I am a manager of a fairly large lab in a hospital here in Cleveland. We are extremely short staffed with an incredible workload. The morale of my team is very low. I have given the team members a number of pep talks without any visible success. What advice do you have for improving the morale of my team?

M.L.

You have a very difficult situation that requires a heavy does of leadership. On-going frustration, stress and the feeling of not being valued, ultimately result in lower productivity and turnover. I'm assuming that you have or will be presenting a staffing/business plan to your manager to address this problem. In addition to this action, you need to focus on the issue of morale or how to get the team renewed and reenergized.

Savvy managers have long known that protracted periods of stress call for specific initiatives. They understand that what works well in good times is rarely effective in situations such as the one you describe. My recommendation is that you focus on the three S's of renewal - Structure, Stimulation and Stability.

• Structure:

  In traumatic times, employees need an infusion of structure in order to function at a productive level. The world around them feels chaotic and overwhelming and yet they are expected to be effective. Make sure that, at minimum, you have monthly one-on-one meetings with each employee and a monthly staff meeting for all team members. This practice will give them a feeling of predictability and order. Make sure everyone knows what they are responsible for and the due dates for all assignments.

• Stimulation:

  One of the principle jobs of a manager is to motivate. You may want to brainstorm a list of team-building activities that will help improve team effectiveness. Enlist the help of your human resources manager in these efforts. He or she may have tickets available to sporting events, movies or concerts. Find ways to raffle off these tickets or use them to reward outstanding performance. Ask human resources if they can recommend team-building activities designed to help in difficult situations such as these. You may be surprised at how helpful your H. R. organization can be with this type of challenge.

• Security:

  The absence of communication contributes significantly to difficult situations like the one your team is experiencing. In an effort to calm their personal anxiety, employees will spend an inordinate amount of time searching for information regarding their situation. Find a way to pull people together frequently and fill them in on information that impacts them. Look for ways to show that there is light at the end of the tunnel. As the great psychologist Alfred Adler said, "Hope is the foundational quality of all change." One of your responsibilities is to offer hope and the best way to do this is face-to-face.

Make no mistake in thinking that the three S's are a permanent solution to this complex problem. Other business initiatives such as redesign of work, outsourcing and additional headcount must be implemented for long-term success to be achieved.