{"id":39576,"date":"2019-10-31T22:36:07","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T19:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/blog\/neformalnye-otnosheniya-v-komande-zachem-i-kak-imi-upravlyat\/"},"modified":"2019-10-31T22:36:07","modified_gmt":"2019-10-31T19:36:07","slug":"neformalnye-otnosheniya-v-komande-zachem-i-kak-imi-upravlyat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/blog\/news\/neformalnye-otnosheniya-v-komande-zachem-i-kak-imi-upravlyat","title":{"rendered":"Informal relationships in the team: why and how to manage them","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Informal
\n
\nMany years ago, I joined a company as a developer and soon witnessed an unusual scene. The team lead from a neighboring department called his subordinate in the middle of the workday and quite loudly and casually said to him, 'Hey, here\u2019s some money. Go to the store, buy whiskey and snacks.'\u00a0<\/p>\n

I thought, \"Come on! This is all strange...\" But the situation repeated itself several times. After working at the company for a while, I realized that such behavior was the norm there. Some teams bonded against others, intrigue thrived, and upper management completely ignored it. I left, despite having interesting tasks and decent conditions. But the moral climate was unbearable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t the only one who thought so: that company no longer exists. But at that moment, I realized how vital it is to address informal relationships and how significantly they can influence the business as a whole. Moreover, it is primarily the line managers\u2014not HR managers or in-house psychologists\u2014who should deal with them, as managers are the ones in daily contact with their subordinates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet team leads in the IT field typically grew out of the ranks of developers and engineers and lack formal education in psychology and management methodologies. This often leads managers to understand their tasks quite narrowly: solving business problems, meeting targets, and so on. They don't see the point in babysitting grown adults.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the past ten years, I have been leading development teams, seven of which have been at Badoo. This article is inspired by my talk at Saint TeamLead Conf 2019<\/a><\/noindex>: in it, I will attempt to explain how and why it is necessary to work on informal relationships within a team.\u00a0
\n<\/a><\/noindex><\/p>\n

Problems with Informal Relationships<\/h2>\n

\nHow can you tell if something is wrong with informal relationships in your team? There are several markers.<\/p>\n

Newcomers do not stay.<\/h3>\n

\nI am sure that for most people, changing jobs is stressful. A newcomer is in a highly uncomfortable, unstable situation, partly because their experience and skills are not validated in the new team. Meanwhile, they may have been a significant and respected individual at their previous workplace. In this case, the contrast will be even more pronounced and will cause even greater discomfort.<\/p>\n

What does a person do to make a statement about themselves? They take the initiative. However, the initiative of new employees is often met with blatant resistance: 'What are you getting involved for? We know how everything works without you!'.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition, newcomers are often not included in informal communication. If a group goes to lunch, they are not invited. If someone's birthday is celebrated, they are left out. They are already stressed about work matters, and on top of that, they have no one to discuss it with. It's doubly hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In these conditions, many simply decide to leave for another company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Colleagues as strangers<\/h3>\n

\nThe next issue is the unfamiliarity with colleagues. This often occurs at the boundaries between departments rather than within a single unit. Team members do not know their internal clients and vice versa: for instance, the product team and the development team are not acquainted with each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The saddest part is when managers do not know their subordinates: they are unaware of their real expectations and cannot motivate them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Informal leaders in opposition to formal power<\/h3>\n

\nIn any group, there are informal leaders. Like others, they have their own goals. The unique aspect of informal leaders is that they know how to engage others in achieving their objectives. If the informal leader's goal does not align with the organization's goals, these individuals can become quite toxic. The worst-case scenario is that they may lead part of the team to another company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Disconnection\u00a0<\/h3>\n

\nAll the problems I've highlighted \u2014 poor management of newcomers, lack of communication, informal leaders in opposition \u2014 lead to disconnection. A specific case can be illustrated by a telling meme:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Informal
\n
\nPeople do not know what their colleagues are doing. Consequently, they do not appreciate their contributions to the common cause. This disconnection leads to a lack of teamwork: team members do not complement each other, resulting in ineffective problem-solving. There is a lack of flexibility due to poor communication. Leaders find it difficult to motivate and develop their subordinates. All of this causes people to leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And we hope for better, at least something like this:<\/p>\n

\"Informal
\n
\nEven better if it looks like this:<\/p>\n

\"Informal
\n<\/p>\n

What should you do?<\/h2>\n

\nWhat can be done to ensure that informal relationships in your company are 'right' and benefit the business? I will share what we did and continue to do at Badoo. There are three important components:\u00a0<\/p>\n