7 signs of decreasing engagement in your team

When you are managing a team, you hope that every member is happy and fulfilled. However, getting an unexpected resignation letter can shake your view of your team, and your own management style.

How can you spot when good team members are becoming disengaged? Read on to find out leading signs that your people are becoming less engaged.

1/ Less interest in work socials

Socialising or having events with colleagues is a great way to encourage team bonding. If one individual is suddenly not showing up, you should try to find out why. It could be a personal issue, or it might be that they no longer feel engaged with their co-workers.

2/ Annoyance at work or colleagues

Is the individual becoming angry or irritated over minor work-based inconveniences or their colleagues? Then this might mean that they are becoming less engaged with their workplace overall.

3/ Outgoing characters becoming quiet

Some are automatic spokespeople and leaders, so if you feel one of these outgoing individuals is becoming withdrawn and quiet, this is a matter you should look into.

4/ Changes in KPIs

KPIs (key performance indicators) are a great way to track how team members perform. If your employee goes from hitting and exceeding targets to continually failing, or their performance becomes uneven, this could be an engagement issue.

5/ Work quality reducing

Related but not exactly the same, if their work quality is reducing overall, even if targets are being hit, this could mean that the person is less interested and less invested in their workload.

6/ Reduced collaboration

Is collaboration a big part of your team members' workload? Is this person suddenly more interested in silo working than collaborating or communicating with others? Then this could point to deeper issues that should be investigated.

7/ Disinterest in growth

As a manager, you may try and inspire an employee by presenting them with new work challenges and opportunities for growth. If they are pessimistic about them, or disinterested, then you are seeing disengagement.