a team is part of being an MD or VP. The reality that comes with that is you might not always love everyone you have to work with. But, what if your team is actively dragging you down, fumbling deals, or making you work much harder than you should? 

All of these things are signs of an underperforming team, and the answer isn’t always as simple as “hey, Andy might literally not know how to read.” If you’re dealing with an underperforming team, here’s what you can do to try and right the ship.

Find the Issue(s) 

When your team is underperforming, it’s easy to think the issue is simply that people are terrible at their jobs. The mistake a lot of people make is they begin to plan changes without investigating the why?

Before you start implementing changes, take a moment to get your eyes and ears to the ground level. This way, you can look for and listen to what exactly is going on within your team that could be causing issues. The best ways to go about this are to

    1. Communicate. Set some meetings to make sure communication is being properly addressed. After all, communication really is key.
    2. Look for low-hanging fruit. While some things will take a bit of digging to uncover, there will almost certainly be a couple of things you can take care of right away to get things moving in the right direction.
    3. Schedule time to investigate. Between having to cover for the sub-par work your team is doing and the million other things you are responsible for, finding time to get to the root of the problem seems almost impossible. The thing is, sacrificing some time upfront is going to save you lots of time going forward (and hopefully make everyone more money!). Find time to investigate and address problems with your team, so rather than having constant time-sucks going forward, you get your team and yourself set up for success going forward.
    4. Look inwards. No, you don’t have to go all Aaron Rodgers and lock yourself in a dark room for a week, but you do need to do a little self-reflection and see if you might be part of what’s setting your team up for failure. Are you asking too much? Are you being clear with what you expect from your team? While we never want to think we’re to blame, you need to at least consider it before you can be sure you have the answers to your team’s problems.

Get the Easy Stuff Cleaned Up and Make a Plan

If your team is doing a bad job, something obviously has to be done. Telling them they kinda suck probably isn’t the best option, but going full hand-holding is likely going to be almost equally as offensive. That’s why it’s important to make a plan that 1. will actually lead to change, and 2. not make your team absolutely hate you. 

It’s important to realize that different people on your team might require different methods to get them going at an optimal level. For many, a good jumping-off point will likely be something simple like providing your team with a checklist that covers everything they should routinely be doing without many mistakes. It might include things like

  • Title alignment
  • Dates on the cover
  • Center logos
  • Page number continuity
  • Graph alignment
  • Both the backup and live XLS are properly edited and linked
  • Number formatting

And so on.

Once the easy stuff is cleaned up, it’ll be easier for you to spot where the deeper problems actually are.  

team morale meme in m&a
via Make a Meme

Monitor and Follow-Up

In a perfect world you tell your team they’re doing a bad job, you tell them what to change, and voila, everyone is printing money. We don’t live in that world (mega bummer, we know). Part of managing a team is being responsible for checking up on what they’re doing and getting the problems fixed before it’s too late. While a high-performing team can have a bit of leeway, finding the managing balance for a sub-par team takes more work.

While you will have to keep tabs on how everyone is doing, it’s important that you find the balance between being a hands-on manager and being a micromanager. Nobody likes being micromanaged, and doing so will only make your life more difficult, while also probably not really helping the team. 

Instead, be available, show your team you’re willing to get in the trenches with them when necessary, but stay focused on big-picture items and provide support where needed. Not only will this keep you from wanting to rip your hair out, but it will also help build a sense of trust with your team, which is one of those things that are cliche but does matter. 

Training Time

If simple changes aren’t helping your team get the job done, it might be a sign your team needs more help than some checklists and clear communication. If a bunch of members on your team are new, or even worse, previously worked under a terrible manager, it’s time to put your training hat on.

While training underachieving analysts and associates isn’t necessarily in your job description, it can become a necessity if your team keeps going belly-up on deals. Some things you can try if you have a team that has potential but clearly needs some extra help:

  1. Have a sit-down where the analyst or associate goes over their work so you can see why they might be missing things (or if they were even double checking their work at all).
  2. Set forward deadlines to leave room for learning errors. Again, it’s not ideal, but if mistakes keep costing the team, having everything submitted early so it can be properly reviewed can potentially be deal-saving.
  3. Break up tasks into smaller subtasks to make sure your team knows what they’re doing every step of the way. Once you’re confident they have each piece down, you can go back to assigning the whole project.
  4. Make it clear how long they should be working on things. Let them know a realistic goal is to achieve X amount of volume of work in Y amount of time.
  5. Let them know when they do a good job. You don’t have to give participation trophies out, but if they know they did something good, they probably keep doing it. 

Tough Decisions 

If you have done your own managerial due diligence, including providing resources, guidance, and training, but there is still a person or some people on your team that just can’t get with the program, it might be time to have some hard conversations. You don’t have to finger-gun “you’re fired” them, but you should let someone know when they’re facing the chopping block. While it’s never ideal, sometimes you have to know when one person is costing the rest of the team, and be prepared to make some tough decisions.

Final Thoughts 

At the end of the day, an MD or VP needs to get an underperforming team up to speed. The buck stops somewhere, and if you let problems linger long enough, they almost certainly are going to make their way up to you. Having to go through extra time and effort just to get your team to a par level of performance isn’t ideal, but it’s a challenge that many managers will likely face at some point. If you’re going to criticize their work (totally fair), be prepared to also step up and make sure they are equipped to meet your standards.

Oh, and one other way you can set your team up for success — upgrade your clunky and outdated VDR to CapLinked. Start a free 14-day CapLinked trial today
 

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